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Campo técnico

Laboratorios de ensayo

A testing laboratory determines one or more characteristics of an object of testing according to a procedure. Accreditation, where it is granted, attests competence for the tests named in the scope.

A pipette dispensing liquid into a rack of laboratory tubes
The photograph illustrates the kind of setting associated with this work. It does not show AKZERT staff, AKZERT premises or an accredited body.

ISO/IEC 17025

Testing covers a wide range of scientific and technical work: chemical analysis, mechanical and physical tests, microbiological examinations, electrical tests and many others. What the activities share is a defined method, a controlled process and a reported result.

ISO/IEC 17025 is the standard ordinarily used to frame the competence of a testing laboratory. It addresses the management system and the technical process, including personnel, facilities, equipment, methods, measurement traceability where it affects the result, and the validity of results.

The scope is the boundary of the attestation. A laboratory may be competent for a short list of methods and materials. Readers of a public directory should expect to see those methods, or a precise description of them, rather than a general claim of laboratory competence.

A test report is the attestation of the laboratory. Accreditation does not turn the report into a product certificate, and it does not extend the report beyond the method that was used.

Aspectos que suelen examinarse

  • The methods are identified and are fit for the purpose stated.
  • Personnel who perform and authorise the work are competent for those methods.
  • Equipment is suitable, maintained and, where the result depends on it, calibrated.
  • The laboratory can show that results remain valid over time.
  • Reports identify what was tested, the method used and any reservation that a reader needs.

Preguntas

Does a testing laboratory need a separate accreditation for each method?

The scope lists the testing activities for which competence is attested. A single accreditation may cover many methods. Each method that a customer is invited to rely upon needs to be within that scope, described with enough precision to be identified.

Is a test report an accreditation certificate?

A test report is issued by the laboratory and reports the result of a test. An accreditation record, where one exists, concerns the laboratory’s competence for defined activities. The two documents have different authors and different subjects.