Feds Refresh List of Approved Pee-Test Labs
Published Date: 1/6/2026
Notice
Summary
The Department of Health and Human Services just updated the list of labs and testing centers approved to do urine and oral fluid drug tests for federal workers. If a lab loses its certification, it’s dropped from the list until it’s fixed. This monthly update helps keep drug testing fair, accurate, and on track—so everyone knows who’s officially certified right now.
Analyzed Economic Effects
6 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 4 costs, 1 mixed.
Certification requires multi-stage testing and inspections
To become certified, an applicant laboratory or IITF must undergo three rounds of performance testing plus an on-site inspection. To maintain certification, a laboratory or IITF must participate in a quarterly performance testing program and undergo periodic on-site inspections.
Monthly certified-lab roster published
HHS publishes a monthly list of HHS-certified laboratories and Instrumented Initial Testing Facilities (IITFs) under Section 9.19 (urine) and Section 9.17 (oral fluid) of the Mandatory Guidelines. If a laboratory or IITF has its certification suspended or revoked it will be omitted from subsequent lists until restored; if it withdraws during the month it will be listed at the end and omitted thereafter.
No labs certified for oral fluid testing
As of this notice (published January 6, 2026), HHS states there are no laboratories certified to conduct drug and specimen validity tests on oral fluid specimens. Federal agencies seeking HHS-certified oral fluid testing therefore have no certified laboratory currently listed.
IITFs are limited to urine testing
HHS states that Instrumented Initial Testing Facilities (IITFs) are certified to conduct urine testing and that HHS does not allow IITFs to conduct oral fluid testing. The notice lists an HHS-certified IITF (Dynacare) approved to conduct urine drug testing.
DOT-regulated specimens excluded from IITFs
The notice explicitly states: "Note: DOT does not allow IITFs to test DOT-regulated specimens." This means DOT-regulated workplace drug tests cannot be conducted by IITFs.
Some labs serve only VA or DoD employees
The notice lists facilities that test only for specific federal employers: the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Forensic Toxicology Laboratory tests for VA employees only, and the U.S. Army Forensic Toxicology Drug Testing Laboratory tests for Department of Defense (DoD) employees only.
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