ISO 17025 Laboratory Accreditation

What is EN ISO 17025? ISO/IEC 17025 is the standard published under the title "General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories". The standard applies to testing and calibration laboratories. Originally known as ISO/IEC Guide 25, it has many features in common with the ISO/IEC 17025 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization. In 1999 it was similar to the ISO 9000 standard, but the ISO/IEC 17025 competence requirements are more specific and apply directly to organisations that produce testing and calibration results. After the first edition, a second edition was issued in 2005 to make the quality-system wording more closely aligned with the ISO 9001:2000 revision. The ISO/IEC 17025 standard itself consists of five main clauses.

• Normative references
• Terms and definitions
• Management requirements
• Technical requirements.

ISO/IEC 17025 has two main parts: Management Requirements and Technical Requirements. The management requirements deal mainly with the operation and effectiveness of the quality management system within the laboratory. The technical requirements cover the factors that determine the accuracy and reliability of the tests and calibrations carried out in the laboratory. You can use ISO/IEC 17025 to apply a quality system aimed at improving the laboratory's ability to consistently produce valid results. It is also one of the core requirements for accreditation. Because the standard relates to competence, accreditation is essentially formal recognition of that competence. For a laboratory to be accredited, ISO 17025 documentation is a prerequisite.

Accreditation Stages

• Organisational structuring
• Staff training
• Business plan preparation
• Listing the items to be implemented
• Quality manual preparation
• Procedure preparation
• Work instructions
• Form creation
• Internal audit planning and execution
• Application preparation
• Audit plan

On-site audit. For any questions on the ISO 17025 standard, you can reach Eurocert specialists.