What Are ICRA Barriers? 3 Types Matched to Class III-V
An ICRA barrier is a sealed partition that holds construction dust and airborne pathogens inside the work zone while patients and staff use the space right next door.
On a live hospital renovation, crews open walls and ceilings a few feet from occupied patient rooms, so the barrier carries the infection-control load. DPR Construction renovated 75% of an active emergency department at Tucson Medical Center behind sealed reusable barriers while patients kept receiving care.
Which barrier a job needs depends on its Infection Control Risk Assessment (ICRA). ICRA sorts every project into a risk class from I to V, and the higher the class, the more the barrier has to do. This guide matches the three barrier types to their ICRA classes and shows you how to choose one.
What Decides Which ICRA Barrier You Need?
Before you touch a healthcare renovation, a documented Infection Control Risk Assessment has to come first. The Joint Commission and the CDC both call for one, and more than 40 states have written it into healthcare construction code through the FGI Guidelines.
An ICRA sorts every job into a Class of Precautions, from I to V, and that class sets the minimum barrier and air controls the work requires.
The ASHE matrix finds the class by crossing the activity type, from A to D, with the patient risk group, from low to highest. ASHE added Class V in ICRA 2.0 for the riskiest pairings: major demolition (Type D) in a high-risk or highest-risk area, or large-scale work (Type C) in a highest-risk area.
Environmental hazards such as mold or asbestos raise the class on their own, to IV in low- and medium-risk areas and to V in high- and highest-risk areas.
Class | Typical trigger | Barrier | Negative air | Anteroom | Permit |
I | Non-invasive, dust-free | None required | No | No | No |
II | Limited-dust maintenance | Basic dust control | No | No | No |
III | Moderate dust (e.g., Type C in medium-risk) | Dust-tight barrier | Only if it can’t be sealed from occupied space | No | Type C only |
IV | Larger work near patients | Rigid, sealed, floor-to-deck | Yes, HEPA | No | Yes |
V | Major demo / highest-risk | Rigid + sealed | Yes, HEPA | Yes | Yes |
Classes I and II sit below the barrier line: Class I covers noninvasive, dust-free work, and Class II covers limited-dust maintenance under approved standing procedures.
The barrier itself has to be impermeable to fungal spores and meet local fire codes, and the job needs an infection control permit at Class III Type C and at every Class IV or V. Your ICRA plan records the class and the permit.
Class III has a catch: Type C work in medium-risk areas and Type D work in low-risk areas should rise to the Class IV negative air exhaust requirements when the work area stays open to occupied patient space.
Which ICRA Barrier Type Fits Your Project?
Three barrier types cover most healthcare jobs, and the risk class plus how often you rebuild the same containment decide which one wins.
Barrier type | Best for | Class fit | Reuse / waste |
Plastic sheeting | Short, low-dust jobs | Lower classes (I–III) | Single-use |
Conventional drywall | Longer runs crews already know | Up to Class IV with sealing | Single-use, landfill |
Modular reusable walls | Repeat or occupied ICRA work | Class IV–V, rigid and airtight | 50+ reuses |
Plastic sheeting handles short, low-dust work, but Class IV jobs usually call for a rigid hard-wall barrier instead. Drywall gives you that rigid barrier with methods crews already know, though trades have to frame it and tear it down, with the waste going to a landfill every time.
Modular reusable walls are the fit when the same containment goes up more than once.
W.E. Bowman ran 5,200 feet of STARC containment across seven phases. The walls paid for themselves after five phases and saved 75% overall versus drywall. A one-off partition that comes down tomorrow is fine in plastic or rented panels; the reusable systems pull ahead once you rebuild the same containment several times.
What Are ICRA Panels?
ICRA panels are the modular version of the rigid barrier above: wall sections that lock together into one airtight surface, the hard-wall option from the barrier types you just compared. They seal at the base with a gasket and connect through a lift-and-drop interface that locks each seam mechanically.
Four STARC panel systems meet that rigid, airtight standard, and each one fits a different hospital scenario:
RealWall™: Our flagship gives long-term, high-visibility corridors a finished look.
LiteBarrier™: It telescopes from 6 ft 10 in to 10 ft 3 in and moves fast during phased unit work.
FireblockWall™: It is the first reusable one-hour fire-rated temporary wall, tested to ASTM E119 for one hour of fire resistance.
StackBarrier™: It stacks up to 40 feet, which makes it our pick for oversized spaces.
RealWall, LiteBarrier, and FireblockWall carry an ASTM E84 Class A rating for flame and smoke spread; StackBarrier offers Class A as an option on select configurations. Our line also exceeds ICRA Class IV and V requirements.
What Are Examples of Infection Control Barrier Techniques?
These are the practices the CDC and ASHE describe:
Contractors hang a plastic dust curtain before they build a rigid barrier.
They seal and tape every joint, including the top and bottom edges, and fit or seal temporary doors.
They run the barrier from floor to the deck above.
They block return air vents when the barrier is rigid.
They check the barrier daily and repair gaps in joints.
They place adhesive mats at the entrance and change shoe covers before exit.
They carry debris in lidded, damp-wiped containers.
When a hard barrier comes down, they never cut the drywall, and they HEPA-vacuum the stud tracks before removing the outer layer.
How Does Negative Pressure Work With a Barrier?
Negative pressure pulls air into the work zone, so the barrier holds contaminated air inside.
Negative air works only as well as the seal on the wall around it. ASHE requires air to cascade from outside to inside, and the entire construction area must stay negatively pressurized.
Class IV and V work adds four air system rules:
Exhaust: Outdoor exhaust skips HEPA filtration when it discharges 25 feet or more from building openings, including air intakes and windows.
Filtration: Indoor exhaust needs HEPA filtration that tests at 99.97% efficiency or better before work starts.
Routing: Exhaust stays dedicated to the containment and bypasses shared or recirculating HVAC and bathroom exhaust.
Monitoring: A device on the outside of the containment tracks pressure continuously. ASHE recommends one with a visual pressure indicator so crews can confirm negative pressure at a glance.
STARC negative air panels build in the duct collars that connect HEPA or negative air machines, plus pressure ports for the monitor, so the exhaust and monitoring hardware mounts to the wall itself.
When Do You Need an Anteroom?
Class V work always needs an anteroom. A Class V anteroom sits next to the construction zone with room for equipment staging.
An anteroom has one door to the corridor and one to the work area. Workers shed PPE there and wipe down tools before they step back out.
We recommend an anteroom when:
The work runs directly beside patient rooms or procedure areas that stay open.
The scope reaches isolation rooms.
The job ties into shared HVAC that serves high-risk patients or critical care.
The ICRA team flags the work as higher risk for dust or airborne pathogens.
Demolition opens ceilings or walls above active units.
A simple dust barrier covers short, low-dust work that the hospital rates low risk. Offices and admin space on separate HVAC also qualify.
What Should You Check Before Choosing ICRA Barriers?
Five questions narrow your ICRA barriers to one system before you request a quote:
What class did the ICRA assign? Infection prevention assigns the class, and every other choice below builds on it.
How long will the walls stay up, and how often will you rebuild them? Our rent or buy guidance puts the break at four months. Renting usually costs less for one to four months, and buying often wins beyond that.
Does the code call for a fire rating? Ask the authority having jurisdiction. RealWall and LiteBarrier carry an ASTM E84 Class A rating, and FireblockWall adds the one-hour rating.
How much noise can the neighbors take? FireblockWall tests at STC 40, and RealWall at STC 21. When patients are trying to rest on the other side of the wall, the higher number is what keeps the demo from reaching them.
Who signs off before the wall comes down? For Class IV and V, ASHE requires an infection preventionist and an engineering representative to inspect before downgrading precautions. The barrier stays up until the cleaning finishes. Lockable doors and pressure ports keep the area secure until then.
Run your answers through the Wall Wizard to match a STARC system, or request a quote for your ICRA barriers.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does ICRA stand for?
ICRA stands for Infection Control Risk Assessment. Healthcare teams run one before construction work starts to find infection risks and set the barrier and air controls that contain them.
What are infection control barriers in construction?
Infection control barriers in construction include airtight walls that separate the work zone from patient areas. Negative air supports them, and Class V work adds an anteroom.
Which class of ICRA is the most serious?
Class V is the most serious ICRA class. It covers major demolition (Type D) in high-risk and highest-risk areas and large-scale work (Type C) in highest-risk areas, and it requires an anteroom.
What are the requirements for an ICRA construction checklist?
An ICRA construction checklist starts with the activity type (A to D) and patient risk group, which produce a precaution class (I to V). It then lists the required controls and sign-offs, from the project narrative through commissioning sign-off. A thorough ICRA plan breaks this into 12 components.
