Can I leave a through hole pad off one side of a machine-fabricated PCB?

I'm designing a two-layer PCB and I'm very inexperienced. A third-party company will fabricate them. Now, I have a PTH part with a number of closely spaced pins. However, I can't greatly simplify routing by running traces unless I eliminate the pads for certain pins on one side of the board. So can I leave a through hole pad off one side of a machine-fabricated PCB?

PCB Assembly, PCB Design
December 11, 2023

It will be flagged as a defect if inspected by IPC-610 (Class 1,2 or 3). So what you’re trying to do is not acceptable. Damage to one of the pads (top or bottom) is also a defect.

I have seen boards where the pad is not a perfect circle (like an ellipse) to make space for traces to go in between. This seems acceptable.

Oliver Smith

Oliver is an experienced electronics engineer skilled in PCB design, analog circuits, embedded systems, and prototyping. His deep knowledge spans schematic capture, firmware coding, simulation, layout, testing, and troubleshooting. Oliver excels at taking projects from concept to mass production using his electrical design talents and mechanical aptitude.

Oliver Smith

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