ADVANCED CERTIFICATION FOR NSF/ANSI-49 CLASS

1)CLASSROOM LOCATION
PHARMACERTS/VTG, LLC.
SUITE 1, 89 TURNPIKE RD.
IPSWICH, MA 01938
(781) 854-6592

2)CLASS SCHEDULE
5-Days [Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday]
Class starts at 08:00, two half-hour breaks, one hour lunch, Class ends at 17:00
Coffee, Soda, Water, Snacks, Box Lunch provided.

3)NSF / ANSI – 49 EXAM
VTG, LLC. has no responsibility for candidates’ participation in the NSF/ANSI-49 Biosafety Cabinet Field Certifier Accreditation program. All interested candidates must contact NSF directly at [email protected]. Exams are typically administered on Friday/Saturday and Sunday following the week-long class.
NSF International
nsf.org.
789 N. Dixboro Rd.
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
Candidates must satisfy the pre-qualification requirements as determined by NSF. All exam-related costs are transacted between the potential candidate and NSF International.

4)CLASSROOM EXPENSES
Classroom Expenses paid to VTG, LLC. are due in advance of the first day of class to confirm classroom registration. Classroom registration entitles the candidate to classroom and laboratory instruction during the specified duration of the class only. No Exam administration, grading, proctoring for either the written or practical exams are included in these expenses. Class registration and class expenses are due to VTG, LLC. and have no relationship with any NSF – expenses. Daily snacks including coffee, water, soda and box lunch are included in the classroom registration cost.

5)PRACTICAL EXAMINATION
VTG, LLC. provides 5 Biological Safety Cabinets for laboratory instruction and for NSF Practical Exam Administration. The cabinet inventory is tabulated below

A complete data plate is provided by VTG, LLC. and attached to each of these 5 cabinets. Specifications for older hoods manufactured before 2002 are derived from the CETA – Guideline (2004) MS Excel spreadsheet. The NSF proctor is responsible for attributing which of the individual practical exams that are associated with which particular biological safety cabinet.

6)PRACTICAL EXAM TEST EQUIPMENT
Candidates are responsible for transporting their own NSF Test equipment to and from the test site. VTG provides limited rental equipment which must be RESERVED in writing at an additional cost of $300.00 for the 7 – day class and exam. Candidates are strongly encouraged to bring their own small portable equipment such as sound level meters, vibration meters, light meters and anemometers. A list of NSF test equipment which will be available for rental by the candidate from VTG are tabulated below (or equal).

Additional disposable items will be provided by VTG, LLC. such as, but not limited to, clear poly plastic sheeting, adhesive tape, Paraformaldehyde (substitute), and Ammonium Bicarbonate (substitute). VTG, LLC will also provide decontamination skillets, tape measures, extension cords, writing utensils, paper, ladders and any other necessary equipment to execute a successful practical exam administration.

7)HANDOUTS/DOCUMENTATION
Candidates must bring their own hard copy of the most – recent NSF/ANSI-49 Biosafety Cabinetry: Design, Construction, Performance and Field Certification. Candidates must also bring their own hard copy of the NSF BSC Accreditation program Policies and Procedures Manual. Three-ring binders containing all the power point presentations are provided as part of the classroom cost.

8)CANDIDATE RESPONSIBILITIES
This is an advanced certification class. This means that candidates must have taken introductory certification classes, either through a third-party such as The Eagleson Institute Sanford, ME or through internal corporate training. To complete registration for the ADVANCED CERTIFICATION FOR NSF 49 BSC CLASS candidates must submit written proof of introductory certification completion. This may be in the form of a third-party certificate or a signed statement from company supervisor or training manager or other suitable proof. For classroom attendees taking either the practical NSF or written NSF exam the following Friday/Saturday and Sunday, homework questions consisting of 10 math formula examples which accompanies the dedicated lesson (Lesson 3) on Math Formulas will be distributed each day, Monday through Thursday (40 Problems total.) These can be completed during active class time, breaks, lunch, evenings, or mornings.

Disruptive talking, noise making, horseplay, unsafe practices, unnecessary interruptions, physical, verbal or intimidating conduct will cause the candidate to be removed from the classroom at the instructor’s discretion. Candidates are welcome to take or make cell phone calls, have conversation, bathroom, and sustenance breaks on their own, provided this does not occur within the confines or earshot of the classroom. Eating and drinking in the classroom is allowed at any time, provided the candidate does not impose upon other classmates’ rights.

9)LODGING/FOOD
Coffee, snacks, and box lunch is provided for the candidates during the class on MON-FRI. The candidates are responsible for breakfast & dinner MON-FRI and all meals on SAT and SUN. Expedia provides links to various local accommodations -Ipswich, MA, Rowley, MA, Topsfield, MA are neighboring communities.

There are ample Dunkin Donuts locations along the entire route from your lodging to the classroom. If you wish for a better variety of coffee, unfortunately, the closest Starbucks is North of the classroom in Newburyport center 9.4 miles (16 min one-way). In downtown Ipswich at 40 market street (4.8 miles) can be found ZUMI’s Espresso which offers excellent coffee products, however, allow for 25 minutes round trip from the classroom.

10)TRAVEL
Boston – Logan Airport is 23 miles south of the classroom location. Head north on Rt 1 (as distinct from rt. 1A) after exiting the airport. Ipswich also offers an MBTA commuter rail station on the Newburyport/Rockport line from North Station in Boston. The Ipswich MBTA commuter rail stop is located 11 minutes (4.9 miles) from the classroom location.

11)STAFF INSTRUCTOR/PROGRAM MANAGER

Matthew Lemieux, VTG, LLC instructor, has over 42 continuous years of field experience as a biological safety cabinet certifier, air, and water balancer & cleanroom certifier. Mr. Lemieux has a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Northeastern University,
a Massachusetts E.I.T. registration, an associate degree in electronics engineering from ITT Technical Institute, a former Massachusetts HVAC license, Eagleson Institute honor member recognition, and has been an ANSI/NSF-49 accredited biological safety cabinet certifier since 1997. He is a NEBB CPT-CP certified professional as well as a CETA accredited RCCP-SCF for sterile compounding facilities, CETA ASHRAE-110 fume hoods and CETA Cleanrooms. He is also a NEBB TAB Air and Water Balancing Certified Professional (CP) candidate from 2023. He has served as committee member of NEBB cleanroom CPT since 2017.
Mr. Lemieux’s broad expertise involves ANSI/NSF-49, N.E.B.B., I.E.S.T., ISO 14644, USP, ASHRAE and many other industry standards and documentation. He was a co-founder of Omni Testing, LLC, (1984), President of Certco, INC. (1989-2006), Airgo Instruments, INC. (2000) and research and development engineer of SBB Testing & Certification, LLC. (2007-2016). He served as vice president of quality and training at Air Systems Technologies in Avon, MA (2016-2019), and as Daldrop-SBB Quality Manager and patent development (2020). He was Senior Staff Engineer at PharmaCerts, LLC (2021-2023), with whom he maintains a cooperative working relationship. Presently, he serves as director of training and development at Vanir Technical Group – Salem, NH & Hillsboro, OR (VTG, LLC.), the nation’s premier provider of quality certification and contracting services. Mr. Lemieux is the author of two books: The Cleanroom Guidebook – Testing and Certification (2019) and Critical Analysis of Cleanroom and Biological Safety Cabinetry Certification & Balancing Reports (2020) www.suretechsys.com. Mr. Lemieux is the most sought-after controlled environment instructor in the United States and Asia. His proprietary and unique instructional approaches, methods, and materials nearly always guarantee both written and practical accreditation exam success even with minimally experienced students.

VTG, LLC. NSF ANSI -49 TEST INSTRUMENTATION RENTAL (SHARED WITH ALL LESSORS), OR EQUAL.

VTG, LLC. NSF ANSI -49 LABORATORY BSC LIST

NUAIRE 430-400

BAKER SG-250

THERMOSCIENTIFIC 1375

NUAIRE 425-200

BAKER SG-403A-HE