The NIH Animal Research Facility Design Manual describes in general and specific terms the minimum NIH requirements for planning and designing facilities that house animals and fulfill related functions. Considerable animal research is conducted to support the NIH’s mission to improve the health of the American people through biomedical research. Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (Guide), published by National Academy
Press, covers all aspects of the care and use of laboratory animals, including institutional policies for monitoring animals and providing care. The Guide should serve as an aid in developing policies governing the care and use of animals based on the institution’s particular requirements and in compliance with applicable Federal, State, and local laws and regulations.
In the United States, research facilities requiring the use of animals must conform to the Guide to be accredited by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC). Thus, the NIH’s animal facilities should reflect state-of-the-art materials and design features and must meet AAALAC accreditation requirements. The environment within the facility must provide for the health, safety, comfort, and well-being of the animals and staff. Plans for constructing and renovating animal facilities must be reviewed and approved by the NIH Office of Animal Care and Use (OACU). Animals are not allowed to be housed in laboratories or spaces other than approved animal housing facilities for longer than 24 hours unless the area is established as a satellite animal housing facility. Establishing a satellite animal housing facility may require short-term design modifications that facilitate monitoring the local-environment OACU requirements.
On this page:
A.1 Animal Research Facility Activities
A.2 General Staffing Patterns of an NIH Animal Facility
A.3 Animal Research Facility Trends
A.4 User Input
A.1 Animal Research Facility Activities
The activities performed in an animal research facility include, but are not limited to, providing routine animal and environmental maintenance, performing animal research, and providing general administrative services. In addition, an animal research facility requires a significant amount of support space. Environmental maintenance includes bedding changes, food preparation, routine cagewashing, room cleaning, pest management, and waste disposal.
Routine animal maintenance includes daily animal examination, routine pathology to determine colony health status, and animal breeding for colony maintenance. Animal research includes genetic studies; animal testing that requires the administration of drugs, chemicals, or biological agents; pathology; diagnostics; surgical procedures; imaging; phenotyping; behavioral studies; and record-keeping of a highly detailed nature. Animal research facility administration areas should provide space for a central reception area, veterinarian offices, office support staff areas, and technical and laboratory supervisory staff offices. Animal research support activities include animal shipping and receiving, decontamination of materials entering the facility, storing and dispensing of animal feed and bedding, cagewashing, laundry services, cold storage of medical pathological waste (MPW), and animal caretaker support requirements such as lockers and a lunch room.
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A.2 General Staffing Patterns of an NIH Animal Facility
The number of staff in an animal research facility will vary according to the size of the facility. The staff may include a chief veterinarian, subordinate veterinarians, administrative staff, research and technical support staff, supervisory- and staff-level animal caretakers, and support staff for feed and bedding preparation and cagewashing. In addition, research staff members regularly enter and leave the facility.
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A.3 Animal Research Facility Trends
Biomedical research is heavily dependent on animal research to create animal models for the study of human disease processes. Because fluctuations in the animal species of choice may vary from time to time, the facilities must be capable of meeting ever-changing animal research requirements. The design of these facilities must be flexible and adaptable.
A great deal of animal research at the NIH involves genetic mutations and manipulation (transgenic technology) of specific animal traits and testing these traits by performing behavioral studies, imaging studies, and biochemical studies. Toxicology studies are performed to observe the effects of drugs on developmental and metabolic processes and on behavior patterns.
Long-term observation of animals may dictate design features for a specific species. Until recently, rodents and nonhuman primates have been the primary research animals of choice. There has been a dramatic increase in the use of aquatic species (zebrafish, sea urchins, and other marine species), resulting in the adaptation and renovation of older facilities and the potential need to accommodate aquatic species in new facilities. Large
animals (primarily sheep and pigs) are used for cardiothoracic surgery and require preoperative and postoperative holding space. Dogs, cats, and chickens are used for specific types of research but are used in small numbers.
There is a trend to provide better and species-specific “enrichment” for nonhuman primates and large animals. Enrichment requirements will impact on design of the facility if the program calls for playrooms, natural light, views of activity, group housing, animal runs, and storage of toys.
Other trends in animal research facilities include an increased use of robotic cagewash equipment to supplement staff shortages and reduce staff injuries; heightened security measures; more extensive and expensive environmental controls to protect unique animal colonies; and an increased need for support facilities within the animal research facility such as diagnostic labs, conference rooms, and special function and core suites. Each of these
trends demands special design considerations that must be addressed in the planning process.
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A.4 User Input
The ultimate users, especially the researchers and veterinarians, shall be consulted in addition to the OACU during the development of Programs of Requirements and the design phases to truly meet the needs of the NIH. Users’ input shall be incorporated wherever possible and applicable in the project.
