21 CFR Part 211 · Current Good Manufacturing Practice for Finished Pharmaceuticals

§ 211.42 Design and construction features

Subpart C - Buildings and Facilities Official text on eCFR Amendment history

(a) Any building or buildings used in the manufacture, processing, packing, or holding of a drug product shall be of suitable size, construction and location to facilitate cleaning, maintenance, and proper operations.

(b) Any such building shall have adequate space for the orderly placement of equipment and materials to prevent mixups between different components, drug product containers, closures, labeling, in-process materials, or drug products, and to prevent contamination. The flow of components, drug product containers, closures, labeling, in-process materials, and drug products through the building or buildings shall be designed to prevent contamination.

(c) Operations shall be performed within specifically defined areas of adequate size. There shall be separate or defined areas or such other control systems for the firm's operations as are necessary to prevent contamination or mixups during the course of the following procedures:

(1) Receipt, identification, storage, and withholding from use of components, drug product containers, closures, and labeling, pending the appropriate sampling, testing, or examination by the quality control unit before release for manufacturing or packaging;

(2) Holding rejected components, drug product containers, closures, and labeling before disposition;

(3) Storage of released components, drug product containers, closures, and labeling;

(4) Storage of in-process materials;

(5) Manufacturing and processing operations;

(6) Packaging and labeling operations;

(7) Quarantine storage before release of drug products;

(8) Storage of drug products after release;

(9) Control and laboratory operations;

(10) Aseptic processing, which includes as appropriate:

(i) Floors, walls, and ceilings of smooth, hard surfaces that are easily cleanable;

(ii) Temperature and humidity controls;

(iii) An air supply filtered through high-efficiency particulate air filters under positive pressure, regardless of whether flow is laminar or nonlaminar;

(iv) A system for monitoring environmental conditions;

(v) A system for cleaning and disinfecting the room and equipment to produce aseptic conditions;

(vi) A system for maintaining any equipment used to control the aseptic conditions.

(d) Operations relating to the manufacture, processing, and packing of penicillin shall be performed in facilities separate from those used for other drug products for human use.

Independent copy, not an official legal edition. 21 CFR is a U.S. Government work in the public domain; this text comes from the eCFR and the annual CFR edition, and may lag recent amendments. The authoritative version is on ecfr.gov. Compliome is not affiliated with or endorsed by FDA. Not legal advice.

What FDA inspectors cite under § 211.42

Form FDA 483 observations citing this section, fiscal years 2009–2026 (Drugs).

  • Environmental Monitoring System 451
  • Cleaning System 313
  • Defined areas of adequate size for operations 182
  • Buildings of Suitable Size, Construction, Location 142
  • Air Supply 93
  • Equipment to control conditions 90

Warning letters citing § 211.42

191 FDA warning letters since 2017 cite this section ; the most recent:

FDA guidance that cites § 211.42

Amendment history

Federal Register documents that created or amended this section.