Vents and ducts construction for a fixed facility SCIF have a short list of specifications that must be adhered to during construction.
All vents and ducts have to be protected to meet the acoustic and security requirements of the SCIF. The walls that surround the duct penetrations have to be finished to eliminate any opening between the duct(s) and the wall(s).
If vent or duct openings penetrate the SCIF perimeter walls and exceed 96 square inches, the vents/ducts must be protected with permanently attached bars or grills. Listed below are the detailed requirements for bars and grills.
- Bars or grills are not required if one dimension of penetration measures less than six inches
- If metal sound baffles or wave forms are permanently installed and set no farther apart than six inches in one dimension, then bars or grills are not required
If bars are used:
- Bars must be a minimum of ½ inch diameter steel, welded vertically and horizontally six inches o.c.
- Deviation of ½ inch in vertical and/or horizontal spacing is permissible
If grills are used, they must be made of:
- ¾ inch-mesh, #9 (10 gauge), case-hardened, expanded metal; OR
- Expanded metal diamond mesh, 1 ½ inch #10 (1 ⅜ inch by 3 inch openings, 0.093 inch thickness, with at least 80% open design) tamperproof; OR
- Welded wire fabric (WWF) 4×4 W2.9xW2.9 (6 gauge smooth steel wire welded vertically and horizontally 4 inches o.c.)
If bars, grills, or metal baffles/waveforms are required for your SCIF, an access port will have to be installed inside the secure SCIF perimeter. This access port will allow visual inspection of all the bars, grills, or metal baffles/waveforms for signs of security risks.
If the area outside the SCIF is controlled (SECRET or equivalent space), the access port can be installed outside the perimeter. However, the port must be secured with an AO-approved high-security lock and must be noted in the FFC.
Does your facility require a SCIF? KL Security offers SCIF Container Solutions with panelized modular systems for scalable modular, portable, & mobile requirements. We assist in the acquisition of modular facilities for DoD & Government Access Control and ICD705 SCIFs or SAPF facilities. We also assist with special access control planning and commercial business security.
Call 866-867-0306 or email [email protected] to see how the experts at KL Security can assist your facility in security needs.
Technical Specifications for Construction and Management of Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities
SCIF Container Series | Part 1: Site Evaluation
SCIF Container Series | Part 2: Design Planning Checklist
SCIF Container Series | Part 3: Perimeter Wall Construction – Wall A
SCIF Container Series | Part 4: Perimeter Wall Specifications – Wall B
SCIF Container Series | Part 5: Perimeter Wall Specifications – Wall C
Information has been gathered from sources deemed reliable but not guaranteed and is subject to change without notice. The information contained in this site is provided for informational purposes only.