By Outrider Editorial Team · Updated August 20, 2026
Official definition
This industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in performing physical, chemical, and other analytical testing services, such as acoustics or vibration testing, assaying, biological testing (except medical and veterinary), calibration testing, electrical and electronic testing, geotechnical testing, mechanical testing, nondestructive testing, or thermal testing. The testing may occur in a laboratory or on-site.
FY2025 obligations
$567.6M
Contract actions
4,485
IDVs
649
Top buying agencies
- Department of Defense$232.2M
- Department of Health and Human Services$77.5M
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration$68.1M
- Department of Transportation$44.3M
- Environmental Protection Agency$40.6M
FY2025 federal contract obligations, USAspending.gov
NAICS 541380 obligated $568 million in FY2025 across 4,485 contract actions. DoD leads at $232 million, then HHS at $77 million, NASA at $68 million, DOT at $44 million, and EPA at $41 million. That is one of the flatter distributions in the professional services sector, and each buyer is testing something different: materials and munitions for DoD, product and drug safety for HHS, flight hardware for NASA, vehicle and infrastructure safety for DOT, environmental media for EPA.
What belongs here
Physical, chemical, and other analytical testing: acoustics and vibration, assaying, biological testing other than medical and veterinary, calibration, electrical and electronic testing, geotechnical, mechanical, nondestructive, and thermal testing.
- Clinical and diagnostic testing on human samples is 621511.
- Environmental assessment and remedy recommendation is 541620.
- Engineering analysis and design based on test results is 541330.
Competing in this code
649 IDVs support 4,485 actions at an average around $127,000, so this is a task order market with recurring small awards. Accreditation is the qualifying credential, and it is scope-specific: ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation covering the exact test methods in the solicitation, plus NADCAP for aerospace processes and A2LA or equivalent for federal environmental methods. Laboratories routinely lose on scope mismatch, not price, because the accreditation certificate either lists the method or it does not. Expanding accredited scope ahead of a target solicitation is the highest-return investment in this code.
Frequently Asked
NAICS 541380 questions, answered.
What is the SBA size standard for NAICS 541380?
SBA sets it at $19 million in average annual receipts, averaged over your last five completed fiscal years. Come in at or under that and you are small on every NAICS 541380 solicitation, including the set-asides.
Which agencies buy laboratory testing under NAICS 541380?
FY2025 obligations: DoD ($232 million), HHS ($77 million), NASA ($68 million), DOT ($44 million), EPA ($41 million). Five agencies, five different test disciplines, and no dominant buyer, which is unusual for a technical services code.
What accreditation do federal testing contracts require?
ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation that specifically covers the test methods named in the solicitation, plus discipline-specific programs such as NADCAP for aerospace processes. Accreditation is scope-based, so a laboratory with 17025 status but without the specific method listed on its certificate is non-responsive regardless of technical capability.
Is NAICS 541380 the right code for calibration services?
Yes. Calibration testing is named inside the industry definition, and it appears throughout federal metrology and test equipment support requirements. Repair or maintenance of the instruments themselves, as opposed to calibrating them, moves to an equipment repair code such as 811210.
Register Under NAICS 541380
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