What is the ELAP Certification and why is it important?
We are happy to announce that Q Laboratories is now approved by the New York State Department of Health’s Environmental Laboratory Approval Program (ELAP). New York ELAP approval is required in New York as part of the Protection Against Legionella regulation which was passed in July, 2016. This regulation sets forth certain requirements for Legionella testing in New York, including that laboratories performing the analyses be approved through ELAP, to help assure accuracy and reliability of these analyses.
What is required for ELAP approval?
New York ELAP is based on the TNI/NELAC laboratory standard. Similar to a separate accreditation Q Labs has held for many years to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard, the TNI/NELAC standard has very specific requirements for a laboratory’s quality systems, and requires that laboratories participate in routine proficiency testing to demonstrate ongoing executional excellence of various analyses (in the case of New York ELAP, this includes cultural enumeration of Legionella spp. per ISO 11731:2017). Q Labs was also audited by the New York ELAP program to ensure our quality systems and laboratory practices complied with the TNI/NELAC standard and specific New York requirements. All approved ELAP labs must routinely submit their proficiency testing results to New York to demonstrate ongoing technical proficiency, and are subject to routine audits to demonstrate ongoing compliance to the standard.
What ELAP Certification means for our clients
Q Labs is now approved, and stands ready, to perform critical Legionella analyses for samples originating in New York. Our ELAP certification means our valued clients get quality testing that is validated by the highest authority in the state on the subject matter. Beyond quality testing, this certification also means that clients can get further assurance that Q Labs is at the forefront of compliance and observance of regulatory norms for the detection of pathogens in the water supply.
