SIA ISSUE BACKGROUNDERS

FIRE AND BUILDING SAFETY (FABS)

Issue: Assuring safe working conditions is an important industry responsibility. The SIA Fire and Building Safety Committee (FABS) is the group responsible for insuring that fire and building codes in the U.S. accurately reflect and consider the needs and requirements of the semiconductor industry. SIA's FABS Committee is one of its oldest, most successful activities. To address this issue, the FABS Committee has adopted the following Charter:

Be the focal point for the semiconductor industry to interface with the fire and building code community and be a positive force in the code development process.

In this effort the FABS Committee has adopted the following goals to ensure that new Building and Fire Codes:

• Do not compromise safety
• Do not increase fab costs
• Increase or maintain flexibility
• Meet new technology needs in the code
  

Importance: The need for such a committee stems from the peculiar needs of semiconductor manufacture. Historically, building and fire codes did not accurately capture the physical requirements of cleanrooms or the need to use a wide variety of chemicals. Some codes, as formulated, would have precluded semiconductor facilities, processes, and chemicals if they were not restructured to allow for these operations. In some parts of the country, in particular California, local authorities were promulgating very restrictive hazardous materials ordinances which would have severely restricted or prohibited semiconductor manufacturing operations in cleanroom facilities as they existed.

SIA Position/Action: Originally, the FABS effort was divided regionally: a group in the West dealt primarily with the Unified Building and Unified Fire Codes; a group in the East dealt with BOCA and NFPA; and a group in the South dealt with the Southern Codes. In each venue, SIA contracted with code experts who represented our interests at code setting meetings. FABS members have also represented SIA and their respective companies in developing local ordinances.

In recent years there has been a consolidation of code writing authorities from the numerous entities in existence to two major factions, International Codes and NFPA. To address this new situation, the FABS Committee was reorganized into one U.S. based effort and consultants for the International code process and the NFPA process were retained. While most states appear to be following the International Code Council, the newly reformed group is following the development of both sets of codes to insure that semiconductor manufacturing requirements are adequately represented in these new codes. Key code change successes in the current timeframe include the following:

• Exceptions to requirement of annual testing of Life Safety Systems (LSS)
• Increased HPM storage in fab areas
• Increased workstation chemical limits (toxics, oxidizers)
• Ozone exemption for H5 occupancy
• Provided an exemption to plenum definition for semiconductor facilities
• Ventilation reduction for H5 outside of HPM areas
• Providing input to proposals for adding SAGS (Sub-atmospheric Gas Delivery Systems to the ICC

This activity has implications for both domestic and international manufacture of semiconductors. A manufacturer, or a company that utilizes overseas manufacturers, should understand whether or not the manufacturing facilities used offer protections comparable to those in the US. There have been notable instances when foreign cleanrooms have had to be shut down or destroyed because of conditions that our codes would not allow, especially with respect to chemical storage and materials of construction. Loss of a facility could greatly impact a foundry user's ability to meet its customer demand. Participation on the FABS committee could greatly enhance the ability to recognize potential problems and to make better selections of manufacturing facilities.