Ducts must be sufficiently leak-proof to ensure economic and quiet performance of the system.
SMACNA provides all standards for duct construction and duct leak test.
Concerns for energy conservation, humidity control, space temperature control, room air movement, ventilation, maintenance, etc., necessitate regulating leakage by prescriptive measures in construction standards. Leakage is largely a function of static pressure and the amount of leakage in a system is significantly related to system size. A Duct Leakage Test is a diagnostic procedure to measure the airtightness of forced air HVAC ductwork.
Adequate airtightness can normally be ensured by;