An explanation of the evidentiary difference between tests a laboratory can perform and tests actually completed for a particular sample or batch.
Capability and completion answer different questions
A laboratory capability list describes work the laboratory may be equipped, qualified, or otherwise prepared to perform within a stated scope. It answers, “What can this laboratory potentially do?” It does not show that every listed test was ordered, that a particular sample was received, or that a result was produced for a specific product.
A completed-test record answers a narrower historical question: what was actually performed, on which identified sample, by which method, and with what reported outcome. That conclusion normally depends on documents tied to the work, such as the request or order, sample identification, report contents, dates, methods, and results.
Why the distinction matters
Treating capability as completion skips the essential link between a possible service and an actual examination. A listed method may never have been commissioned. A sample may have been submitted for only some available items. Testing may have been cancelled, found unsuitable, or left without a reportable result. Even completed work may apply only to the submitted specimen or batch rather than every related product.
The NIST Engineering Statistics Handbook’s discussion of acceptance sampling illustrates a related boundary: evidence obtained from a sample supports a decision about the associated lot under the sampling plan; it is not automatically an estimate of every aspect of that lot’s quality. Likewise, a laboratory’s broad menu cannot enlarge the scope of tests documented for one sample.
How to present the evidence accurately
Keep capability information and completed work in separate fields. Label capability as background about available services. For completed testing, list only items found in the applicable report and retain the SKU or batch connection, sample details, method, date, and result boundaries. Items that were not ordered, not completed, or absent from the report should never be described as passed.