PQ Protocol
PQ Protocol
Effective Date
CTE/DQ/AHU/001, CTE/IQ/AHU/001 and
Reference Document No.
CTE/ OQ /AHU/001
Prepared By
Reviewed By
Approved By
2.0 Purpose:
To provide documented evidence that the system is capable to continuously supply the clean
and conditioned air with the specified quality attributes thereby establishing its dependability.
To provide the consistent and reliable performance of Heating Ventilation and Air
Conditioning System.
To prove the adequacy of the engineering design of the HVAC system and the effectiveness of
the operating control and maintenance procedures.
To establish the operating ranges for the system key control parameters that provide the means
of assessing when the system is operating outside established control parameter limits and
bringing the system back to state of control.
3.0 Scope:
This document includes the Performance qualification procedure of the Heating ventilation and air
conditioning system.
Production Department:
Annexure No.: A/QA/081/07-00
NIXI LABORATORIES PVT. LTD.
VPO: MOUZA OGLI, SADHAURA ROAD,
KALA AMB DISTT. SIRMOUR (H.P.)
Engineering:
Execution of Performance Qualification protocol along with QA validation team.
Calibration of all measuring / test instruments.
Rectification of Breakdown during qualification study.
Review of Performance Qualification protocol.
Sign / Date
Frequency
Sr.
Test Initial Re –
No.
Qualification Qualification
Pre – Qualification Test
Verification of Calibration status of all Measuring
1 Once Once
Instruments.
2 Verification of Calibration status of all test instruments. Once Once
3 Verification of Standard operating procedure status. Once Once
Qualification Test
Once
1. Air flow, volume and distribution test Once
(Every Six Months)
Once
2. HEPA Filter Integrity Test Once
(Every Six Months)
Once
3. Differential Pressure Monitoring For 3 days
(For 24 Hours)
Once
4. Temperature and Relative Humidity monitoring For 3 days
(For 24 Hours)
Airborne Particulate Testing (Non-viable particle count)
5. For 3 days Once*
(At-rest condition)
Airborne Particulate Testing (Non-viable particle count)
6. For 3 days Once
(In-Operation condition)
7. Microbial Environmental Monitoring (At-rest condition) For 3 days Once*
Microbial Environmental Monitoring (In-Operation
8. For 3 days Once
condition) condition)
9. Recovery Test Once Once in two years
Air Flow Pattern In static condition Once NA
10.
study In dynamic conditions Once Once in two years
11. Induction / Contamination Leak test Once NA
* In case of planned shutdown with HVAC off, area requalification to be performed at rest condition.
Test Requirements:
Calibrated Anemometer.
Equipment in operation.
Acceptance Criteria:
Total Number of air changes per hour in each room supplied by different AHUs should not be
less than the corresponding values indicated below:
ACPH
AHU No. Area Catering Room ID No. Classification
(NLT)
Female Change room- I E1003 NC
Female Change room- II E1004 NC
Female Change room- III E1005 NC
Male Change room- I E1006 NC
Male Change room- II E1007 NC For Information
AHU-01
Male Change room- III E1008 NC Only
Main Male Entry E1009 NC
Main Male Change room I E1010 NC
Main Male Change room II E1011 NC
Change room Air lock E1012 NC
Lyo Technical Area E1040 NC For Information
AHU-02
SCADA room E1041 NC Only
PPM E1001 CNC
Solvent Handling area E1002 CNC
For Information
AHU-03 1.2m Wide corridor E1013 CNC
Only
Production office E1021 CNC
Secondary Material Passage E1039 CNC
External vial washing area E1036 CNC
For Information
AHU-04 Packing area E1037 CNC
Packing day store E1038 CNC
Decartoning Area E1014 D NLT 20
AHU-05
Change Room -I E1016 D NLT 20
Annexure No.: A/QA/081/07-00
NIXI LABORATORIES PVT. LTD.
VPO: MOUZA OGLI, SADHAURA ROAD,
KALA AMB DISTT. SIRMOUR (H.P.)
V1 V2
V5
V3 V4
Where,
i = 1 to 5
Vn = (V1+ V2 + V3 + ---------)
Note: For ACPH calculation refer Annexure No. 02 (Room Data Sheet) for room volumes, no. of
HEPA filters & HEPA filter surface area.
Result:
Report and summarize the results in the report.
Scientific rationale:
Test Requirements:
PAO aerosol generator.
PAQ aerosol photometer.
AHU shall be in ON condition.
Procedure:
The test shall be performed by external agency or in house.
The operation of testing instrument shall be carried out as per the contract agency SOP or
inhouse SOP.
The filter integrity test shall be performed by the qualified personnel of the contract agency in
the presence of Nixi representative.
The testing instruments being used shall be calibrated with reference to the NABL or
equivalent traceable reference standard.
The filter testing shall be performed after operational velocities have been verified and adjusted
where necessary.
With the help of aerosol generator, introduce the PAO aerosol in the upstream port of the
supply air duct to verify terminal HEPA filters integrity.
Adjust the upstream concentration of the aerosol between 1 mg/m3 to 100 mg/m3 of air (Ref:
ISO 14644-3).
Set the observed upstream aerosol to 100% scale of the upstream concentration at upstream of
the HEPA filter on the aerosol photometer.
Acceptance Criteria:
The leak shall be less than 0.01% of upstream concentration.
Upstream concentration of the filters should not vary more than ±15% in time about the average
measured value.
Result:
Record the observations of the HEPA filters for each AHU’s in Annexure No 03 for terminal
HEPA filters.
Attach the Certificate of compliance provide by vendor for each HEPA filter.
Scientific rationale:
The acceptable limit of leak is as per Guidance for Sterile Drug Produced by Aseptic
Processing, USFDA, September 2004.
The acceptable limit of leak and procedure of testing is as per ISO-14644-3.
Test Requirements:
Test Procedure:
During HVAC Qualification, monitoring of the absolute and differential pressure shall be performed for both controlling and monitoring the differential pressures.
Data shall be recorded for absolute pressure of the room for the recommended period as defined shall be collected from BMS and shall be reviewed against the acceptance
criteria.
The differential pressure from room to room shall be determined by mathematical calculation through difference of absolute pressures of individual rooms with respect to the
other room. The differential pressure values shall then be evaluated against the acceptance criteria.
Acceptance Criteria:
The acceptance criteria for the absolute pressure and differential pressures between different rooms are defined as below.
Results
Data of Differential Pressure shall be taken for recommended period and the result shall be summarized in the report.
Objective of this test is to ensure that the AHU system is capable of achieving and maintaining the desired temperature and RH consistently within the acceptable limits.
Records of temperature and RH thrice in a day till the qualification period and observations shall be recorded.
Test Procedure:
During HVAC Qualification, monitoring of the Temperature, % Relative Humidity shall be performed by using data from BMS system, as the BMS system is in place for
both controlling and monitoring the Temperature, % Relative Humidity of the rooms.
Print out of Temperature and Relative Humidity data of the recommended period and shall be reviewed against the acceptance criteria.
Acceptance Criteria:
Results
Reading of Temperature and Relative humidity shall be taken for recommended period and the observation of the same shall be summarized in the report.
The objective of this test is to verify that the HVAC facilities can provide the required clean room classifications as defined in international standards.
Test Requirements:
The airborne particle test should be performed by the qualified personnel of the contract agency
in the presence of Nixi representative.
The test should be carried out after area cleaning as per respective procedure.
Set up the particle counter according to respective test operating procedures at the different
sampling locations as per Annexure No. 04.
The particle counter being used should be calibrated with reference to the NABL traceable
reference standard.
The minimum number of sampling location shall be calculated based on the area of the room. The minimum number of sample locations taken in each room shall be as per
At Rest In Operation
Grade
Minimum Sample Volume (Ltr.) Minimum Sample Volume (Ltr.)
C 7 2*
D 2* Not Defined
*The volume sampled at each location shall be at least 2 liters, with a minimum sample time of 1
minute for each sample at each location.
Reference: As per ISO 14644 Parts-I and EU Annexure 1.
For at rest conditions:
Grade C & D
Minimum sampling time should be 1 min.
Minimum sample volume should be 7 and 2 ltrs respectively. (100 Ltr / 50 Ltr based on
particle counter capacity).
For In operation conditions:
Grade C & D
Minimum sampling time should be 1 min.
Minimum sample volume should be 100 Ltr / 50 Ltr based on non-viable particle counter
capacity.
Instruction:
The sampling locations should be evenly distributed throughout the area of the room and
positioned at the height of the work activity.
Scientific rationale:
The particle requirement is as per Guidance for Sterile Drug Produced by Aseptic Processing,
USFDA September 2004.
The particle requirement is as Annexure-1 to EU GMP.
ISO-14644-1.
Standards.
Test Requirements:
AHU shall be in working condition
Active air sampler
Results:
The report and the observation shall be recorded and compiled in Annexure No. 05 for Grade C &
D analysis.
After completion of qualification, graphical representation shall be prepared & recorded in the
report.
Scientific rationale:
The microbial requirement is as per current version of Guidance for Sterile Drug Produced by
Aseptic Processing, USFDA.
The microbial requirement is as per current version of Annexure-1 to EU GMP and USP.
The location of microbial monitoring is taken considering the location as worst case.
Note:
Test shall be performed at Rest-condition.
Only 0.5µm particle size shall be considered during the recovery test and 5.0 µm particle size
limits shall be taken for information only.
Acceptance Criteria:
Recovery time should be less than 15 to 20 minutes.
Observation and Results
The observation of the above-specified tests shall be recorded and compiled in the attached
Annexure-06.
Test Procedure:
The static airflow study shall be performed as per procedure.
Acceptance Criteria:
01 Smoke study Airflow should be always from high pressure zone to low pressure zone.
At times, the observation and the filming of the airflow patterns may be
impeded by space constraints. Employing remote controlling of the
camera and wireless transmission of the footage in combination with
remote assessment from outside of the Work Zone / Critical Area
should be considered in these cases. In general, live assessment of the
airflow pattern should be preferred.
Observations and Results:
To demonstrate / verify that the airflow pattern at critical area(s) in dynamic condition (Below the
HEPA Filters) are within the acceptance criteria i.e. air movement from high pressure area to low
pressure area and to detect, if air is stagnant in the clean area.
Test Procedure:
The dynamic airflow study shall be performed as per SOP/QAD/0079. Airflow pattern study shall
be performed from terminal HEPA to area, from room to return risers high-pressure area to low
pressure area and to detect, if air is stagnant in the clean area. (Video recording for air flow
pattern study shall be done and attached with this test sheet).
Acceptance Criteria:
01 Smoke study Air movement shall be from terminal HEPA to area, from room to
return risers high-pressure area to low pressure area.
At times, the observation and the filming of the airflow patterns may be
impeded by space constraints. Employing remote controlling of the
camera and wireless transmission of the footage in combination with
remote assessment from outside of the Work Zone / Critical Area
should be considered in these cases. In general, live assessment of the
To demonstrate that there is no intrusion of unfiltered air into the clean work areas from outside
the clean-room enclosure through joints in the walls, ceilings, etc. other than from the pressurized
air supply system and to determine that unfiltered air intrusion into the clean room through open
entrance doorways.
Test Requirements:
Smoke generator
AHU shall be in running condition
Test Procedure:
Pressurize each clean zone and make positive with respect to atmosphere and surrounding
unclean area.
Generate the smoke inside the room near to the joints and doorways.
Visually check from other side of the room for flow of smoke to outside near the joints.
Execute the test in each room where joints in the walls, ceilings and open entrance or ways.
Acceptance criteria:
No construction joint leaks or intrusion through open doors should be observed visually.
Observations and Results:
The observation of the above-specified tests shall be recorded and compiled in the attached
Annexure No. 07.
All test result should be recorded in annexure and complies the limit.
Performance Qualification of Heating Ventilation and air conditioning system will be performed
once in year as per the test matrix mentioned in the protocol.
Air change per hour and HEPA filter integrity shall be performed once in Six Month.
Any major modification in equipment after the last performance qualification. This must be
properly documented through a change control system.
Any change in operational parameters with respect to that specified.
Any other factors based on Risk Assessment.
In case of failure to meet acceptance criteria of any test as mentioned in the protocol a thorough
investigation is to be initiated to find out the root cause and the complete study or a part of the
study may be repeated after the corrective action based on a suitable Risk Assessment of the
Situation. However, if the failure is due to some obvious reason like power failure during the runs,
then the affected run may aborted and repeat run shall initiated but the aborted run result along
with description of the incident must be reported in the PQ report.
10.0 Abbreviation
ABBREVIATIONS FULL FORM
HVAC Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning
PQ Performance Qualification
SOP Standard Operating Procedure
No. Number
QA Quality Assurance
BMS Building Management System
AHU Air Handling Unit
RH Relative Humidity
OQ Operation Qualification
IQ Installation Qualification
µ Micron
°C Degree Centigrade
US FDA United States food and Drug Administrator
ISPE International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineering
PAO Poly alpha olefin
NABL National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration
Annexure No.: A/QA/081/07-00
NIXI LABORATORIES PVT. LTD.
VPO: MOUZA OGLI, SADHAURA ROAD,
KALA AMB DISTT. SIRMOUR (H.P.)
11.0 Reference
Following documents are referred during preparation of the protocol.
Procedure for operation of HVAC system.
Preventive Maintenance of HVAC system.
Procedure for BMS
Monitoring of environmental conditions
12.0 Attachment
Based on the review of results a conclusion shall be drawn and documented in the performance
qualification report. Conclusion shall be a clear statement of compliance or non compliance of the
Heating Ventilation and air conditioning system with respect to the acceptance criteria of the
performance qualification protocol.
Prepared By
Reviewed By
Approved By