As mentioned, DQ is “Design Qualification” and it answers the question “is the system correctly designed?”

Meet User Needs

As you might guess, this would be done before construction of the equipment to ensure it’s going to meet our needs.

A simple example would be an electrical source.

If your shop is wired for 220 and the system was designed for 110, this is probably not going to work.

Another example is maybe the system performs some dangerous operations and you want to ensure they are done behind closed doors – you want to ensure the system is designed with proper door interlocks and is designed to prohibit operations if the doors are not closed.

E-Stop

One final example to consider.

You’re commissioning equipment that requires an emergency (e-stop) stop button.

The designers proudly bring you a design for the system and you notice that the e-stop would require someone over 6-feet tall to hit it – and your staff is all shorter.

Has this been designed correctly?