Department of Health and Human Services

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Center for Substance Abuse Prevention

National Laboratory Certification Program (NLCP)

HHS-Certified Laboratory and Instrumented Initial Testing Facility Notice

Date: August 1, 2011

Subject: Fee Schedule

This notice provides the new fee schedule for laboratories and instrumented initial testing 

facilities (IITFs) participating in or applying for certification in the Department of Health and 

Human Services’ (HHS) National Laboratory Certification Program (NLCP). The new fee 

schedule is effective December 1, 2011.

The NLCP is a self-supporting program and each participant test facility (i.e., laboratory or IITF) 

is required to pay fees. To maintain this self-supporting certification program, the Substance 

Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Division of Workplace Programs 

(DWP) periodically reviews all costs associated with the inspection and performance testing (PT) 

programs. Every effort is made to ensure that the NLCP is a self-supporting program and that 

each test facility pays fees commensurate with the costs of each part of the program.

NLCP application fees have been established for each phase of the program. As set forth on the

fee schedule published with this memo, the NLCP application fee for an IITF is $2,000, 

consistent with the current laboratory application fee. The current NLCP application requires an 

applicant IITF to submit an extensive amount of information. NLCP contractor staff review the 

information and work with the applicant IITF to revise, correct, or resubmit information when 

required. These fees are necessary for the contractor to provide detailed guidance to the 

applicant IITF on the information that needs to be submitted or revised before the applicant can 

proceed to the next steps in the certification process. 

An NLCP inspection fee of $11,200 has been established for IITFs and is required for each IITF 

inspection (i.e., initial inspection, 3-month inspection, maintenance inspection) in each phase of 

the program. This amount is consistent with the current inspection fees for the initial and 3-

month inspections of a laboratory and with the maintenance inspection fee for a Category I HHScertified laboratory. The current NLCP inspection process for IITFs requires two inspectors to 

perform an onsite inspection, as well as contractor effort in pre- and post-inspection activities. 

This fee is necessary for the contractor to provide the services to the IITF for the certification 

process. An NLCP inspection fee for a special inspection of an HHS-certified IITF will be 

actual cost, the same as for current HHS-certified laboratories

NLCP pre-inspection and post-inspection remedial action fees associated with the IITF have 

been established for each phase of the program. The NLCP pre-inspection and post-inspection 
remedial action fees for an IITF are $1,000 and $3,000, respectively. These fees are consistent 

with the current fees for HHS-certified laboratories. The pre-inspection fee will encourage an 

IITF to submit the accurate and timely information and in the required format. The postinspection fee is appropriate for contractor staff to review records and documentation that must 

be submitted by the IITF for post-inspection remedial action. 

NLCP PT fees associated with IITFs have been established for each phase of the program. The 

NLCP initial and maintenance performance testing (PT) fee for an IITF is $3,000. The 

contractor’s costs for activities associated with the IITF PT program (e.g., preparing and 

shipping the sets of PT samples, analysis of results) are the same as for the current laboratory PT 

program. 

SAMHSA’s Division of Workplace Programs has evaluated the NLCP remedial action fees 

associated with minor PT errors for the current HHS-certified laboratories and for IITFs. 

Accordingly, SAMHSA has determined that NLCP PT remedial action fees are no longer 

required for minor PT errors unless the error reoccurs on the next PT occasion. The efforts 

expended in the PT remedial process for one-time minor PT errors can be covered by the 

maintenance PT fees. DWP continues to attempt to minimize the remedial fees associated with 

errors on PT samples; however, the costs associated with reoccurring minor PT errors can 

become significant. These errors can affect test facility performance and, therefore, must be 

appropriately corrected and costs for efforts involved must be appropriately charged to the 

laboratory or IITF. A PT remedial action fee of $3,000 will be charged when an HHS-certified 

laboratory or IITF reports a major PT error. These fees are consistent with the current fees for 

HHS-certified laboratories. The costs associated with remediation of major PT errors can 

become significant and affect test facility performance and, therefore, must be corrected and 

costs for efforts involved must be appropriately charged to the laboratory or IITF. 

The Division of Workplace Programs has reviewed the NLCP withdrawal fee for the current 

HHS-certified laboratories and for IITFs. The NLCP withdrawal fee has been revised from 

$9,900-16,300, with the final fee charged to be based on actual cost for the final audit inspection. 

The actual cost of the HHS-certified laboratory or IITF withdrawal fee is appropriate for an 

onsite inspection and auditor for contractor staff to review records and documentation prior to a

HHS-certified laboratory or IITF withdrawing from the program. 
The new fee schedule is as follows for Laboratories and Instrumented Initial Testing Facilities: 

Event Fee ($)

Application 2,000

Inspections

Initial 11,200

3-month Second Initial 11,200

Maintenance

IITF 11,200

Laboratory:

Category 0 9,000

Category 1 11,200

Category 2 16,300

Category 3 24,800

Category 4 38,000

Category 5 – Inspection 38,000

Category 5 – Audit 24,800

Special Actual cost

Remedial Action

Pre-inspection 1,000

Post-inspection 3,000

Performance Testing

Initial Set 3,000

Maintenance Set 3,000

Remedial Action

Major 3,000

Reoccurring Minor 1,000

Withdrawal – final audit inspection Actual cost

The fee schedule will continue to be evaluated periodically to ensure fees accurately reflect the 

costs associated with each activity.

If you have any questions regarding these changes, please contact my staff at (240) 276-2600 or 

by email: Ron.Flegel@samhsa.hhs.gov. 

/SIGNED/

Carol Rest-Mincberg

Acting Director

Division of Workplace Programs