Policy on Renewal of Accreditation and Granting
an Extension of Accreditation to an Accredited Laboratory
A laboratory which is accredited by ASCLD/LAB under either the Legacy program or the ASCLD/LAB-International program is expected to remain compliant with the standards under which the laboratory is accredited, throughout the full five-year cycle of the accreditation.
In order to continue accreditation beyond the five-year accreditation cycle, a laboratory must submit a new application to ASCLD/LAB, with all required supporting documentation, and undergo a full assessment of the laboratory. The on-site assessment and any required corrective actions should be completed in sufficient time for the Board of Directors to consider renewal of accreditation prior to the expiration of the laboratory’s current accreditation cycle.
To avoid a disruption in accreditation, a laboratory must submit an application for accreditation (with all required documentation including the conformance file) in sufficient time for ASCLD/LAB to review and accept the application. An on-site assessment of a laboratory will not be scheduled until the application is found to be complete and accepted.
Applications for renewal of accreditation should be received by ASCLD/LAB at least nine (9) months prior to the expiration of accreditation to minimize the likelihood of a lapse in accreditation.
Under unusual circumstances, ASCLD/LAB may consider granting a short term extension of accreditation to a currently accredited laboratory which is actively engaged in the process of renewal of accreditation and has demonstrated a history of continued conformance with accreditation standards.
ASCLD/LAB has no obligation to extend the accreditation of laboratories who fail to complete the re-accreditation process prior to the expiration date. ASCLD/LAB will consider a written request for an extension of accreditation, on a case by case basis, from laboratories under the following conditions:
- The laboratory has submitted a complete application for renewal of accreditation prior to the expiration of the laboratory’s current accreditation
- The laboratory has a demonstrated history of conformance with ASCLD/LAB’s standards for accreditation
- The request for extension of accreditation includes a statement from the laboratory director verifying that the laboratory does not have any outstanding substantive quality related issues that have not been reported to ASCLD/LAB
- The request for extension of accreditation is received by ASCLD/LAB in sufficient time for the Board of Directors to consider the request prior to the expiration date
- The request includes a statement of reasonable justification for the requested extension
Requests for extension of accreditation must be in writing to the Executive Director and signed by the Laboratory Director.
Only under extenuating circumstances will the Board of Directors consider an extension of accreditation up to one year from the date of expiration of accreditation.
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