I am assuming this is a double-sided board from your description - DSPTH. Double sided boards rarely go through desmear processes that would remove drill smeal on the outer foil as compared to multilayer board. Therefore in the distant past "smear" found on doublesided boards was not considered to be a concern and because there was the entire land connection on the surface foil. Therefore your boards should be ok and compliant with the specification if the separation/contamination does not extend "around the knee". The current rev of 6012 that allows separation/contamination not only at the interface between plating and foil, but also between any plating interface at this area is another story and I don't want to start that battle. Susan Mansilla Technical Director Robisan Lab --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt delivery of Technet send the following message: SET Technet NOMAIL Search previous postings at: www.ipc.org > On-Line Resources & Databases > E-mail Archives Please visit IPC web site (http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm) for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------