ISO 17025 FAQ's
Q. What is EN ISO 17025?
This is the international standard defining how a test or calibration laboratory should be managed. It fundamentally looks for accurate and repeatable measurements to be made and recorded. The standard contains a number of rules to help you avoid making erroneous measurements.
Q. Where does ISO17025 come from?
There have been various national laboratory standards in existence for over 40 years. The UK had a standard call M10 that was published by NAMAS the predecessor to today's UKAS. In 1999 ISO/IEC published the first international version where much of the UK national standard was incorporated. This was revised in 2004 with the current version being published in 2005. The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) adopted this standard making it an European Norm so it is now called EN ISO/IEC 17025 in Europe . The consequence of it becoming an EN means that all national standards covering the same scope had to be withdrawn and everyone in Europe is to use the ISO 17025.
Q. Where can I purchase ISO 17025?
Many national standards sell paper or electronic editions of ISO17025 and the price does vary so it is worth shopping around. Standards websites worth looking at include (click on the names to be taken to their websites): -
Q. Why should I get my laboratory EN ISO 17025 approved?
Organisations and companies purchase formal testing and calibration to demonstrate to the user their products or services deliver what they say they do. Hence they want professional laboratories to perform the tests and so ISO 17025 accreditation is evidence of professional testing or calibration.
Government and other authorities also want professional testing to demonstrate those suppliers are delivering to a requirement. A well known example of this is National Weights and Measures in the UK . It is common for product safety or EMC to be tested in ISO17025 approved laboratories.
There are research laboratories that are working at the leading edges of technology and so want excellent testing or calibration and hence use ISO 17025 as the foundation of their laboratory management systems. If you want to discuss this then contact Winning Solutions Ltd
Q. Who should get EN ISO 17025 approved?
Any laboratory that measures and wants to demonstrate they operate in a professional way.
Q. When is the right time to get EN ISO 17025?
In my experience it has either been the laboratory's management team wanting to achieve it or the laboratory's clients that have asked them to obtain it. It will typically take 5 months to achieve ISO 17025 accreditation but can be implemented in under one month. There are also the costs to be considered. If you want to discuss these contact Winning Solutions Ltd
Q. How do I go about getting EN ISO 17025 approval?
Creating a laboratory management system is the first stage this is often done by a consultant as laboratory management and staff are often busy performing work for customers. Contact Winning Solutions Ltd |
