How to Find a Laboratory When You Don't Know the Test Method
Many real testing needs start as a problem, not a method number: something failed, something is contaminated, a customer asked a question you cannot answer. That is a normal starting point.
Describe the problem, not the test
- What happened or what you need to know, in plain language
- The material or product involved and its history
- What changed before the problem appeared
- What decision the answer will support
Send evidence
- Photographs of the issue in place and in context
- The affected part or a sample of the material, preserved as-found
- A reference example of 'good' material if available
Let the laboratory propose the approach
A competent laboratory will translate your problem into a sequence of techniques — often starting non-destructive and escalating. Ask them to explain what each step will and will not tell you, and to stage the work so early findings guide later spend.
Where to start on Laboratory Vortex
Browse the problem-based guides for common situations — contamination, failure analysis, unknown materials — or describe your situation in a testing request and it will be routed to laboratories with relevant capability.
Common questions
- Will laboratories take me seriously without a method number?
- Yes. Problem-led enquiries are a large share of commercial laboratory work, especially in failure analysis and contamination investigation.
- How do I avoid paying for the wrong test?
- Ask for a staged proposal with decision points, and ask what each proposed test can and cannot establish before approving it.