Upon an application's arrival at the ICANL office, it is unpacked and organized in color-coded folders. The application is then assigned an identification number and filed in a holding area.

Once the application is placed in the holding file, it is ready to undergo an in-house review of the organization application and a general review of the remaining application sections to assess the completeness and appropriateness of the materials submitted. This is not a review of the technical components of the application. If obvious information has not been included in the application, the ICANL staff contacts the laboratory to request needed information. It is advantageous to the laboratory to send this information as soon as possible, so that it can be included with the application before it is sent to the application reviewers. This in-house review of information does not ensure that the Board Of Directors will not request more information, but it does assist in avoiding some unnecessary delays to a laboratory's accreditation.

The ICANL accreditation process functions on a quarterly schedule: application deadlines are the first of January, April, July and October (or the first working day of the month if the first day falls on a weekend or federal holiday). Following the deadline, the ICANL staff tabulates the number of applications to be reviewed. A staff member contacts the ICANL application reviewers, and applications are assigned according to each reviewer's availability and expertise. All application reviewers are employed in accredited laboratories, are credentialed and have attended an invitational training workshop with the ICANL.

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