USER REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATION. (URS)
URS Scope.Without doubt the User Requirements Specification (URS), is the most critical of documents and yet, the most often bungled. Whether the system is purely mechanical, or a mix of electro-mechanical, or solely a software program, the successful compilation and execution of the Installation Qualification (IQ) (for installation), Operational Qualification (OQ) (for functionality) and the Performance / Product Qualification (PQ) (for operability), is dependent on an User Requirements Specification (URS) containing clear, concise and testable requirements.
Once the end user requirements specification is documented, agreed and approved they form the basic URS Level-1 document. The engineers (or vendor) can then commence the preliminary design to establish exactly what functions are required for each of the items specified in the user requirements specification, the end user has listed. Once this functionality is documented and approved it forms URS Level-2 document. This is the final level of the URS unless software is used.
If software is to be used, the URS Level-2 document, is passed to the code writers. As the code is written, lines, or groups of lines, of code must be attributed to the individual functions that necessitate their presence. The completion of this task results in the completion of the URS Level-3 document.
Developing the URS to this level is unique in most industries, but is, standard practice in strictly regulated industries, as it is a major building block in the creation of quality software. The URS Level-3 document, contains all the traceability which is deemed mandatory for software assessed to be critical to product quality, in the pharmaceutical regulated industries.
Full life cycle function testing.Bringing these needs and tasks together in a manner which will verify design fitness for purpose, has traditionally been a tedious and laborious labour. It involved trawling the VP and URS and cross-referencing to the Functional Specification and the Design Specification and the associated Test Specifications, sometimes, with only limited success. The design of our document is unique, it requires the URS to be an active document up to completion of the Design Qualification (DQ). The DQ will be executed against the three level URS, and verify that the code (if there is any) specified in URS Level-3, will deliver the functionality detailed in URS Level-2, which in turn will deliver the operability that the end user specified in URS Level-1.
This document consists of a generic template which uses an attached SOP to allow you to quickly auto-populate the template. It then takes you page by page through the template allowing to develop the template into your own bespoke company URS. It makes it simple and quick to produce a quality URS.
A PROPERLY STRUCTURED AND REFERENCED URS TEMPLATE WILL ENSURE THAT YOUR USER REQUIREMENTS ARE PROPERLY SPECIFIED, REMAIN TRACEABLE AND ARE DOCUMENTED THIS IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL IF YOU WANT TO HAVE SUCCESS IN YOUR VALIDATION TASK.
User Requirements Specification Justification (URS)The must be comprehensive. Each and every requirement relating to product safety, identity, strength, purity, and quality must be identified. Hence, Quality Assurance (QA) must have a significant role in reviewing and approving the final set of requirements, and must be an approver of changes to any requirement that can affect the above product or process attributes (e.g., cGMP’s).
Given a comprehensive User Requirements Specification that has been approved by QA and is under project change management, the Design Qualification (DQ) process then can be reduced to two key objectives:
- Documented verification that the overall design appears to address, by some means, each and every requirement affecting the product and performance of the manufacturing process (or, in the case of unknown product or multi-product manufacturing facility, the required equipment/ system performance capabilities).
- Identification (and documentation) of the critical individual physical components, attributes, and operational features that directly support meeting each requirement.
URS SCOPE.User Requirements Specification (URS) Scope includes but is not limited to;
- The scope of the URS must include but is not limited to:
- Level-1, full details of end user operability.
- Level-2, full details of functionality.
- Level-3, software functionality interface.
- A full description of the required system performance.
- Performance criteria, critical parameters and operating range.
- Cleaning and maintenance requirements.
- Appropriate regulatory requirements.
- Documentation requirements.
- Training requirements.
- All none industry standard testing that may be required.
URS and the Software Life Cycle.
URS in the Qualification Process.
USER REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATION.
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