A wet laboratory is a laboratory where chemicals, drugs, or other material or biological matter are tested and analyzed requiring water, direct ventilation, and specialized piped utilities. A wet laboratory usage type does not include biohazards in Levels BL-2, BL-3, and BL-4 as defined by the 1999 NIH/CDC guideline 'Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories'. The wet laboratory usage type is typically located within a building specifically designed to house it.

The handling and analysis of materials require the wet services described above. A dry laboratory instead has work with dry materials, electronics, or large instruments and few piped services.

This wet-laboratory space type excludes the BL-2, BL-3, and BL-4 biohazard facilities specified above. Wet services can also occur in those facilities, but their containment requirements make them distinct laboratory types.