Who is doing your calibration work?

A new guide for users of calibration services has been published by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS). The leaflet Who is doing your calibration work? explains the importance of ensuring that suppliers of calibration services are accredited to international standard ISO/IEC 17025:2005.

Why UKAS accreditation?

Accreditation is the procedure by which an authoritative body gives formal recognition that a body or person is competent to carry out specific tasks. Using calibration services accredited by UKAS to ISO/IEC 17025:2005 can limit product failure and down time and help control costs. It can facilitate access to export markets and provide a competitive advantage. Using accredited services can also help demonstrate due diligence in the event of legal action.

Standards

ISO/IEC 17025:2005 is an internationally-recognised standard. It defines what is required of a laboratory in order to demonstrate both technical competence of personnel and the availability of all the technical resources necessary to produce reliable data and results. In order to gain this standard, there is a second component that requires that the management systems of the facility meet the principles of certification standard ISO 9001:2000. Separate certification to ISO 9001 is therefore unnecessary for calibration activities.

ISO/IEC 17025:2005 is endorsed by the International Organisation for Standardisation, the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation, and the International Accreditation Forum.