Laboratory Relocation Checklist for Research and Clinical Labs

A lab move succeeds or fails months before the trucks show up. The work that matters most is the inventory of hazardous materials, the licence and registration changes that tie your lab to a specific address, and a plan for keeping samples cold and instruments calibrated through the transfer. Physical moving is the shortest phase.

The checklist below is organized by phase so your lab manager, EHS officer and facilities team can each see what belongs to them. It is written for research, quality control and clinical labs in Canada and the US. It is general planning information, not regulatory advice, so confirm specifics with your biosafety officer, radiation safety officer and the agencies that license you.

Six months out: scope and ownership

• Name one lab move lead. Usually the lab manager, working with EHS and facilities. Every PI or group lead should have a single contact for questions.
• Build a room-by-room inventory. Instruments, benches, fume hoods (fixed or not), freezers, incubators, gas cylinders, chemical storage, sample collections and records.
• Classify each item by who moves it. Commercial movers handle furniture, crated instruments and empty equipment. Hazardous chemicals, biological agents, radioactive material and controlled substances are packed and transported by trained lab staff or a licensed dangerous goods carrier, never mixed into a general furniture load.
• Get vendor service contracts out. Many analytical instruments (mass specs, NMR, confocal microscopes, some HPLC systems) have warranty terms that require the manufacturer to decommission and reinstall them. Book those engineers early.
• Confirm the new space is ready for your equipment. Floor loading, electrical circuits and dedicated outlets, gas lines, exhaust, vibration isolation for sensitive instruments, and door and elevator dimensions for the largest pieces.

Licences, registrations and permits that follow your address

Several approvals are tied to a physical location, so the paperwork has to move with the lab.

In Canada

• Human pathogens and toxins licence. Under the Human Pathogens and Toxins Act, work with Risk Group 2 or higher agents is licensed by the Public Health Agency of Canada. A change of location needs to be reported or amended before work restarts, and the new space must meet the containment level in the Canadian Biosafety Standard.
• CNSC nuclear substance licence. If you use radioisotopes or sealed sources, the licence names the rooms where they are used and stored. Plan decommissioning of the old rooms and amend the licence for the new ones.
• Controlled substances. Health Canada exemptions and licences for controlled drugs and precursors are site-specific. Update them before moving any stock.
• Transport of Dangerous Goods. Moving chemicals or specimens on public roads falls under the TDG Regulations, which set classification, packaging, documentation and training requirements.

In the US

• DEA registration. A DEA registration covers a specific address. Moving to a new location requires a modification approved before controlled substances are moved there.
• NRC or Agreement State radioactive materials licence. Like the CNSC, the licence lists authorized locations. Amend it and plan a closeout survey of the old space.
• Select agents. Entities registered with the Federal Select Agent Program need approval for new rooms before agents are moved.
• DOT hazardous materials. Shipping chemicals or regulated specimens by road falls under 49 CFR, which covers packaging, labelling, papers and training.

Three months out: chemicals and samples

• Purge first. Expired reagents, duplicates and unlabeled containers should go to hazardous waste disposal now. Fewer containers means a cheaper, safer move.
• Update the chemical inventory and segregate by hazard class (flammables, oxidizers, acids, bases, water reactives) so packing follows compatibility rules.
• Check labels and safety data sheets against WHMIS in Canada or the OSHA Hazard Communication Standard in the US. Anything without a readable label gets identified or disposed of.
• Inventory sample collections. Record freezer contents by rack and box, decide what to keep, and flag irreplaceable samples for priority handling.
• Plan cold chain transport. Decide which samples travel on dry ice, which go in portable freezers with backup power, and which stay in place while a freezer moves. Reserve dry ice and liquid nitrogen supplies for the move date.
• Gas cylinders. Arrange for the supplier to pick up cylinders and deliver fresh ones to the new site rather than moving them yourself.

One month out: equipment and decontamination

• Decontaminate every piece of equipment that touched chemicals, biological material or radioactive material. Each item should get a signed decontamination tag before movers handle it. Movers can reasonably refuse untagged equipment.
• Biosafety cabinets. These normally need to be decontaminated before relocation and recertified after installation in the new room. Book the certifier for the week after the move.
• Fume hoods. Fixed hoods stay with the building. Benchtop or ductless units may move, but they will need a face velocity test once reinstalled.
• Freezers and refrigerators. Ultra-low freezers should travel upright and be allowed to settle before restart. Manufacturer guidance usually specifies a rest period, so follow it.
• Calibrated instruments. Balances, pipettes, pH meters and any instrument under a QA program will need calibration verification after the move. Plan the paperwork and the time.
• Crating plan. Sensitive optics and analytical equipment may need custom crates, shock indicators and tilt indicators. This is the same discipline used for protecting IT equipment during moves.

Move week

• Label everything twice: the destination room and bench, plus a numbered inventory tag that matches the move list.
• Schedule in a set order. Furniture and casework first, then empty equipment, then instruments with vendor engineers present, then freezers, with samples last so they spend the least time in transit.
• Have lab staff on both ends. Someone who knows the equipment should release items at the old site and receive them at the new one, checking condition before signing.
• Keep a daily log of what moved, who handled it, and any damage or temperature excursions.
• Protect corridors and elevators in both buildings, and confirm loading dock and elevator reservations with property management.

After the move: restart and verification

• Recertify biosafety cabinets and test fume hoods before any hazardous work starts.
• Verify freezer temperatures and alarms for several days before moving samples back in.
• Have vendors reinstall and run performance qualification on major instruments.
• Re-verify calibration on QA-controlled equipment and update your equipment logs with the new location.
• Complete closeout surveys and decommissioning of the old space for radioactive and biological work, and return keys and access cards to the landlord.
• Confirm all licence amendments are approved before restarting regulated work.

How long a lab move usually takes to plan

For a single lab of a few rooms, six months of planning is a comfortable minimum. Larger moves, such as a full floor of research labs or a clinical lab that cannot stop testing, often run nine to twelve months because licence amendments, vendor bookings and phased moves stack on top of each other.

If your lab sits inside a larger office or campus relocation, the lab work tends to set the critical path. The general office relocation timeline still applies to everything around it.

Frequently asked questions

Can regular commercial movers move lab equipment?

Commercial movers can move furniture, casework, empty and decontaminated equipment, and crated instruments. Hazardous chemicals, biological agents, radioactive material and controlled substances should be packed and transported by trained lab staff or a licensed dangerous goods carrier. High-value analytical instruments often need the manufacturer's engineer to decommission and reinstall them to keep the warranty valid.

Do biosafety cabinets need recertification after a move?

Yes, in most cases. Moving a biosafety cabinet can disturb the HEPA filter seals and airflow, so cabinets are normally decontaminated before the move and recertified after installation in the new room. Plan for that certification before any work with biological agents restarts.

How do you keep samples frozen during a lab relocation?

Most labs use a mix of dry ice shippers, liquid nitrogen dewars and portable freezers with backup power, depending on the storage temperature each sample needs. Samples should move last, after the destination freezers are running and stable at temperature. A temperature log for each container helps prove nothing thawed in transit.

How far ahead should you start planning a lab move?

Six months is a reasonable minimum for a small lab, and nine to twelve months is common for larger research or clinical facilities. Licence amendments, vendor engineer schedules and hazardous waste disposal are the items that most often run late.

Plan your lab move with Mobilix

Mobilix plans commercial relocations as projects, including the furniture, crated equipment and coordination around your EHS team and instrument vendors. Lab moves come up often in biotech hubs like Boston and Montréal. Tell us about your lab and timeline and we will follow up in writing with a move plan and a free quote.