Calibration due date

[KarlaSandova93]

I’m looking to update our calibration program and would like some input.
Currently, we document calibration due dates as exactly one year from the calibration date. For example, if equipment is calibrated on 8/13/2025, the next due date is set to 8/13/2026. I’d like to change this so that the next due date is always the end of the same month instead. For example, if it’s calibrated on 8/13/2025, the next due date would be 8/30/2026.

My question is: When making this change, can I simply adjust the due dates to the end of the month, or would I need to shorten the cycle for the first year to avoid exceeding the original 12-month interval?

 

[Golfman25]

Close enough may be close enough. We got out of specific days years ago -- auditors dinging us because we where a few days late. We calibrate by month. So basically Jan and July. Some things are calibrated day 1, some day 12, some day 30, etc. They come due at the next interval but don't necessarily match the same date -- might be day 5, day 20, day 25, etc. Works for us.

 

[Jake with the Calipers]

We have a similar setup to Golfman and you shouldn't have an issue if you do something similar.

Our labels/stickers on calibrated equipment will have the actual date it was calibrated, Month/Day/Year, and then the next due date as just Month/Year. This same date format is used on the calibration records as well and equipment log. That way we (meaning me, because I do the in-house calibrations) have some flexibility.

This system has been in place before I was at the company and has never been an issue with outside auditors (ISO 9001:2015, USG, customers, etc.) as everything is organized and logged per our procedures and records, which I think is the biggest part. If you try to stick to a draconian calibration schedule to the exact day you are at best setting yourself up for extra stress and at worst opening yourself up to some low hanging fruit audit findings.

 

[Randy]

Just keep it simple by the calendar month, unless absolutely forbidden by something. I see that 100 times a year. Unless you can be shown a shall tell the auditor to put up, shut up or pack "oily" sand.

 

[Miner]

pack "oily" sand.

I have to ask. I have heard the phrase "go pound sand" as in sand castings for decades, but not this phrase. Suddenly it has come up three times in a few days. What is special about oily sand?

 

[dwperron]

I’m looking to update our calibration program and would like some input.
Currently, we document calibration due dates as exactly one year from the calibration date. For example, if equipment is calibrated on 8/13/2025, the next due date is set to 8/13/2026. I’d like to change this so that the next due date is always the end of the same month instead. For example, if it’s calibrated on 8/13/2025, the next due date would be 8/30/2026.

My question is: When making this change, can I simply adjust the due dates to the end of the month, or would I need to shorten the cycle for the first year to avoid exceeding the original 12-month interval?

You don't state if you need to comply with any standard, that will affect what you can do.
For the basic ISO 9000 world, if you determine a tool needs to be calibrated then it shall be "calibrated or verified, or both, at specified intervals ". You choose the interval that makes sense for you and addresses your risks.

 

[Jen Kirley]

I’m looking to update our calibration program and would like some input.
Currently, we document calibration due dates as exactly one year from the calibration date. For example, if equipment is calibrated on 8/13/2025, the next due date is set to 8/13/2026. I’d like to change this so that the next due date is always the end of the same month instead. For example, if it’s calibrated on 8/13/2025, the next due date would be 8/30/2026.

My question is: When making this change, can I simply adjust the due dates to the end of the month, or would I need to shorten the cycle for the first year to avoid exceeding the original 12-month interval?

If you are changing what you specify (xyz month versus 365 days) I would not be worried about your straying from the original cycle by, say 30 days or less. The standard says you will specify intervals and that's what you expect to do. If you shifted from an original annual basis to five years or something you would still be specifying but I might casually ask if there are risks to stretching the calibration out by that long OR what considerations drove such a long extension of frequency? My point is, as 3rd party auditor I don't get to criticize to this level of detail. If someone does and issues a nonconformity, I suggest a dispute based on over stepping.

 

[Michael_M]

I have a single sentence in the Calibration Procedure:

"Devices calibrated will be due by the end of the month shown on due date"

I do this to include devices calibrated by outside labs since they typically put month/day/year on the calibration sticker.

 

[AliGuff]

In a previous situation (involving nuclear industry), I had a NC issued because the item was used the morning of the calibration due date (1 year to the day, after the last calibration date). It was being sent off for calibration that afternoon.

On my register for the due date I had a formula of the last calibration date +364 days.

 

[ChrisM]

In a previous situation (involving nuclear industry), I had a NC issued because the item was used the morning of the calibration due date (1 year to the day, after the last calibration date). It was being sent off for calibration that afternoon.

Calibration was due on that date, the date had not yet passed. Incorrect NCR unless your procedure stated otherwise, such as equipment could not be used on the day on which calibration was due. It's all arbitrary anyway - leap years have an extra day compared to non-leap years; if someone introduced a new month and made years have 13 months, what then? (For those in the UK, the lost 9 days IIRC.....)