About ISO/IEC 17025
ISO/IEC 17025 general requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories is the main ISO standard used by testing and calibration laboratories. In most major countries, ISO/IEC 17025 is the standard for which most labs must hold accreditation to be deemed technically competent. In many cases, suppliers and regulatory authorities will not accept test or calibration results from a lab that is not accredited. Originally known as ISO/IEC Guide 25, ISO/IEC 17025 was initially issued by the International Organization for Standardization in 1999. There are many commonalities with the ISO 9000 standard, but ISO/IEC 17025 is more specific in requirements for competence. And it applies directly to those organizations that produce testing and calibration results. Since its initial release, a second release was made in 2005 after it was agreed that it needed to have its quality system words more closely aligned with the 2000 version of ISO 9001.
The ISO/IEC 17025 standard itself comprises the following elements: scope, normative references, terms and definitions, management requirements, and technical requirements. The two main sections in ISO/IEC 17025 are management requirements and technical requirements. Management requirements are primarily related to the operation and effectiveness of the laboratory's quality management system. Technical requirements includes factors that determine the correctness and reliability of the tests and calibrations performed in laboratory.
Laboratories use ISO/IEC 17025 to implement a quality system aimed at improving their ability to consistently produce valid results. It is also the basis for accreditation from an accreditation body. 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. The usual contents of the quality manual follow the outline of the ISO/IEC 17025 standard.
About A2LA
The American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) is a nonprofit, non-governmental, public service, membership society. A2LA is the only independent (meaning not governed by a parent organization) non-profit, internationally recognized accreditation body in the United States that offers a full range of comprehensive laboratory and laboratory-related accreditation services and training. Services are available to any type of organization, both private or government.
All of A2LA's accreditation programs are based on internationally accepted criteria for competence. In addition to the accreditation of laboratories, A2LA offers programs for the accreditation of inspection bodies, proficiency testing providers, reference material producers and product certification bodies.
