Design Qualification

This article
discusses some
of the
challenges,
execution
methods, and
potential
opportunities of
Design
Qualification
(DQ).

Reprinted from

PHARMACEUTICAL ENGINEERING

Do You DQ? Design Qualification

Challenges and Considerations
by Allan MacDonald

Why DQ?

he regulatory authorities of the European Union, Japan, and the United

States have come together to form the
International Conference on Harmonization of Technical Requirements for the Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use
(ICH). ICH Q7A was the first Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) guidance developed
jointly by industry and regulators under the
ICH umbrella. The document establishes one
global GMP standard for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs).
Following suit, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has stated, Q7A supersedes FDAs draft API guidance.1 The ICH
Q7A guidance defines DQ as the documented
verification that the proposed design of the
facilities, systems, and equipment is suitable
for the intended purpose. This definition for
DQ is the same as the one found in the Commission of the European Communities Guide for
GMP.2 This European Union (EU) document
also states, the first element of the validation
of new facilities, systems, or equipment could
be design qualification.
The requirement for DQ can be debated
since the above-mentioned documents use
words like could, should, and usually, and
because these are guidance documents only,
not regulations. However, government guidance documents usually carry a lot of weight in
a historically risk-averse environment like
the pharmaceutical industry. Therefore, many
companies are implementing DQ programs and
procedures and are expecting others to support
these efforts.

Definition Before Qualification

To verify that a proposed design meets the
intended purpose, we are required to underCopyright ISPE 2005

The Official Journal of ISPE

March/April 2005, Vol. 25 No. 2

stand each of these terms. The challenge is that

both the definition of the purpose and design evolve during the life of a project. So there
is a temporal component to DQ that must be
addressed. The pharmaceutical manufacturer
should decide early in the project when a DQ
will be executed.
The EU GMP and ICH Q7A both use the
term proposed design in their DQ definition;
however, this only reflects the status of a design
at the time the DQ was performed. For a DQ to
be valid, the Installation, Operational, and
Performance Qualification (IQ, OQ, and PQ)
each must be performed on the system or equipment that was constructed per the design that
was qualified.
At a minimum, a DQ needs to be performed
on the final design. But, from a project standpoint, waiting until the design is final before
verifying that it meets the intended purpose is
not practical. Rather, verifying the design along
the way will allow for design corrections to be
made with minimal impact on cost and schedule. Whether or not this verification is documented and included as part of DQ is up to the
owner of the system or equipment to be qualified. However, documenting earlier efforts can
reduce the effort required for the DQ on the
final design.
A design can be defined by documents such
as:
Descriptions (Process, Basis of Design)
Specifications (User Requirement, Functional, Design)
Drawings (Process Flow Diagrams (PFD),
Piping and Instrumentation Diagram
(P&ID), Layout)
Purchase Orders
Contracts

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Design Qualification
Specification Resource
There is a group in ISPE that focuses on GAMP in the
Americas. A subgroup of that group was formed called
the Joint Equipment Transition Team or JETT.
The group defines themselves on the JETT homepage
at http://www.jettconsortium.com as the following.
JETT is a consortium of pharmaceutical users (manufacturers), equipment suppliers, and consultants seeking to improve communications between users and
suppliers to more effectively meet the validation
requirements of the pharmaceutical industry.
This consortium has produced URS templates for
various pieces of equipment that are available for
download free of charge from the site. These templates
have been created based on the GAMP 4 methodologies.
In addition to the many URS templates available,
sample design and functional specification are included
on the site.
A matrix on the sample documents Web page
provides the status of current and future documents
the JETT is working on.

For the execution of the DQ to be efficient, the user and

designer need to define in advance the path a design will
take for each type of equipment. The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) requires manufacturers of medical devices to
keep a Design History File (DHF).3 Although this is not
required for pharmaceuticals, a DHF could be used as part of
a DQ. The user, designer, and validation group could agree on
the types of documents to be in the DHF for the equipment or
system that they will be designing. These documents are
generated and copies should be collected during the design
process.
Some of the documents in the DHF might be:

the original user request

emails and minutes from meetings and teleconferences
calculations
PFDs and P&IDs
drawings

The items referenced in the DHF would be used to verify your

design in a DQ.

Specifications
Specifications are an important part of what defines the
design of a system or piece of equipment. Companies within
the pharmaceutical industry frequently use common terms
for specifications that unfortunately may have different meanings, interpretations, and impacts.
For example, the User Requirement Specification (URS)
as described in GAMP 4 is to be used for describing what a
system is supposed to do.4 This entire guide was written for
2

PHARMACEUTICAL ENGINEERING MARCH/APRIL 2005

use with automated systems; however, the term URS is often

being used broadly to include many, if not all, specifications
being produced by the user or their designee. This can often
be confusing once validation groups attempt to use the now
classic V-model and arrange their PQ to verify all items in
a URS.
GAMP 4 states in a section describing the URS that a
separate requirements specification should provide appropriate production process and product information, electrical
and mechanical details, and performance requirements.5
It is also common for a firm to design a control system for
a client and create a specification for bid that not only has the
users requirements, but also some functional and design
specifications. This is so the proposals or bids received from
potential suppliers can be tabulated and compared on an
apples to apples basis.
Once a successful bidder is awarded the project, they then
go on to create a complete Functional Specification (FS) and
Design Specification (DS). In this case, what would the
specification that was sent out for bid be called? It is more
than a URS and it has elements of an FS and a DS. To
minimize confusion on a project, the terms and accompanying
definitions that will be used by all parties on a project should
be identified. Check for instances that those involved not only
all know what a URS is, but also agree on the same definition
and where it will be applied.
Agreement in advance on what pieces of design will have
a URS, FS, and DS and which ones will have another type of
specification is an important step in the process.
Portions of the facilities, systems, and equipment that will
undergo DQ may be specified using methods common in the
construction trade such as those advocated by the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI). Mechanical, Electrical,
Plumbing (MEP), Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning
(HVAC), and architectural building contracts are often specified using different methods than process system equipment
or control systems. These differences should be addressed in
advance so that all parties involved in the design and qualification of that design have the same expectations. The DQ
procedures and forms also should allow for the use of construction contracts and documents.

Design Qualification vs.

Enhanced Design Review
The ISPE Baseline Guide Volume 5 Commissioning and
Qualification has adopted the term Enhanced Design Review (EDR).6 EDR is a practice that the guide suggests to
utilize to compliment Good Engineering Practices (GEP). As
defined, an EDR is a documented review of the design, not
necessarily limited to systems to be qualified and not a
requirement of the FDA. This author highly recommends
reading the material covered in the ISPE Commissioning and
Qualification Baseline Guide.
Although the ISPE Guide avoids the term Design Qualification, the methods described for an EDR could be used as
a DQ. Many firms, particularly those involved with international business, are developing or have developed DQ proceCopyright ISPE 2005

Design Qualification
dures. At a minimum, when a documented design review is
performed on systems or components that are to be qualified,
the review should be performed as a DQ.

Validation Plan
A validation plan is needed early in the project to determine
how facilities, systems, and equipment will be validated. The
validation plan should be shared with the project team,
particularly with those that will be performing the design.
The validation plan should address an impact assessment
and qualification rationale.7 The plan determines what will
be qualified; part of this qualification may be DQ. For example, the plan may state that all elements of a design that
have been determined to have a potential to impact product
quality shall be qualified during a DQ.
If applicable, the intent to perform DQs on a project should
be decided before a Request for Proposal (RFP) goes out for
bid to design firms.

DQ Execution
The pharmaceutical manufacturer or their designee must
provide a specific document that defines the users requirements to meet the intended purpose of the system or equip-

ment. The team needed to verify a design must understand

the intended purpose and have the appropriate background
to evaluate the proposed design. The DQ team may include:

System User
Designer of the System
Validation
Quality Assurance
Project Management

DQ team members should have access in advance to the

information that will be presented and evaluated during that
DQ execution. Each team member also should know in
advance what will be expected of them and what procedures
will be followed during the execution of the DQ.
Each user requirement should be listed or referenced
specifically in the DQ document. During a DQ, the design
elements that meet each specific requirement in that user
document should be verified, and each of the design documents being verified should be uniquely identified.
The history of a design should be known and available as
a DQ is performed. The evolution of a design usually involves
meetings, calculations, and correspondences that should all

Figure 1. Example of a user requirement document.

Copyright ISPE 2005

MARCH/APRIL 2005 PHARMACEUTICAL ENGINEERING

Design Qualification

Figure 2. Example of a design qualification form.

be documented and indexed so pertinent points can be specifically referenced.

The correspondences, calculations, and other supporting
documents also should be created with unique references.
These references will help in following the path of the design
during a design qualification.
Systems can be used to track a design as it evolves through
the use of a traceability matrix similar in concept to that
described in GAMP 4.8 This, however, may not be appropriate
for designs that are unlike the control systems that lend
themselves well to a tabular representation, such as a matrix.
The form, protocol, or document completed for a DQ should
provide sufficient information to identify all of the documents
used to verify the design. A method should be put in place in
advance for maintaining documents to be used for review/DQ
by those responsible for the design.
Strict change control involving user validation personnel
needs to be instituted once a DQ process has begun on a given
system. This is to ensure that the design documents remain
in a qualified state.
Deviations or additional requirements that arise in meetings or in correspondences that were not in the initial users
4

PHARMACEUTICAL ENGINEERING MARCH/APRIL 2005

requirements or scope should be explained in the DQ document. Changes also should be submitted to the appropriate
party to update the users requirement or scope document.
The timing of the execution of a DQ is important to the
schedule of a project. The final DQ on a system should be late
enough so that all of the design documents have been completed, but early enough so that the fabrication or construction is not delayed. Project management should be aware that
any fabrication or construction on a system that is to be
qualified would be at risk if performed before a DQ had been
completed on the proposed design.

Sample Project with DQ

A pharmaceutical company (XYZ Inc.) has hired an engineering firm to design a large scale manufacturing system for
their new product that they currently make on a smaller
scale.
XYZ Inc.s goals for the project were spelled out in an RFP
for a conceptual study. A conceptual study was performed by
a design firm with several options and an accompanying
rough estimate for the different options. Project options were
chosen and preliminary engineering began.
A preliminary design with drawings (PFDs, P&IDs, layCopyright ISPE 2005

Design Qualification
outs, etc.) and a 20% estimate was developed for capital cost
approval. The estimate exceeded what XYZ Inc. had expected
the cost to be. A value engineering exercise was then
performed to reduce the scope and cost of the project. Once the
estimate was within XYZ Inc.s budgeted amount, the early
design documents were revised to reflect the value-engineered scope of the project.
The documents were then used by XYZ Inc. to group
portions of the project into systems. XYZ Inc.s Quality
Assurance group then had a Validation Master Plan (VMP)
created. The VMP had a list of systems and whether they
were to be considered a direct impact system. The VMP also
stated that a DQ would be carried out on direct impact design
elements only.
XYZ Inc. uses a document they call a User Requirement
Document (URD) to convey their needs for the project. The
document also designates which of those needs their process
operations and validation groups feel could have an impact on
the quality of the product on direct impact systems.
XYZ Inc.s VMP states that a DQ will be performed on
direct impact systems and equipment before design documents are approved for fabrication or issued for construction.
Once a direct impact system has successfully passed a DQ,
the design documents for that system can be approved for
fabrication or issued for construction. These same documents
then become controlled documents under XYZ Inc.s Quality
Assurance program. Updates or revisions to these documents
then require a QA/Validation evaluation as to whether they
constitute a change to the executed DQ.
XYZ Inc. had required a DQ before construction of each
design; however, the team would also be required to perform
a design review at regular intervals during design to check
that URD points for all systems are being met by the design.
The design team members were sent copies of the User
Requirements document, URD-123589-4 Rev. A, that had
been written earlier in the project in advance of the time set
for the DQ of the Cyclization Reactor. See Figure 1 for an
example page of the URD-123589-4 Rev. A document. A list
of the design and design history documents that would be
used in the DQ was also sent to the disciplines responsible for
the documents.
During the execution of the DQ, the team members examined each of the design documents listed on DQ-123589-4
(Figure 2) and verified that the design documents will meet
the requirements that may have an impact on product quality
as listed in URD-123589-4 Rev. A.
A review of the pump calculations was required for requirement URD-23859-4-3 to determine that the right pipe
and pump size had been specified.
The piping and layout drawings showed the quench tank
T-402 as being in the same room as the reactor. Yet the
requirement URD-23859-4-3 stated that the quench tank
was to be in the isolation room. This turned out to be the only
deviation so the meeting was adjourned and an investigation
of the deviation was requested.
A review of meeting minutes was performed to determine
why the location had been changed. The design team was
Copyright ISPE 2005

notified of the findings and agreed that the true requirement

was in the transfer time and not the location of the quench
tank. The design team agreed to pass the verification of the
equipment arrangement and piping drawings. An explanation was added to the DQ form.
Once the DQ on the system was completed and approved
by XYZ Inc.s Quality Assurance group, the design documents
for the Cyclization Reactor were released to be issued for
construction.

Design Firms and DQ

Most design firms have systems in place to review the design
documents they produce. However, the needs of client companies can vary, and a design firms procedures need to be
adaptable to the expectations for DQ.
Procedures explaining the expectations of the design firms
for DQ should be included with any RFPs. Should a client
have particular needs that would be outside of the normal
scope of deliverables, any additional costs would be reflected
in a design firms proposal.
Some of the systems and procedures that a client may
request of a design firm for their DQ needs can help in
controlling costs and scope creep. Specific user requirement
documents with traceability can be used for defining a design
basis. Any feature or item in a design without a design history
traceable back to the users requirement could be flagged as
a change for evaluation as a must have or a nice to have.
Information usually flows in many parallel paths between
a client and the design firm. Project Managers can more
effectively manage a project and control scope by using an
approved user requirement document as the official mechanism.
Multiple design firms or multiple disciplines may be
involved in a project. Often, a client has a representative from
a certain discipline work with a particular group within a
design firm to create a specification for the project. These two
parties may be in agreement with each other, since they both
speak the same language; but qualification and validation
involves many disciplines, and a design qualification needs to
address all of them. Design firm disciplines need to all agree
on the deliverables that will be used for DQ.

Summary
Pharmaceutical manufacturers may or may not have systems in place for performing DQ. The DQ procedures and
expectations will vary from company to company. Design
firms, vendors, and other support resources for pharmaceutical manufacturers need to understand the clients DQ needs
and have systems and methods adaptable to those needs.
A clear agreement on the expectations for how facilities,
systems, and equipment will be specified and which elements
will require DQ is required by the entire design team. This
should be addressed for each type of system. In particular, the
client should be aware of the typical methodologies within
each discipline of a design team.
DQ practices can improve the control of a project. The
execution of a DQ should clearly identify:

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Design Qualification
the document that established the intended purpose of
the proposed design
the documents that define the design
the documents that were used to develop the design
The purpose of this article was to provide concepts, considerations, and examples that pharmaceutical industry professionals can use to help create or improve procedures for
dealing with DQ. Remember, DQ, as stated by the ICH Q7A,
is the documented verification that the proposed design of
the facilities, systems, and equipment is suitable for the
intended purpose.

References
1. FDA Presentation ICH Q7A GMP Guidance for APIs and
its Use During Inspections, http://www.fda.gov/cder/meeting/ICH_Q7A/index.htm, 2002.
2. Commission of the European Communities. The Rules
Governing Medicinal Products in the EC, Vol. IV, Good
Manufacturing Practice for Medicinal Products, Annex
15 Qualification and Validation, Luxemburg Office for
Official Publications of the EC, ISBN 92-828-2029-X,
1998.
3. Code of Federal Regulation, Title 21, Volume 8, CITE:
21CFR820.30, revised as of April 1, 2004.
4. GAMP 4 Guide for Validation of Automated Systems,
ISPE, Appendix D1, page 1, 2001.
5. GAMP 4 Guide for Validation of Automated Systems,
ISPE, Section 9.5.1, page 53, 2001.
6. ISPE Baseline Pharmaceutical Engineering Guide, Volume 5, Commissioning and Qualification, page 75, First
Edition, March 2001.
7. ISPE Baseline Pharmaceutical Engineering Guide, Volume 5, Commissioning and Qualification, page 65, First
Edition, March 2001.
8. GAMP 4 Guide for Validation of Automated Systems,
ISPE, Appendix M5, page 3, 2001.

About the Author

Allan MacDonald has more than 25 years
of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He is currently the Facilities Manager
for Therion Biologics in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His experience includes major pharmaceutical company operations and engineering with design firms and equipment
manufacturers. This article was written while
he was with Parsons in Boston, Massachusetts. He is currently on the ISPE Boston Chapters Board of Directors and
has co-chaired the bulk pharmaceutical chemicals discussion
forum (formerly SIG) for five years. MacDonald holds a BS in
chemical engineering from McGill University in Montreal,
Canada.
Therion Biologics, 76 Rogers St., Cambridge, MA 02142.

PHARMACEUTICAL ENGINEERING MARCH/APRIL 2005

Copyright ISPE 2005