 As in all buildings used by the public, the owner/manager has a duty of care to ensure that those using his facility are not injured or, in extreme cases, killed while on the property. A key question the designer or specifier must consider is whether or not the installation is likely to be used by people who, on the basis of a risk assessment, are deemed to be at high risk of being injured by high temperature hot water. If it is thought that there is a high risk of this, then the system must be designed to meet the criteria of the NHS model engineering specification DO8 and the hot water temperatures must be controlled by a TMV3 thermostatic shower valve. If the risk is deemed to be slight then the system can be designed and built to the lower domestic specification TMV2. In all cases where an area is likely to be used by very young children, the elderly or the disabled, regardless of whether the majority of the rest of the site is TMV2 level, these specific areas should always be TMV3.
  The Reliance Caremix® range of thermostatic tapware has been designed with all of these performance considerations in mind and as this range is specifically targeted at the healthcare market many other factors have been taken into account in the design process. Durability and aesthetics are of a very high quality and the surface finish on the taps is done using a special process called PVD. This provides a highly scratch resistant, long lasting finish. Servicing must always be a key design consideration for this type of product as regular testing and maintenance are always necessary. That is why all Caremix taps have isolators/strainers and check valves either supplied as part of the package or built into the body of the tap. In addition the entire range all use the same one piece sequential thermostatic cartridge.
For the commercial and healthcare sector it is clear that fittings must be of a high quality to withstand the demands of an uncaring public. This does not mean that there have to be dozens of different styles to match every possible decorative theme, but the basic style must not clash with the decor used.
A problem at many long established sites is the maintenance of old showers. A drawback when servicing is that older showers are very rarely built around cartridge type construction and it is necessary to stock many different small components as spares. Not only is it very difficult logistically to ensure that an adequate number of spares are on site at all times, it is also very costly and inconvenient as the washroom under repair can be out of service for a lengthy period while the shower is stripped down to component level and serviced. The Heatguard® range of showers is designed around a two cartridge system: one flow, and one thermostatic which is interchangeable. This means that a maintenance team need carry only two spare cartridges which can be removed and replaced very quickly, reducing costly downtime to an absolute minimum.
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