VINCI Facilities Dauphiné Savoie: expertise in medical gases
VINCI Facilities Dauphiné Savoie is a business unit renowned for its expertise in the installation and maintenance of medical gas networks in hospitals. What does it involve? What are the unique features of this type of contract? Business Unit Manager Cyril Carlin brings us up to speed on this niche business.
VINCI Facilities Dauphiné Savoie
This business unit based in Echirolles (East of France) operates in the Isère, Savoie and Haute Savoie departments. Thanks to its 110 employees, it generated revenue of €13.5 million in 2021 (of which €1 million was in medical gases, including works).
Its business mainly revolves around multi-technology activities, on the customer’s sites, maintaining fire safety and extra-low voltage systems, and servicing medical gas installations.
What is medical gas?
The term describes gas used in healthcare that comes into contact with patients, used in anaesthesia and intensive care settings.
- Gas for medical use: oxygen, medicinal nitrous oxide, medical air, etc.
- Medical vacuum: pumps used to aspirate fluids.
They are supplied to operating theatres or hospital rooms.
Niche expertise
VINCI Facilities Dauphiné Savoie manages the design, installation and maintenance of medical gas distribution networks (vacuum pumps, compressors, pipework, etc.). All operations on these networks require CE Marking for Medical Devices, which is managed by a designated notified body: GMED.
The level of regulation is extremely high because the devices as manufactured and installed must under no circumstances compromise patient health. The notified body audits the company once a year to ensure that it has maintained an adequate level of competence.
Working with medical gases requires a team with complete knowledge of the subject: a design office capable of managing quality and certification matters, a project manager who understands the brief perfectly, a purchaser who can ensure the traceability of components, and experienced technicians to ensure that the service is standards compliant. At VINCI Facilities Dauphiné Savoie, there are eight of the latter, including three maintenance technicians and three works technicians. With rare and sought-after skills in a highly pressurised market, they have proved their worth on the Grenoble University Hospital contract.
The medical gas business remains limited within the Building Solutions network because the skills required are difficult to transfer. Additionally, the works side requires CE Medical certification to obtain a contract, and a current project in order to obtain certification… That first hurdle is therefore difficult to overcome, but not impossible.
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