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ISO/IEC 17025
General requirements
for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories
The first edition of ISO
17025:1999 cancelled and replaced ISO Guide 25 and EN 45001.
This standard has all of the requirements that testing and
calibration laboratories have to meet in order to demonstrate
that :-
- they operate a
quality system,
- are technically
competent,
- and are able to
produce technically valid results.
Accreditation bodies use ISO
17025 as the basis for their accreditation of laboratories and
test houses. A new update to ISO/IEC 17025:2005 published in
April 2005 has a number of new requirements and enhancements.
While the
ISO 9000 requirements are generic and are intended to be
applicable to any type of organization, the ISO 17025
requirements are specific to testing and calibration
laboratories. This standard addresses issues such as: the
technical competence of personnel, ethical behaviour of staff,
use of well-defined test and calibration procedures, uncertainty
of measurement, participation in proficiency testing, and
contents of test reports and certificates.
Another reason for development of the
standard was to harmonize laboratory accreditation and
acceptance of test data worldwide. All participating countries
will be required to accept the test results performed by
accredited members of these other countries.
Other quality systems (such
as ISO TS 16949 in the automotive industry) require suppliers to
meet ISO 17025 in their own or subcontracted laboratory
services.
Lewis Conquer Consultancy
Services specialise in putting in simple uncomplicated quality
management systems, that meet the requirements of the ISO/IEC
17025 standard, without unnecessary administration.
changes in ISO IEC 17025:2005
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