Preventive maintenance checklist for laboratory equipment
Ready-to-use PM checklists for analysers, centrifuges, refrigerators, autoclaves and microscopes, separated into per-service, daily and weekly tasks.
Last reviewed 5 August 2026
These are the checklists AssetLab attaches to a maintenance plan when a lab registers an instrument. They are deliberately short. A checklist of forty items is a checklist that gets ticked in one pass without being read; the point is a list the technician can actually carry out at the bench and answer honestly.
Note how each family separates the work done at each service from routines that run on their own cycle. That split matters more than it looks — see the note below the lists.
Analysers
Biochemistry, haematology, immunoassay, coagulation, electrolyte and ABG, urine, and PCR / molecular systems.
- Clean sample and reagent probes
- Check and top up wash / system fluid
- Inspect tubing and pumps for leaks
- Run system wash / maintenance cycle
- Verify lamp / detector performance
- Run QC on all levels after maintenance
Separate routines — not part of the service
- Record temperature of the reagent compartment (daily)
Centrifuges
Bench-top, refrigerated and micro-centrifuges.
- Inspect rotor and buckets for cracks
- Clean bowl and lid seals
- Verify speed with tachometer
- Check timer accuracy
- Confirm lid interlock works
Refrigerators, freezers and incubators
Anything whose job is to hold a temperature within limits.
- Verify calibrated thermometer placement
- Clean condenser coils and door gaskets
- Check alarm and battery backup
- Defrost if ice build-up present
Separate routines — not part of the service
- Record min / max temperature (daily)
Autoclaves and hot air ovens
Sterilisation and decontamination equipment.
- Check gasket and door seal
- Verify chamber pressure and temperature gauges
- Drain and refill reservoir water
Separate routines — not part of the service
- Run Bowie-Dick / chemical indicator (every load)
- Biological indicator (spore test) (weekly)
Microscopes
Binocular, trinocular and fluorescence microscopes.
- Clean objectives and eyepieces with lens tissue
- Check illumination and condenser alignment
- Lubricate stage movement
- Inspect for fungal growth
Everything else
Water baths, balances, pipettes, laminar air flow, UPS — the baseline when nothing more specific applies.
- Visual inspection for damage
- Clean exterior and work surface
- Check electrical cord and plug
- Verify performance against specification
- Update maintenance record
Why daily checks are kept off the service plan
It is tempting to put “record fridge temperature” on the quarterly maintenance plan, because then it is on a plan and the plan is a document. The result is predictable: at the end of the quarter someone signs the line, and ninety days of temperature records that should exist do not.
A daily record is evidence that a condition was held every day. Rolling it into a quarterly service converts ninety pieces of evidence into one signature, and an assessor who spots that will look harder at everything else. Keep them separate, at their real frequency, even when that means two lists instead of one.
Run QC after the work, not before
Maintenance disturbs an instrument — probes are cleaned, tubing is reseated, lamps are replaced. QC run before the service tells you the instrument was fine yesterday. QC run after it tells you the instrument is fine now, which is the question that matters before the next patient sample goes on. It also gives you the record that justifies returning the instrument to service.
What to record when the job is done
Four things, and they take a minute:
- The date it was actually done, not the date it was due.
- Who did it — by name, whether staff or the vendor's engineer.
- What was found. “All within specification” is a finding worth recording. So is “lamp at 78% of reference, replaced”.
- Whether the instrument is fit to return to use, and what check says so.
A completed checklist with no findings and no name attached is weak evidence. The same checklist with a name, a date and one honest line about what was found is the record clause 6.4.7(i) is asking for.
Common questions
What should a preventive maintenance checklist for lab equipment include?
Cleaning and inspection of the parts that foul or wear, verification that the instrument still performs to specification, replacement of consumable parts on their own cycle, and a QC or performance check after the work rather than before it. Every item should be something the person doing the work can answer yes, no or a number to.
Who is allowed to perform preventive maintenance?
Whoever the laboratory has assessed as competent for that task, and that assessment has to be on record. Some work is the manufacturer's engineer under contract; daily and weekly routines are usually lab staff. The split should be written down so nobody assumes the other party did it.
Do daily checks belong on the preventive maintenance schedule?
No, and mixing them causes real trouble. A daily temperature record is not a quarterly service. If daily items sit inside a quarterly plan they get signed off in bulk at quarter end, which is worse than not scheduling them. Keep them as separate routines with their own frequency.
What do we do when maintenance finds a problem?
Take the instrument out of service, record what was found, and treat it as a malfunction rather than a maintenance note — including examining whether results already reported could have been affected. The instrument goes back into service only after a check shows it performing to specification, and that check is the record that justifies the return.