Why vivarium enclosure certification matters
Research vivaria operate under IACUC oversight and AAALAC accreditation review. Vivarium engineering controls — animal transfer stations, change stations, isolators — protect both animal welfare and research integrity by maintaining clean barriers and biosafety containment. Annual certification documents that these controls perform as designed; failure means cross-contamination risk between animal cohorts and potential biosafety implications.
The cost of a certification program isn't measured against itself — it's measured against the cost of a failed inspection, a hold on a batch, or a deficiency notice from a state pharmacy board or FDA inspector.
Allometrics has been performing controlled environment testing and certification since the early days of the discipline. Our certificates pass FDA, USP, and Joint Commission review.
Why Allometrics for vivarium enclosure certification
CETA-certified technicians. The Controlled Environment Testing Association is the trade body that defines this discipline. Our team holds the credentials regulated buyers expect.
NSF/ANSI 49 Field Certifiers. Required by every regulated buyer of biosafety enclosure work. Our team is field-certified.
Replace 3–5 vendors with one accredited partner. Calibration, cleanroom certification, biosafety, fume hood, decontamination, and viables — all delivered by the same Allometrics team under one accreditation chain. Allometrics' integrated compliance service team ensures compliance and helps you pass your audits.
50 years of regulated-environment experience. Founded 1976. The team has lived every USP revision, every FDA cGMP guidance update, every Joint Commission standards change.
Audit-ready certificates that pass FDA, USP, and Joint Commission review
Designed to pass FDA, USP, and Joint Commission audits on first review. Every Allometrics vivarium enclosure certification produces a signed certificate built to survive inspection. Each certificate includes:
- Equipment / room ID, serial number, manufacturer, model, customer asset tag
- Date of certification, technician (with credential), next-due date
- Standard the work was performed to (NSF/ANSI 49 (where applicable), Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, IACUC operating policies)
- Test results at every measured location — face velocity, pressure differential, particle counts, smoke pattern, integrity, etc.
- Pass/fail determination against the standard
- CETA / NSF certifier credential reference
Certificate format is designed for FDA inspections, USP <797>/<800>/<825> reviews by state pharmacy boards, Joint Commission MM/EC chapter reviews, ISO 9001 audits, and the operational-control requirements of every customer QMS we've worked under.
If your Quality team needs custom IQ/OQ/PQ documentation for equipment qualification, we deliver it.
What we test and certify
- Animal transfer stations — HEPA-filtered enclosures used to move animals between cages without contamination
- Animal change stations (cage-change stations) — HEPA-filtered stations for routine cage changes
- Vivarium isolators — sealed isolators for gnotobiotic, immunocompromised, or biosafety-controlled animal work
- Vivarium gloveboxes — sealed glovebox enclosures
- HEPA integrity — DOP/PAO challenge of supply filters
- Particle count classification — work-zone particle counts
- Airflow pattern (smoke study) — visual verification of clean-to-dirty airflow direction
- Pressure differential verification — for sealed isolators and barrier enclosures
All certifications result in a signed report formatted to satisfy IACUC review and AAALAC accreditation documentation requirements.
Service modes
Onsite field service — best for active facilities. Our CETA-credentialed technicians arrive with HEPA challenge equipment, calibrated particle counters, smoke generation gear, and pressure-differential measurement equipment. Vivarium certifications are scheduled during animal-care-friendly windows to minimize disruption to research operations.
Recurring certification programs — best for multi-site customers. Most vivarium enclosure certifications are required at intervals defined by the standard (annually for most BSC / LAFW / CAI / CACI; semi-annually for some). Allometrics manages multi-site recurring program calendars with one consolidated report deliverable.
Combined certification + viables — best for USP <797> and USP <800> programs. Allometrics' sister entity Taylor Lake Laboratories performs the viable air sampling and surface monitoring under A2LA Cert 7533.01. We can deliver certification and EM in a single coordinated visit — one team, one accreditation chain, one report.