The Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) publishes the checklist an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) uses to evaluate the program and inspect the facility. What a facility walkthrough does not show is whether the IACUC that signed the last semiannual report was properly constituted, whether the six-month intervals held, and what happened to each finding after it was written down.

This fillable checklist gives the IACUC office 20 checks to run against its own records, alongside the OLAW checklist. Each check names the record to produce and the requirement it is measured against: the Animal Welfare Act Regulations, Public Health Service (PHS) Policy, the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, or institutional policy. Every gap carries into a dated correction plan with a named owner.

What the Checklist Covers

Twenty checks in four parts. Each one names the record to review and the regulation, policy or good practice it is measured against.

IACUC membership, meetings and the review cycle

IACUC composition and required roles, lapsed appointments, quorum and recusals, the six-month review and inspection intervals, and changes to the program description and inspection locations.

Protocol review, amendments and approvals

Minor amendment classifications, a random sample of protocols across pain and distress categories, continuing review intervals, lapsed approvals, and training for personnel added by amendment.

Evidence that has to be producible on the day

Clinical records read alongside the authorizing protocol, how clinical holds are placed and cleared, animals approved against animals used and housed, and the contingency plan.

What happens to a finding

Deficiency status from the last two semiannual reports, one deficiency traced end to end, repeat findings, significant deficiency classification, and sign-off of the last report.

How the Gap Check Works

The IACUC office completes most items. Some checks need the IACUC Chair, the Attending Veterinarian or the Facility Manager. Allow about two hours.

Confirm which framework applies

A side-by-side comparison of the Animal Welfare Act Regulations and PHS Policy shows which requirements apply to the species and funding in use. Applicability is recorded check by check.

Answer from the record

Each check is marked met, partially met or not met, and only after the evidence has been seen. The evidence, the finding and a named owner are recorded with it.

Build the correction plan

Every check that is not fully met moves into the correction plan, classified as significant or minor, with an owner and a due date. A reporting table records which federal reports were triggered this cycle.

Checks based on good practice rather than regulation are labeled separately. The checklist complements the OLAW semiannual program review and facility inspection checklist. It does not replace the program review, the facility inspection or the semiannual report.

Who It Is For

IACUC chairs, administrators and coordinators, Attending Veterinarians, facility managers and Institutional Officials at universities, academic medical centers, independent research institutes, biotech and pharmaceutical organizations, and federal, state and local agencies.

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IACUC Semiannual Review: 20 Readiness Checks