Sample retention and disposal
How long tested samples are kept, when they fall due for disposal, and how disposal is recorded.
Tested samples are usually kept for a set time after the report is issued, then disposed of. GIMLabs works out when each sample can go, lists the ones that are due, and keeps a record of how and when each was disposed of.
When a sample can go
Each sample gets a keep-until date: a start date from its testing schedules, plus the number of months your company keeps samples for.
- Start date - by default, the schedule's Report issued date, or its Results received date when no report date has been entered. A project can have several report issues, so the date lives on each schedule. If a sample is on more than one schedule, the latest start date counts.
- How long - 3 months by default.
Both are set for the company in Product OS, where you can also choose to count from results received only. To use report dates, turn on the Report issued stage there too - it is off until you do.
Samples with no start date yet, and samples marked missing, are not listed.
Keeping samples longer
- A whole project - set Keep samples (months) when editing the project. Leave it blank to use the company default.
- A single sample - choose Keep longer on Insight's Disposal tab, with a date and a note of why (a client query or a retest, for example). The hold wins when it is later than the usual keep-until date, and can be removed again.
Disposing of samples
Samples that are due are listed on the Disposal tab of Insight's Testing page, across every project you can open. Tick them and choose Mark disposed, then pick:
- the route - Standard or Hazardous (for samples that need a licensed waste route). There is no default: whether disposal must be hazardous is decided from the results, so a person always chooses.
- the date disposed (today by default) and any notes, such as the waste contractor or consignment note.
If any of the samples are flagged handle with care, you are reminded to check the results first.
Samples are never deleted
Marking a sample disposed records what happened to the physical sample - its data and results stay in the project. A disposal can be undone, and each disposal, undo and hold is recorded in the History of the sample's schedules.
Disposed samples
A disposed sample shows a Disposed tag in the Table Editor and the sample picker, and adding it to a schedule asks you to confirm. Clients in Connect do not see retention, holds or disposal.
Last updated 29 September 2026