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The principal purpose of testing cleanrooms and clean zones is to determine operational performance. The current IEST RP-CC006.3, Testing Cleanrooms, provides a set of recognized and standardized test procedures for determining cleanroom and clean zone performance. The test procedures are divided into two categories: primary tests and secondary tests. The primary tests are closely related to classification or verification of airborne particulate cleanliness in the cleanroom and consist of the following: airflow volume, velocity and uniformity tests; HEPA and ULPA filter installation tests; airborne particle count test; and room pressurization test. The secondary tests involve other cleanroom or clean zone characteristics, for which acceptance limits might be specified and consist of the following: visual airflow characterization test; lighting level and uniformity test; noise level test; temperature and moisture uniformity test; and vibration test. The performance tests may be carried out in one or more of the operational phases: as built, at rest, or operational (see Table 1). The order in which the tests are performed is not defined in the document however, and in general, certain tests should be performed in a preferred sequence. For example, for unidirectional cleanrooms, the following order is recommended:
1. Airflow volume or airflow velocity (section 6.1)
2. Visual airflow characterization (section 6.5)
3. Room pressurization (section 6.4)
The Recommended Practice (RP) is intended to assist planners, designers, manufacturers, and customers in preparing detailed specifications for cleanroom testing and for assuring cleanroom operational compliance. In contractual agreements, the customer would select the tests appropriate for their cleanroom(s) and specify the acceptance limits required for the use of the cleanroom(s). The RP may also be used to write in-house test procedures for the testing of proprietary cleanrooms.
The RP also provides recommended test equipment for each test method. Where the test method is affected by the type of cleanroom (i.e., unidirectional or nonunidirectional), alternative procedures are given. For some test methods, more than one method and instrumentation are described so that the end-user considerations may be accommodated. When these alternative methods are given, the end user should be aware that the methods might not give equivalent results.
In general, the RP does not present acceptance limits, but does provide standard terminology...