Regulations, cost, location, size, performance—how do you choose the right cleanroom?

Selecting a cleanroom for a new business or product is not a difficult process. There are many considerations and options, but focusing first on requirements will help make the decision-making easier.

CLEANROOM SELECTION CRITERIA
Rules mandated by government regulations, ISO guidelines, or customer requirements are the first consideration in selecting the right cleanroom. For example, government regulation USP 797 outlines specific requirements for the manufacture of pharmaceutical products, and ISO 14644-5:2004 guidelines specify basic requirements for cleanroom operations. Most often regulations or customer specifications will dictate the cleanliness level or required rating, which provides a good starting point for choosing the right cleanroom.

Cost is an important consideration, especially if starting a new business or new product line. Prices can vary greatly from custom, fixed wall construction to modular, free-standing, soft wall or hard wall prefabricated cleanroom systems. Fixed wall rooms are typically most expensive, with soft wall rooms the least expensive. Additionally, size, shape, configuration, and accessories will affect the overall cost.

The location of the cleanroom site within the existing building structure, and the number of processes and workers in the cleanroom will determine the size and shape of the room.

In addition to meeting performance needs, many companies consider the visual aesthetics of a cleanroom very important, wanting to project a high-tech image with visual appeal to attract new customers.

ADVANTAGES OF MODULAR CLEANROOMS
Modular, free-standing cleanrooms have many distinct advantages over their fixed wall counterparts. Using modular rooms greatly reduces design, engineering, and construction time, thereby reducing costs. Since they are not an integral part of a larger structure, modular rooms can be taken down and moved to other facilities, or even sold as an asset. Fixed wall cleanrooms do not have this flexibility.

Expanding a modular cleanroom can be easily accomplished by taking off a wall and adding another module. The prefabricated design allows the room to be expanded, relocated, or reconfigured into a different shape or made into multiple smaller rooms.

All air handling and filtration equipment modules are built into the modular room ceiling. Hook-ups for electrical and plumbing are engineered in as part of the design.

The amount of time it takes to construct a modular room is much less than constructing a permanent walled structure. It can take several months to construct a fixed wall cleanroom because of the amount of design, engineering, and the various trades involved. However, a fairly sophisticated modular room can be constructed in a week or two. Onsite assembly of a modular cleanroom is also less disruptive to surrounding operations in comparison to their fixed wall counterparts.

Modular cleanroom systems offer potential tax advantages for businesses. They are not typically considered part of the building and can often be depreciated faster than built-in, fixed wall cleanrooms. Tax consultants can provide specific tax advantage information.