RECORDREFERENCE OUTLINE

CLIA Compliance Record

Compliance record for the US federal regime that attaches to the testing site rather than the organisation, so every location performing testing needs its own certificate. Determines test complexity, from which everything else follows; matches personnel criteria to that level as criteria rather than titles; enrols in proficiency testing per regulated specialty; and states the proficiency-sample prohibitions whose sanctions do not distinguish motive. Maps to 42 CFR Part 493.

What a template is not

A template is a document baseline to adapt inside your own quality system. SPEQ does not approve, validate, or take responsibility for what you issue from it, and using one is not evidence of compliance.

CHECKING ACCESS

Checking your Professional access…

REGULATIONS MAPPED
42 CFR Part 493
DOCUMENT TYPE
Record
LAST UPDATED
August 2026
PURPOSE

The US clinical laboratory regime is federal law, applies to any site testing human specimens for health assessment or the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of disease, and attaches to the site rather than the organisation. A physician office running a single test is within it. The determination that governs everything else is test complexity, and it is made per test, by the site, before the first result leaves the building.

What's Inside

Site and certificate details recorded per physical location, including locations nobody calls a laboratory
Test complexity determination per test, from which the personnel and quality requirements follow
Personnel requirements expressed as criteria met and evidenced, rather than as job titles assigned
Proficiency testing enrolment per regulated specialty, with the enrolling programme named for each
Proficiency sample handling prohibitions, stated where the people handling samples will actually read them
Performance specifications established before patient testing, and the quality control rules being applied
Change log for tests added or modified, because a new test can outgrow the existing certificate

How to Use It

1Certify per site; an organisation-level certificate does not exist, and the omitted locations are the ones nobody thinks of as laboratories
2Determine complexity before testing begins — a test above what the certificate covers puts every result it produced in question
3Evidence each personnel requirement as a criterion met, with the document that proves it, rather than recording a job title
4Enrol per regulated specialty you actually perform, and check enrolment again whenever the test menu changes
5Never refer or discuss a proficiency sample before the deadline; the sanctions do not distinguish motive or intent
6Establish performance specifications before patient testing, and record the quality control rules you will apply to each test
DOCUMENT CONTENTS

The full section structure of this template — every section and sub-section, so you can use it as a baseline for your own site document.

Document Control
Document InformationApproval SignaturesRevision HistoryDistribution List
1The Regime and the Site
2Test Complexity Determination
3Personnel Requirements
4Proficiency Testing Enrolment by Specialty
5Proficiency Sample Handling — The Prohibitions
6Performance Specifications and Quality Control
REGULATORY CONTEXT

42 CFR Part 493 implements the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments — certificate types by test complexity, personnel qualification requirements at each level, proficiency testing enrolment and the handling prohibitions, and the performance specifications a laboratory establishes before reporting patient results. It does not classify your particular test menu or decide which of your locations is a testing site; those determinations belong to the organisation operating them. The record structure here is SPEQ practitioner synthesis, and SPEQ neither certifies nor accredits any laboratory.

MAPPED STANDARDS
42 CFR Part 493
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