Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for environmental testing laboratories.
A checklist built from how environmental testing laboratories work, to print or save as a PDF and bring to any supplier meeting.
What the software should cover
Tick each one that matters to your business.
- Sampling requests and field schedules
- Chain of custody and sample receipt
- Test orders and holding times
- Batches and quality control samples
- Instrument and standards register
- Result review and certificate of analysis
- Orders, partner tests and invoicing
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For the laboratory manager
- For field samplers
- For analysts
- For the quality manager
- For clients
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Samples by stage and by days to holding limit
- Turnaround by method and client
- Quality control results by batch and analyst
- Instruments and standards due for calibration or replacement
- Reports issued, corrected and withdrawn
- Revenue by client, matrix and test
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- Instrument result files
- Barcode and label printers
- Accounting software export
- Field tablets
- Client portal
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Is this the same as software for a clinical laboratory?
- Does it record chain of custody in the field?
- How does it warn about holding times?
- Can it compare results with permit limits?
- What happens when a result is corrected after issue?
- Can we bring results in from our instruments?
- Can several sites send samples to one laboratory?
- Who owns the test data?
- How is the price decided?
- Does a small laboratory need it?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Chain of custody is on paper
- Holding times pass unnoticed
- Instrument and quality records are separate
- Reports are typed from bench sheets
- Turnaround is promised without a view of the queue
Prefer to talk it through? See the environmental testing laboratories page.