Administrative provision
A provision that sets out scope, process or meaning rather than a requirement.
Glossary · v0.1
Glossary
Terms, pronunciations and meanings
The words of Health's Work and of the health-facility field, in plain language. Health's Work terms are marked as such; industry terms are explained as they are used in the standard. Each entry links to the provision where the term is set out.
Health's Work termIndustry term59 of 59 terms
A
AHJAuthority having jurisdiction
The government office or official that enforces the codes for a project, such as a building department, a fire marshal or a state health facility agency. A project may answer to several at once.
NoteIn Florida, licensed health facilities also answer to the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA).
Air change rateACH
How many times per hour the volume of air in a room is replaced, a key measure of ventilation in health facilities.
Annual experience report
The yearly HWO submission with survey results by domain, any domain below threshold, and the actions taken.
Annual performance report
The yearly HWM submission covering each system in the operations and maintenance program, with verification results, deficiencies and corrective actions.
ASHRAE
The engineering society that publishes standards for heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration, including the ventilation standard for health care facilities.
B
Baseline
The codes, statutes, rules and standards adopted and enforced by the authorities having jurisdiction. Meeting the baseline is a prerequisite of the Health's Work Standard, which never permits anything less stringent.
Baseline verification
The independent review that lets an existing building without HWC enter HWM.
Basis of designBOD
The design team's written explanation of how the design meets the owner's project requirements: the systems chosen, the assumptions and the criteria used.
Building record
The permanent file of a facility: as-built documents, the commissioning record, the operations and maintenance program, and the results of maintenance, testing and verification. It transfers with the building to any new owner or operator.
C
Certification mark
A trademark used to show that a product, service or building meets the standards of the mark's owner. The owner sets the standards and certifies; others use the mark once certified.
See alsoHealth's Work star
Certified
The base level of HWC: the building meets every prerequisite of the Health's Work Standard as designed, built and commissioned.
Chief Editor
The person who holds final authority over the content, editions and interpretations of the Health's Work Standard.
CommissioningCx
A quality process that verifies building systems are designed, installed, tested and able to operate as the owner requires, from the owner's first requirements through the first year of operation.
NoteWritten Cx. Required for listed systems in HWS Section 9.
Commissioning authorityCxA
The person or firm that leads commissioning on the owner's behalf, independent of the design and construction teams.
Corpus Index
Health's Code's list of the codes, standards and state-enforced rules the Health's Work Standard builds on. Each is cited by section only; copyrighted text is never reproduced.
D
De-identified
Describes information from which personal identifiers have been removed so that no individual can be identified from it.
NoteHWO survey results and the HWM outcome comparison are reported only in de-identified form.
Discipline code
A three-letter code for a field of knowledge: PLN planning and programming, ARC architecture, ENG engineering, INT interiors, SPC specialties, SIT site and job management, MAT materials and labor, SAF safety, DLV delivery and contracts, CMX commissioning, OPS operations and maintenance.
E
Edition
A dated version of a Health's Code document. A project is reviewed under the edition in force when it registers, or may choose a later edition in its entirety. Earlier editions stay readable, marked superseded.
Enhancement
A provision of the Rating System that goes beyond the standard and earns one, two or three stars.
Equivalency
An alternative method, material or design shown to provide at least the same level of safety and performance as the requirement it replaces, accepted by the authority having jurisdiction.
F
FGI GuidelinesFacility Guidelines Institute
Guidelines for the design and construction of hospitals, outpatient facilities and residential health facilities, adopted and enforced by many states, including Florida for licensed facilities.
NotePrivately published and copyrighted; Health's Code cites it by section only.
Functional performance test
A witnessed test showing that a system works as intended under real operating conditions, not only that it was installed.
H
Health's Code
The standards body that writes, edits and publishes the Health's Work Standard, and the public reader at healthscode.org where the standard, the Corpus Index and this glossary are free to read.
NoteHealth's Code holds the standard; Health's Work uses it. Final editorial authority rests with the Chief Editor.
Health's Work
The company and platform at healthswork.org that awards the HWA credential and the HWC, HWM and HWO certifications, all built on the Health's Work Standard.
Health's Work star
The mark of Health's Work certification: a beveled star of eight points, four long and four short. The large star appears at every level; the level is shown by one, two or three small stars beneath it.
NoteThe star never appears alone. It is always shown with the Health's Work name, the program and the level.
HWAHealth's Work Accredited
The professional credential of Health's Work, in five levels: HWA (Foundation), HWA-I (Practitioner), HWA-II (Advanced), HWA-III (Expert, license-eligible) and HWA-IV (licensed). A specialty may follow the level, as in HWA-II-MS.
NoteHWA-IV is held only by a licensed professional and is suspended if the license lapses.
HWCHealth's Work Certified
Certification of a building as designed, built and commissioned. It is awarded once and stays as awarded for the life of the building. Levels: Certified, then one, two or three stars.
NoteHWC is the plate. What happens after opening is rated under HWM and HWO.
HWMHealth's Work Maintained
Certification of a building as operated and maintained. It is renewed every year on an annual performance report and re-verified on site by an independent reviewer at least every three years. Levels: Maintained, then one, two or three stars.
HWOHealth's Work Operations
Certification of a building in operation as patients, families and visitors experience it: arrival, comfort, access, waiting, courtesy, clarity, billing and follow-up, measured on independent surveys. It is renewed every year. Levels: Operated, then one, two or three stars.
NoteHWO never rates licensed clinical judgment, clinical care or clinical outcomes.
HWSHealth's Work Standard
The minimum standard for health facilities. It contains requirements only, written in "shall" language so that a jurisdiction or an owner can adopt it as written. It covers a facility from planning and design through construction, commissioning, and operation and maintenance for the life of the building.
NoteWrite the full name first. HWS is not HSW (health, safety and welfare), the continuing-education category for licensed professionals.
I
ICRAInfection control risk assessment
An assessment made before construction or renovation in an occupied health facility, setting the barriers and precautions needed to protect patients from dust, mold and other hazards.
See alsoILSM
ILSMInterim life safety measures
Temporary measures that keep occupants safe while a life safety feature is impaired during construction or repair, such as extra fire watches or drills.
Independence rule
No review, re-verification or survey may be performed by anyone with a stake in the project. The rule applies equally to Ponte Health and to every other company.
Interpretation
A written answer from Health's Code on what a provision means. Where the standard is adopted, the authority having jurisdiction interprets it for enforcement, and Health's Code interpretations are advisory.
ITMInspection, testing and maintenance
The recurring inspection, testing and maintenance that codes require for life safety and critical systems, such as fire alarms, sprinklers, generators and medical gas.
L
Legionella
Bacteria that grow in building water systems and can cause Legionnaires' disease when inhaled in water droplets. Health facilities control it through a water management program.
Life Safety CodeNFPA 101
The NFPA code for protecting occupants from fire and similar emergencies through building construction, protection and occupancy features. Health facilities are surveyed against it.
See alsoNFPA
M
Maintained
The base level of HWM: the building is operated and maintained in compliance with Section 10 of the standard, with an accepted annual report and a current re-verification.
N
NFPANational Fire Protection Association
The organization that publishes many of the fire and life safety codes enforced in health facilities, including the Life Safety Code (NFPA 101) and the Health Care Facilities Code (NFPA 99).
O
Occupancy
1. The use a building or space is classified for under the codes, such as health care, ambulatory health care or business. 2. The point at which people begin to use a building.
See alsoPost-occupancy review
Operated
The base level of HWO: the facility holds active HWM and has its patient and family experience surveyed independently in every domain, with an accepted annual experience report.
Operations and maintenance programO&M program
The written program for running and caring for a facility's systems: who is responsible, what is inspected and tested, how often, and what is recorded.
Owner's project requirementsOPR
The owner's written statement of what the building and its systems must do, prepared before design begins. Commissioning tests the finished building against it.
P
Plate
The etched glass plaque awarded with HWC. It shows the Health's Work star and the HWC level, the edition of the standard, the certification number, the owner and facility, and the city, region and country. It never changes after award.
Post-occupancy review
A review of how commissioned systems are performing once the building is in use, between eight and twelve months after occupancy.
Prerequisite
A provision that must be met. Every requirement of the Health's Work Standard is a prerequisite; the Rating System adds its own.
Pressure relationship
The difference in air pressure between a room and its neighbors, used to control where air flows. Rooms such as operating rooms are kept positive so air flows out; airborne infection isolation rooms are kept negative so air flows in.
R
Rating SystemHWC · HWM · HWO Rating System (RS)
The certification program built on the Health's Work Standard and owned by Health's Work. It adds enhancements that earn stars, and the rules for awarding, renewing and showing certification. It is never adopted as law. Its sections carry the prefix RS: RS 1 is HWC, RS 2 is HWM and RS 3 is HWO.
NoteThe prefix keeps numbers apart: 1.6 is in the standard; RS 1.6 is in the Rating System. Document code HWC-RS.
Renewal panel
A glass panel hung below the plate that records five years of renewals in two rows of equal tiles, one row for HWM and one for HWO. When a panel is full, the next is added below. How many panels to display is the owner's choice.
Responsible charge
Direct control and personal supervision of professional work by a licensed professional, who is accountable for it.
NoteThree-star HWC requires an HWA-IV in responsible charge.
Re-verification
An on-site check of a facility in operation by an independent HWA-IV reviewer, required at least once every three years to keep HWM.
S
Specialty code
A two-letter code for a sector specialty, used with HWA, as in HWA-II-MS. The first letter is the class: M Medical, H Health research and education, R Residential, I Infrastructure, P Wellness and performance. Codes are permanent once issued and never reused.
Stars
The levels above a program's base level, earned through enhancements: one star, two stars or three stars. Each level includes the requirements of the levels below it. HWC, HWM and HWO each have their own stars.
Status
The standing of HWM or HWO: Active (renewed within the last year), Lapsed (not renewed), Suspended (an unresolved deficiency affecting occupant safety) or Revoked (withdrawn). HWC carries no status; it stays as awarded.
Superseded
Replaced by a later edition. A superseded edition stays readable at its permanent links, and projects registered under it continue to use it.
See alsoEdition
T
Tile
One year on a renewal panel, reading in full, as HWM 2028 or HWO 2028, with the stars earned that year. A year that is not renewed keeps its place as a blank tile.
Turnover
The handover of a finished building to its owner: as-built documents, the commissioning record, operating manuals, training and warranties.
W
Water management program
A plan to reduce the growth and spread of Legionella and other waterborne pathogens in building water systems, with a risk assessment, control measures, monitoring and corrective action.