When a split-system serves a SCIF, its refrigerant lines have to cross the secure perimeter, and the moment a copper line passes through that wall, it stops being a simple HVAC detail and becomes part of the facility’s security boundary.
ICD 705 (Intelligence Community Directive 705) governs how that boundary is established, and a refrigerant-line penetration must meet it on multiple fronts.
This guide consolidates what ICD 705 requires for a refrigerant-line penetration in one place.
First Principle: Keep Penetrations to a Minimum
ICD 705 treats the SCIF perimeter as a continuous, unified security boundary; a wall that meets spec means little if a penetration through it is left untreated. The guiding rule is to keep penetrations of perimeter walls, floors, and ceilings to a minimum, and to route what you can around the boundary rather than through it. Every penetration you do need becomes something that has to be sealed, documented, and, for a metallic line, electrically treated.
The Three Requirements Every Refrigerant-Line Penetration Must Meet
A refrigerant line crossing the perimeter must be addressed on three fronts. Miss any one, and the penetration can fail accreditation, even if the other two are handled.
| Requirement | What it covers | How it’s satisfied |
| Physical / security seal | The opening can’t leave a gap in the continuous boundary | Sleeve the line and seal the annular space with non-shrink grout or approved sealant; log the penetration on the as-built record |
| Acoustic | Speech inside the SCIF must not be intelligible outside | Acoustic sealant at the penetration so it doesn’t compromise the wall’s sound rating |
| Electrical / TEMPEST | A metallic line is a potential carrier of signal across the boundary | Ground the line, or install a dielectric break, as directed by the CTTA’s review (covered below) |
The first two are handled by the general trades finishing the wall. The third is the one specific to the refrigerant line as a conductor, and it’s where the design decision lives.
The Electrical Requirement: Grounding or a Dielectric Break
Because a copper refrigerant line is metallic, it’s treated as a potential path for a signal to leave the secure space. The required treatment is set per facility by its TEMPEST authority, the CTTA (Certified TEMPEST Technical Authority), through the facility’s security review.
Two methods are accepted: grounding the line to the building’s grounding system at the boundary or installing a dielectric refrigerant line break to electrically isolate it. Where the review calls for the line to be electrically isolated rather than grounded, a dielectric break is the method that delivers it.
We cover that decision in depth in our guide to grounding or a dielectric break. For this guide, the key point is that electrical treatment is a distinct, required step, separate from sealing the opening.
Documentation and Inspection
ICD 705 compliance is verified, not assumed. Penetrations are recorded on a penetration log and as-built documentation is maintained throughout construction, not assembled afterward, because a boundary gap discovered late can mean opening finished walls to remediate, which is one of the more common causes of accreditation delay.
For a refrigerant-line penetration, that record should show how the opening was sealed and how the line was electrically treated, consistent with the CTTA’s determination.
EKFox Gear: The Purpose-Built Break for SCIF Refrigerant Penetrations
Sealing and acoustic treatment are standard construction; the electrical isolation is the piece that has always been hard to source, because a refrigerant line is a sealed, high-pressure copper circuit, and the isolation component has to hold refrigerant service pressures while breaking the electrical path.
That’s the problem EKFox Gear was built to solve.
We manufacture the only patented non-conductive refrigerant line break engineered specifically for SCIF and secure-facility HVAC, a dielectric break that delivers true electrical isolation of the refrigerant line while standing up to real refrigerant pressures.
It’s available in eight sizes to match every standard split-system line, ships with the drawings and specs your submittals need, and gives MEP engineers, contractors, and procurement teams a compliant, off-the-shelf component instead of a field workaround.
When your TEMPEST review calls for isolation rather than grounding, EKFox Gear provides your design team with a solution built for that.
Explore the full size range and pressure ratings, or contact us to discuss your project. We’ll help you specify the right break for your installation.
