A Practical Guide
to Moving to a New
Site for Public Health
Laboratories:
Additional Tips
This project was 100% funded with federal funds from a federal program of $676,628. This publication
was supported by Cooperative Agreement # U60HM000803 funded by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the
official views of CDC or the Department of Health and Human Services.
National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (IP)
Office of Surveillance, Epidemiology and Laboratory Services (OSELS)
National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STDs and TB Prevention (PS)
National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-borne, and Enteric Diseases (CK)
National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH)
Coordinating Office for Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response (CTPER)
© Copyright 2015, Association of Public Health Laboratories. All Rights Reserved.
Table of Contents
Section 1: Advance Prep 3
Pre-move Precautions to Minimize Post-move Hassles 6
Section 2: On The Move 8
Section 3: Settling In 9
A Practical Guide to Moving to a New Site for Public Health Laboratories: Additional Tips 1
Planning the laboratory move a year in advance helped the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets stay organized
2 ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC HEALTH LABORATORIES
In April 2012, APHL published the first Practical Guide to Moving to a New
Site for Public Health Laboratories. In the three years since then, several
APHL member laboratories have had first-hand experiences relocating
their operations to more modern, more sophisticated facilities. This follow-
up moving guide captures additional lessons learned to help take the
stress out of moving day . . . and the weeks and months that follow. As
with the first guide, the goal is to help you save time and resources and to
have the smoothest moving experience possible.
Section 1: Advance Prep
Relocating a modern public health laboratory is a complex undertaking, which most laboratory
professionals will experience only once in their careers. Begin preparing about a year in advance
to allow time to work through the state or local government purchasing and bid process and to
handle the myriad details — some unexpected — that arise during a laboratory move. As one
laboratory director has said, if you want a smooth transition, “plan, plan, plan, plan.”
• Who’s done this before? In addition to checking with APHL to identify member laboratories
that have moved in recent years, consider contacting local academic and hospital
laboratories that have relocated, as well. Colleagues can recommend qualified vendors;
share move manuals and scope-of-work language from move contracts; and provide other
advice. If funding allows, consider issuing a RFP for a moving consultant. Others have found
relocation consultants very helpful.
• Contracting issues: It is critical to get the laboratory
relocation services and moving contracts right. Therefore,
have staff experts review contract scope-of-work language Uncrating
pertaining to their area of expertise, such as chain-of-
custody or hazardous waste disposal. Some laboratories Make sure your contract
have used a relocation services company that then
subcontracted with the local moving company. In addition, for moving instrumentation
be aware that either the laboratory or the relocation
services company will need to contract (or sub-contract) includes uncrating. At least
separately with each equipment vendor before moving
instruments under restricted maintenance or warranty
one laboratory discovered the
agreements (so as not to void the agreements). Vendors hard way the inconvenience
may want to package, move and/or revalidate the
instruments themselves. caused by failure to do so.
A Practical Guide to Moving to a New Site for Public Health Laboratories: Additional Tips 3
• Notify regulatory agencies: Notify all relevant regulatory agencies — CDC, CMS, EPA, FDA,
CAP, DEA, state pharmacy board, etc. — well in advance of a laboratory move and plan for
re-licensing and re-accreditation. While some agencies may confer provisional approval for
the laboratory to begin accepting samples immediately in its new space, others may require
re-inspection before samples can be accepted. Be prepared to provide laboratory floor plans,
quality control plans, security plans, etc.
• Minimize disruptions for clients: Consider how to eliminate or minimize down time and/or
give clients plenty of time to plan around the laboratory’s down time. In some cases, it may
be possible to do advance testing for some clients or to plan the move during a slow period
for major customers.
• Keep staff in the loop: Be sure to keep staff well informed about the new building’s progress,
general moving plans and their specific move responsibilities, including knowing what
they will have to do to validate laboratory instrumentation after it is relocated. Laboratory
scientists should tour their new areas as they are being built to assure the workflow is
optimal; it is easier to make changes now than to retrofit later. If key staff members have not
received LEAN training before, now is a good time.
• Prepare staff for culture change: Acclimating to a new environment with clear separation of
“clean” and “dirty” zones, and, perhaps, expanded restricted access zones will be a culture
change for many laboratorians, who may be accustomed to wearing lab coats and gloves at
their desks and conferring with colleagues in other parts of the facility that may now be off-
limits to them. A pre-move orientation is helpful to explain the new work rules.
• Minimize supplies on hand: Although it is challenging while a laboratory is operating every
day, try to postpone as many reagent orders as possible. Instead, have new stock sent to the
new facility. In addition, instruct staff to discard/recycle any superfluous/antiquated office
and laboratory materials on hand; obviously, the less stuff you have, the less you have to
move. It is a good idea to have extra trash and recycling bins available for laboratory “clean-
up days” and to conduct several sweeps of the lab to ensure full compliance.
• What to do with select agents? Laboratories that have moved in the post-9/11 era have
handled select agents in several different ways: (1) destroyed them and restocked after
the move, (2) shipped them to the new laboratory via a certified select agent shipper, such
as FedEx, (3) stored them temporarily at another select agent facility, for retrieval after the
move, and (4) transported them during the move, with mandated security and safeguards.
If select agents are moved, regulatory agencies, including the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services and CDC, must be notified well in advance; risk assessments and security
escorts may be required.
4 ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC HEALTH LABORATORIES
• What to do with gases? As with select agents,
some laboratories have chosen not to move
cartridges of argon, nitrogen, helium and other “Advise people to make absolutely
gases. Instead, they have chosen to return sure the new lab has the power
unused stock to vendors and have a fresh requirements they’re expecting.
stock of gas at the new facility, ready for use Don’t believe [the builders and
upon arrival. certifying agents]. Be there when
they’re testing things.”
• What to do with controlled substances? If you
don’t want to deal with the hassle of moving Dan Rice, DrPH
these, consider destroying them too. Former Director, NY State Food Laboratory
• What to do with forensic samples?
Return as many samples as possible to law
enforcement agencies before the move. For
remaining evidentiary specimens, such as DWI
specimens, you will have to inventory freezers,
seal freezers with evidence tape, have staff
escort freezers with a constant line of sight so
as not to break the chain of custody, and then
re-inventory contents in the new space.
• Identifiable health records: Confidential health information is subject to HIPAA regulations
and must be moved in a secure manner.
• Don’t Throw it All Away. Recycle! Supply ample recycling bins and encourage staff to
recycle whatever they can, rather than sending items to an incinerator or landfill. As noted
in the 2012 Practical Guide, some unneeded items may be appropriate for donation to
local charities. In addition, older, decontaminated biosafety cabinets and other unwanted
equipment can be sold as surplus or given to colleges or universities. Remember to check
policies for disposition of equipment.
• Service transfers: Likely, phone service, postal service, courier services, UPS and FedEx
deliveries, etc., will need to be ongoing in both the old and new locations during a lengthy move.
• Read the owner’s manual: Most new buildings have been designed with flexibility in mind.
Have your design professional document the specific features that have been incorporated
into the design to make your building adaptable over time. Another good idea is to have your
design professional discuss these features with the entire laboratory staff at a brown bag
“lunch and learn” presentation. An appreciation of the new building’s inherent flexibility may
help to keep in the old building the bad habits learned while dealing with its idiosyncrasies.
A Practical Guide to Moving to a New Site for Public Health Laboratories: Additional Tips 5
Pre-move Precautions to Minimize Post-move Hassles
• Keep an eye on the new facility: Don’t let packing distract you from important oversight of
the new facility. Just a few things (among many) to consider as the new laboratory is under
construction: (1) Does the new lab have extra-tall doors and elevators in strategic locations
to accommodate large scale instrumentation? (It may not be too late to add them in.) (2)
Are electrical plug configurations and voltage/amps adequate to avoid circuit overloads?
(3) Do all fans vent in the appropriate direction? (4) Do water softening agents bypass the
distillation system for ultra-pure water (to avoid residues in mass spectrometers, etc.)? (5)
Do floors with drainage systems slope toward the drain? (6) Have all gas carrier lines been
purged of air and checked for leaks? Laboratories have discovered problems in each of these
areas in the past.
It is a good idea to have your maintenance team on-site in the new building as plumbing, HVAC,
electrical and other key systems are installed. Your staff has intimate knowledge of public health
laboratory needs and can both spot any potential trouble spots and gain familiarity with the new
building’s innards.
• Commissioning agent: It is standard practice to have a commissioning agent certify that the
new building meets design specifications prior to occupancy. However, most commissioning
agents work primarily with office buildings, not complex public health laboratories. Moreover,
a public health laboratory may be the most complex facility a state ever constructs, and
officials may not realize all of the specialized technology a certifying agent will need to review.
Thus, it is important to enlist a commissioning agent or agents with appropriate technical
expertise and a clear and comprehensive set of deliverables. It is far less expensive and
more efficient to identify problems before the building is certified and occupied.
• Pay special attention to BSL-3 spaces: Be sure any BSL-3 construction occurs fairly early
in the building process and undergoes extra scrutiny, as BSL-3 suites have been the most
common problem-prone areas that have delayed other public health laboratories from fully
occupying their new buildings. Consider contracting with a BSL-3 laboratory design expert
to review the HVAC and other design elements of the high containment BSL-3 suites before
construction even begins. Another recommendation from laboratory directors who have been
through a move is to have a third party verification of the BSL-3 suites once construction and
commissioning is completed, to ensure that the high-containment lab spaces are indeed safe
to occupy and use.
• Maintain good communications with governmental project overseers: To the extent
possible, make sure no late design changes are made without laboratory input. It has
happened that critical elements have been value-engineered out of a laboratory design, only
to be put back later—at far greater inconvenience and expense.
6 ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC HEALTH LABORATORIES
• Plan for increased operating costs: Assuming
the new laboratory is bigger than the old, you
“We estimated that, since we were
will need to plan for increased costs for utilities,
phones, computers, etc. If these operating doubling our space and building in
costs are funded through the state legislature, more complex systems, our utility
you may need to alert them well in advance of costs would triple. Triple was
the relevant appropriations cycle. You will also about right”
need to plan in extra funding for building safety
permitting. David Mills, PhD, HCLD
Director, NM Scientific Laboratory Division
• Building warranty: It is not unusual for a
building warranty to become active upon
state approval of a certificate of substantial
completion. If the building only has a standard,
one-year warranty, and it is activated several
months before occupancy, laboratory staff will
not have an opportunity to spend four seasons in the building before the warranty expires. If
at all possible, either secure a multi-year warranty or delay warranty activation until after the
move is completed and the laboratory is in operation.
• Review service and maintenance contracts: Working in one building for many years
accustoms you to “business as usual.” Make sure you are able to transfer the terms and
conditions of existing service and maintenance contracts to the new location. Alternatively,
now might be the time to modify these agreements to better serve your new needs.
• Maintain an ongoing dialogue with your funding agency: If the laboratory requires fixes
after the move, you may need to request extra funding.
• Miscellaneous: About eight months out, begin writing plans for emergency evacuation,
security, biosafety, chemical hygiene, emergency response, quality assurance, etc. All of
these must be in place before you move in. In addition, plan visits with the fire department to
have a rapid entry system installed for emergency access (such as a knox box) and identify
your local police department (local, state or university) and local emergency responders.
Some laboratory directors have taken local first responders on tours of the new facility to
maintain dialogue and assure their awareness of laboratory hazards.
A Practical Guide to Moving to a New Site for Public Health Laboratories: Additional Tips 7
Section 2: On The Move
• Have a plan for what should move first, what should move last: One approach laboratories
have used is to first move staff and equipment for which the risk and consequences of failure
are less great, such as maintenance and mailroom staff and office supplies. It may also be
possible to move individual laboratories sequentially, so only one lab is down at a time, and
to have equipment moved and re-commissioned overnight.
• Secure and retain instrument documentation: Once vendors have re-commissioned
instruments, don’t let them leave without supplying written documentation indicating that
instruments meet factory specifications. You will need this.
• Points of contact: Make sure everyone knows whom to contact — on the laboratory staff
or with the moving company — for specific issues, such as needing extra boxes, needing to
relocate items delivered to the wrong spot or reporting move-related injuries or accidents.
Wearing color-coded t-shirts during the move is one option. To maximize efficiency, you may
want to have a team working with the movers in the old laboratory and in the new laboratory,
with a runner in between.
• Report problems pronto! If something
goes awry, let the moving company’s project
An Ounce of Prevention
manager know immediately — and have a Laboratories report the benefit of
feedback mechanism in place to facilitate
this. They can make personnel changes having an electrician and plumber
or other adjustments even as the move is
ongoing, especially if it takes place over on-site at the new facility during
several days or weeks. a move to resolve unexpected
• Yum! Remember, food is a big motivator. problems. In addition, if the old
Pizzas, sandwiches and fresh fruit are a good
investment on move day. lab building has antiquated or few
large scale freight elevators, it is
• Recycling redux: As before the move, make
plans for recycling and waste management a good idea to have an elevator
during the move, which is likely to generate
a tremendous amount of rubbish, including maintenance worker on hand
boxes and crates.
there, as one downed elevator
• Decontamination: After sections of the old could pose a major disruption.
laboratory have been decontaminated, don’t
forget to remove labels (e.g., rabies, syphilis,
HIV, indicating reagents for testing) that might
alarm the building’s next occupants.
• Documentation: For historical, morale-building and publicity reasons, it is a good idea to
have a photographic record of the move, including photos of the vacated building and photos
of the new building post-move.
8 ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC HEALTH LABORATORIES
Section 3: Settling In
After a year spent planning, and then executing, a major laboratory move, you might feel like
taking a break. However, there are some things best done immediately after the relocation.
• Staff welcome packages: It is a nice idea to provide staff with welcome packages on their
first workday in the new facility. Such packages might include laboratory floor plans/mailing
address, basic information about the new phone system, instructions for reporting problems,
instructions for returning/recycling packing materials, information about the local area (e.g.,
recreational trails, lunch spots, etc.) and a lanyard imprinted with the laboratory’s name to
secure picture IDs and electronic access cards.
• The ticking clock: Be diligent about testing all laboratory systems and documenting
problems while the new building is still under warranty.
• Fine-tuning: Expect to continually fine-tune HVAC and other building systems to achieve
optimal operational efficiency. No two buildings are the same even if they all accommodate
the eleven core public health laboratory functions. Outdoor air temperature, humidity and
occupancy all affect the performance of building systems, and it is important to find the
optimal settings for your situation.
• Energy Savings: Consider contacting your local power utility to investigate energy
conservation programs. Many utilities offer monetary incentives — potentially totaling
thousands of dollars/year — to customers willing to reduce power during times of peak
usage. These programs typically have an opt-out option for times when reducing power is not
practicable for the laboratory.
• “Lab of the Year”: Invite your architecture/design firm to submit your new laboratory into the
R&D Magazine “Lab of the Year” competition. Not only does this generate good publicity for
the laboratory, but the award application — usually completed by the design firm at no cost to
the laboratory — documents reams of useful information that might otherwise be forgotten,
such as a list of safety features, costs of various building components, etc. The application
also requires high-quality photographs (usually taken by the design firm) and mini floor plans.
As said one lab director who was nudged into the competition, “It’s the kind of information
you don’t think you’re going to need until someone asks you for it. . . . . I’m glad I did it.”
• After-action review: After you have been in the new building long enough to become familiar
with it, invite the architecture/design firm back for an after-action review to discuss what
works well and what could have been done differently. This will help to improve the quality of
future public health laboratories.
• Laboratory tours: As you are settling in, you may want to invite select partners, such as local
health department staff, other state agency staff and government leaders to tour the new
building (if they haven’t already). Of course, you can also offer colleagues quick, informal
tours when they come to the lab for meetings.
A Practical Guide to Moving to a New Site for Public Health Laboratories: Additional Tips 9
Association of Public Health Laboratories
The Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) is a national nonprofit dedicated to working
with members to strengthen laboratories with a public health mandate. By promoting effective
programs and public policy, APHL strives to provide public health laboratories with the resources and
infrastructure needed to protect the health of US residents and to prevent and control disease globally.
8515 Georgia Avenue, Suite 700
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Phone: 240.485.2745
Fax: 240.485.2700
Web: www.aphl.org
