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21 CFR 211.42

Design and construction features. This section left the CFR when the QMSR took effect on Feb 2, 2026; the text below is as of Feb 1, 2026.

  • Inspections citing it: 1,648
  • Of those classified, ended OAI: 56%
  • Last cited: FY2026

Inspections Citing It by Fiscal Year

Sites in and outside the US, FY2017 to Oct 20, 2026.

Paragraphs Cited

As FDA posts them, all years.

211.42(c)(10)(iv)
452 · Environmental Monitoring System
211.42(c)(10)(v)
313 · Cleaning System
211.42(c)
183 · Defined areas of adequate size for operations
211.42(a)
142 · Buildings of Suitable Size, Construction, Location
211.42(c)(10)(iii)
94 · Air Supply
211.42(b)
90 · Adequate space lacking to prevent mix-ups and contamination
211.42(c)(10)(vi)
90 · Equipment to control conditions
211.42(c)(10)
72 · Aseptic Processing Area

Regulation Text

eCFR, as of Feb 1, 2026

(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.

Open 21 CFR 211.42 on eCFR

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Counts are inspections with posted citations that cite any paragraph of the section, once per inspection, from FDA's Data Dashboard. OAI share is over inspections FDA finally classified. Text from eCFR, the official online CFR. FDA Data Dashboard and eCFR

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