ISO/IEC 22237-2:2024

Overview

ISO/IEC 22237-2:2024 - Information technology - Data centre facilities and infrastructures - Part 2: Building construction - specifies requirements and recommendations for the construction of buildings and structures that house data centres. Aligned with the physical security classification in ISO/IEC 22237-1, this standard focuses on measures that support data centre availability by addressing site selection, protection from environmental risks, site and building configuration, access provision, intrusion and fire protection, water damage prevention, and quality construction practices. Conformance is defined in Clause 4. Note: safety and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) requirements are outside the scope and are covered by other standards and regulations.

Key Topics

The standard organizes practical requirements across the data centre lifecycle. Major technical topics include:

• Location and site selection (Clause 5): assessments of geography, natural environment and adjacencies to reduce risk.
• Environmental risk analysis: identification and mitigation of natural and human-made hazards.
• Utility provision and site configuration (Clause 6): arrangements for power, communications and resilience.
• Outside spaces (Clause 7): access routes, parking, temporary facilities, fuel storage and perimeter design including Protection Class boundaries.
• Building construction (Clause 8): load-bearing structure, foundations, exterior/interior walls, roofs, floors and raised access floors.
• Physical intrusion protection: perimeter barriers and protection classes to meet required security levels.
• Physical fire protection and water damage prevention: requirements and recommendations for structural and passive measures.
• Quality construction measures: materials, finishes and construction quality to maintain availability and durability.

Applications

ISO/IEC 22237-2 is intended for professionals involved in planning, designing, building and certifying data centre facilities:

• Data centre owners and operators seeking to align building construction with availability and physical security objectives.
• Architects and civil/structural engineers designing data centre buildings and foundations.
• Facilities and site planners responsible for site selection, utilities and perimeter protection.
• Project managers, consultants and auditors performing compliance assessments or preparing tender/specification documents.

Practical uses include developing construction specifications, performing environmental and adjacency risk assessments, defining Protection Classes for perimeter and building boundaries, and integrating building-level measures with data centre infrastructure plans.

Related standards

• ISO/IEC 22237-1 - physical security criteria and classification (reference used by Part 2)
• Other parts of the ISO/IEC 22237 series and applicable local building, fire safety and EMC regulations (for safety and EMC compliance)

Keywords: ISO/IEC 22237-2:2024, data centre building construction, data centre facilities, site selection, environmental risk, physical security, protection class, data centre infrastructure.