Planning a laboratory relocation or managing a lab move? Whether you’re a scientist, lab manager, or facilities lead, this glossary helps you understand every term involved, from lab relocation planning and logistics to regulatory compliance and vendor coordination. Use it to avoid common mistakes, reduce downtime, and ensure a smooth transition.
Construction and Infrastructure
Lab Relocation Planning and Documentation
Equipment Handling and Maintenance
Lab Inventory Management and Space Planning
Lab Move Logistics and Equipment Transportation
Compliance, Safety, and Laboratory Move Protocols
Vendor, Supplier, and Landlord Relations
Construction and Infrastructure
- Accessibility: Ensuring facility accommodations for individuals with disabilities, such as wheelchair ramps and accessible restrooms.
- Build-Out Permitting: Obtaining required construction permits, ensuring compliance with building regulations.
- Clear Heights: Vertical space available between floor and ceiling crucial for ventilation, utilities, and safe equipment movement.
- Compatibility: Infrastructure suitability for specialized lab equipment and machinery.
- General Contractors: Professionals overseeing building projects, subcontractors, and adherence to specifications.
- MEP Engineering: Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing design and integration, essential for operational efficiency.
Lab Relocation Planning and Documentation
- Contingency Planning: Preparing for unforeseen events or challenges that may arise during the relocation process, such as equipment damage or delays in transportation.
- Data Backup and Recovery: Backing up electronic data and ensuring its secure transfer to the new location, as well as implementing procedures for data recovery in case of unexpected loss or corruption during relocation.
- Documentation: Maintaining records such as packing lists, inventory logs,
- and validation reports for the purpose of tracking relocation progress.
- Feasibility and Construction Narratives: Evaluating potential buildings for lab suitability and identifying necessary modifications.
Bonus resource: 10 Key Considerations for Evaluating New Lab Sites - Lab Relocation: The process of moving laboratory equipment, instruments, materials, and personnel from one location to another.
- Lab Relocation Specialist: Professionals experienced in coordinating and overseeing the relocation of laboratory facilities. They manage various aspects of the relocation process, including inventory assessment, equipment packing and transportation, regulatory compliance, safety protocols, and coordination with vendors and contractors.
- New Site Start-Up: Initiating operations at the new facility, including staffing and procurement setup. Biotech procurement software solutions like ZAGENO can help streamline this phase by consolidating lab supply sourcing, vendor setup, and inventory replenishment into one simple interface, reducing the chaos of a new lab launch.
- Risk Assessment: Evaluating hazards associated with relocation, ensuring personnel and equipment safety.
- Tenant Support and Services: Maintenance, repairs, and support services provided by the landlord or property management.
- Value Engineering: Identifying cost-effective construction alternatives.
Environmental Considerations
- Cold Chain Management: The specialized handling and transportation of temperature-sensitive materials, such as biological samples or reagents, to maintain their integrity and viability during relocation.
- Environmental Monitoring: The assessment of environmental conditions, such as temperature, humidity, and air quality, in the new laboratory location to ensure optimal conditions for sensitive scientific equipment and experiments after relocation.
- Sustainability: Implementing environmentally friendly practices, such as recycling packing materials and reducing waste, during relocation.
Equipment Handling and Maintenance
- Cryogenic Storage Transfer: The careful transfer of samples stored at ultra-low temperatures to minimize the risk of sample damage or thawing during relocation.
- Fume Hood Decommissioning: The process of safely shutting down and deactivating fume hoods, including disconnecting utilities and sealing ductwork, before relocation to prevent the release of hazardous chemicals.
- Installation: Setting up and assembling lab equipment and instruments according to manufacturer specifications.
- Instrument Calibration: The adjustment or verification of laboratory instruments to ensure accurate and reliable measurements pre- and post-relocation.
- Lab Move Insurance: Coverage for potential damages or losses incurred during the relocation of laboratory equipment, materials, and supplies, offering financial protection against unforeseen events such as accidents, breakage, or theft during transit or handling.
- Validation: Ensuring lab equipment and instrument functionality after relocation.
Lab Inventory Management and Space Planning
- Chemical Inventory Management: The tracking and documentation of chemical inventory, including hazardous materials and controlled substances, to ensure compliance with safety regulations and prevent spills or leaks during relocation.
- Inventory Management: The process of cataloging and documenting all laboratory items before, during, and after relocation to ensure nothing is lost or damaged.
Bonus resource: 5 Tips for Better Lab Supply Inventory Management - Lab Equipment Inventory: A comprehensive list or database documenting all equipment, instruments, and apparatuses present in the lab, as well as a wish list for any new equipment to be incorporated into the new laboratory space.
- Lab Supply Replenishment: Restocking necessary lab supplies post-move. If you’re restocking during or after your move, tools like ZAGENO allow you to compare product availability and lead times from thousands of suppliers in real-time, helping you avoid delays and duplication.
- Legacy Site Decommissioning: The process of safely discontinuing operations, dismantling equipment, and returning the previous laboratory site to a safe and environmentally sound condition through decontamination, inspections, and regulatory compliance measures.
- Long-lead Equipment: Essential machinery or instruments that require a lengthy procurement process due to factors such as customization, specialized manufacturing, or limited availability, often necessitating early ordering to ensure timely project completion.
- Space Planning: The process of determining the spatial requirements of a laboratory facility, including equipment inventory, room sizes, and quantities, to ensure an efficient and functional layout.
- Space Program: Strategic plan that optimizes workflow, safety, and efficiency, considering factors such as research needs, equipment requirements, and regulatory compliance. It encompasses the layout of benches, equipment, storage areas, and workstations.
Lab Move Logistics and Equipment Transportation
- Change Orders: Modifications to original construction plans or contracts impacting budgets and timelines.
- Cold Storage Unit: Refrigerated storage equipment used for preserving temperature-sensitive materials or samples in laboratory settings.
- Customs Clearance: The process of obtaining necessary permits and documentation for the international transportation of laboratory equipment and materials across borders during relocation.
- Hazardous Materials Moves: Relocating substances that pose risks to health, safety, or the environment, requiring specialized handling and transport to ensure compliance with regulations.
- Physical Move Planning and Execution: Organizing and conducting the physical relocation of laboratory equipment and supplies to the new facility, involving coordination with experienced movers and ensuring proper handling of critical and sensitive equipment.
- Post-relocation Support: Assisting personnel in adapting to new lab conditions.
- Transportation: The movement of laboratory equipment and materials from the old location to the new location, often involving coordination with transportation companies.
- Specialized Equipment Handling: The careful handling and transportation of large or delicate laboratory equipment, such as centrifuges, mass spectrometers, or electron microscopes, using specialized lifting equipment or techniques during relocation.
Compliance, Safety, and Laboratory Move Protocols
- Compliance: Meeting safety, environmental, and biosecurity relocation regulations.
- Decontamination: Removing or neutralizing contaminants, such as biological agents or hazardous chemicals, from laboratory equipment and surfaces.
- Electrical Safety Inspection: The inspection of electrical systems and outlets in the new lab location to ensure compliance with safety standards and regulations before installing and powering up equipment.
- Hazardous Material Handling: The safe handling, packaging, and transportation of hazardous materials, such as chemicals or radioactive substances, in compliance with regulatory requirements during relocation.
- Regulatory Compliance Verification: The verification of compliance with relevant regulations and guidelines, such as OSHA, EPA, or FDA regulations, in the new laboratory location before resuming operations after relocation.
- Safety and Security Features: The new facility’s inclusion of fire suppression systems, emergency exits, first aid facilities, surveillance cameras, access control systems, and compliance with safety standards and regulations.
- Waste Management Plan: The development of a plan for proper disposal or recycling of laboratory waste, including hazardous materials, packing materials, and obsolete equipment, generated during the relocation process.
Vendor, Supplier, and Landlord Relations
- Contracts and Procurement: Finalizing agreements with contractors and vendors for construction materials, equipment, and supplies needed for the new laboratory space.
- Landlord Move-Out Requirements: Conditions specified in the lease agreement regarding the restoration of the leased space to its original condition upon vacating the premises.
- Lease Negotiations and Execution: The process of negotiating terms and conditions with the landlord of a potential building for the new laboratory facility and finalizing the lease agreement.
- New Vendor Set Up: Establishing relationships with new suppliers. Some lab procurement platforms, like ZAGENO, eliminate the need for manual vendor onboarding and supplier management by giving you instant access to over 5,300 pre-vetted lab suppliers through a single portal.
- Lab Supply Marketplace: A platform that simplifies and automates lab supply procurement, offering a vast range of supplies from a wide supplier base, providing easier product identification, competitive pricing, streamlined ordering processes, and simplified billing.
- Vendor Coordination: The coordination with equipment vendors and service providers to schedule maintenance, calibration, or installation services before and after relocation to minimize downtime and ensure smooth operations.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- What Is laboratory relocation? Laboratory relocation is the process of moving a research lab or scientific facility from one location to another. It involves a coordinated plan that includes equipment inventory, vendor coordination, transportation, regulatory compliance, and startup procedures at the new site. Whether the move is across town or across the country, successful lab relocations require careful planning, specialized support, and minimal disruption to research activities.
- What does laboratory relocation involve? Laboratory relocation involves the comprehensive process of moving scientific equipment, materials, personnel, and operations from one facility to another. It includes inventory assessment, equipment decommissioning and reinstallation, compliance planning, logistical coordination, and post-move validation to ensure minimal downtime and safety throughout.
- What’s the difference between lab relocation and lab migration? Lab relocation refers to the physical movement of laboratory equipment, assets, and personnel to a new space. Lab migration, on the other hand, typically involves the transfer of data, processes, or digital systems, such as LIMS or procurement software, without necessarily involving a physical move.
- How do you plan a lab relocation? Planning a lab relocation begins with a thorough inventory audit and risk assessment. From there, create a project timeline, assign roles, engage a relocation specialist, coordinate with vendors, establish contingency and compliance plans, and ensure staff are prepared for setup and validation at the new site.
Explore deeper insights on lab relocation best practices in our free ebook, “10 Pitfalls to Avoid When Moving Labs.” Learn how to avoid common mistakes and streamline your relocation process effectively.
