A SCIF must be designed and built to ICD-705 and accredited by the cognizant Accrediting Official. Salian Defense designs the facility, manages cleared construction, and carries the project through accreditation and into operations as one provider, so the compliance discipline is continuous from the first drawing to the accredited space.
A SCIF must be designed and built to ICD-705 and accredited by the cognizant Accrediting Official (AO). Salian Defense designs the facility, produces the compliant layout and drawings, manages cleared construction through its partner stack, and carries the project through accreditation and into operations as one provider.
That single accountable line is the point: the compliance discipline is continuous from the first drawing to the accredited space, instead of being handed across a designer, a builder, and an accreditation consultant who each own one link. You bring the contract. We do everything else.
The turnkey path moves through five phases, each tied to an ICD-705 gate. The table below maps each phase to what it produces and an indicative duration. Actual timing depends on protection level, size, and the accrediting authority's schedule.
| Phase | What happens | Indicative duration |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Requirements and concept | Define protection level, size, location, timeline, and sponsorship. Scope the requirement and return a budgetary ROM. | 2 to 6 weeks |
| 2. ICD-705 design and concept approval | Compliant layout, drawings, and Construction Security Plan, with concept approval from the AO before construction begins. | 1 to 4 months |
| 3. Cleared construction | Build to the approved design with cleared, licensed trades, construction security oversight, sound attenuation, and any RF or TEMPEST shielding verified by measurement. | 2 to 9 months |
| 4. Accreditation | Assemble the body of evidence, complete the Fixed Facility Checklist, and walk the package through inspection and AO sign-off. | 1 to 4 months |
| 5. Operations and sustainment | Stand up the security program and FSO support, then sustain through re-inspections, configuration changes, and re-accreditation. | Program life |
Durations are indicative and overlap in practice. Total time to accredited operation commonly runs 12 to 36 months, and less on suitable, pre-coordinated projects.
Intelligence Community Directive 705 and its Technical Specifications (the TSPM) govern the physical and technical construction of SCIFs, SAPFs, and closed areas: wall and ceiling assemblies, sound attenuation, intrusion detection, access control, and shielding where required.
The National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual, codified at 32 CFR Part 117, governs how cleared contractors handle classified work, including the personnel and program requirements behind a facility clearance and the DD-254 that flows the security requirements down to a contract.
The Fixed Facility Checklist (FFC) documents the as-built facility against ICD-705, and the Construction Security Plan (CSP) governs how the space is protected during construction. Both are assembled as the work proceeds, not reconstructed at the end.
The cognizant Accrediting Official (AO) for the customer's program applies the standards, grants concept approval, inspects the completed space, and signs the accreditation. The package is built to what the AO will actually sign.
The fastest start is the Scope intake: a short, unclassified set of questions on your contract, funding, workforce, and current posture that maps your path to a turnkey accredited facility. If you do not yet hold a facility clearance, the FCL readiness check tells you where you stand before you commit to a build. Both are free, and neither requires anything classified.