About Cleanrooms
What is a Cleanroom?
A cleanroom is an environment in which the air quality, temperature and humidity are regulated in order to safe guard against dust and bacteriological contaminated particles, which exist naturally in the atmosphere.
A cleanroom is defined in the international cleanroom standards 'ISO 14644: Cleanrooms and Associated Controlled Environments' as:
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A room in which the concentration of airborne particles is controlled, and which is constructed and used in a manner to minimise the introduction, generation, and retention of particles inside the room and in which other relevant parameters, e.g. temperature, humidity, and pressure, are controlled as necessary.
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ISO 14644: Cleanrooms and Associated Controlled Environments
Cleanrooms are given a classification as to the cleanliness of the air within the room. There are a variety of national standards, one of the most widely used being the US Federal Standard Revision E, although this will be superseded by the new International Organisation for Standards (ISO) 14664-1.
See the ISO 14644-1 Cleanroom Standards table
Below are some examples of cleanrooms together with their classes and requirements:
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| ISO Class 3 ('C' or 1) Filtration to 99.9997% @ 0.12µ Perforated raised floor required |
ISO Class 4 ('D' or 10) Filtration to 99.997% @ 0.3µ Perforated raised floor an advantage |
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| ISO Class 5 ('E' or 100) Filtration to 99.997% @ 0.3µ Vinyl or Epoxy floor required |
ISO Class 6 ('H' or 1,000) Filtration to 99.997% @ 0.3µ Vinyl or Epoxy floor required |
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| ISO Class 7 ('J' or 10,000) Filtration to 99.997% @ 0.3µ Vinyl or Epoxy floor required |
ISO Class 8 ('K' or 100,000) Filtration to 99.997% @ 0.3µ Vinyl or Epoxy floor required |