ISO/IEC 17025 - General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories

ISO 17025 is the main standard used by testing and calibration laboratories. There are many commonalities with the ISO 9000 (9001,9002) standard, but ISO 17025 adds in the concept of competence to the equation and it applies directly to those organizations that produce testing and calibration results. Updates to ISO 17025 have introduced greater emphasis on the responsibilities of senior management, and explicit requirements for continual improvement of the management system itself, and particularly, communication with the customer. Laboratories use ISO 17025 to implement a quality system aimed at improving their ability to consistently produce valid results. Since the standard is about competence, accreditation is simply formal recognition of a demonstration of that competence. A prerequisite for a laboratory to become accredited is to have a documented quality management system. Regular internal audits are expected to indicate opportunities to make the test or calibration better than it was. The laboratory is also expected to keep abreast of scientific and technological advances in relevant areas.

There are two main sections in ISO/IEC 17025 - Management Requirements and Technical Requirements. Management requirements are primarily related to the operation and effectiveness of the quality management system within the laboratory. Technical requirements address the competence of staff, methodology, test/calibration equipment and the test methods. Full validation of test methods and proof of proficiency set this standard apart from ISO 9001 or 9002.

Actlabs was one of the first labs in North America to attain this accreditation becoming accredited in 1998. We also have the largest scope of accreditation in the minerals industry. View our ISO/IEC 17025 Certification and Scope of Accreditation.