ISO 17025 M&TE (Measuring & Test Equipment) Calibration Requirements

[raluca_eftimoiu]

Hi everyone,

Are there any requirements about the calibration of the M&TE?

Does the M&TE need to have ISO 17025 accredited calibrations or is an ANSI Z-540-1 accredited calibration enough to meet ISO 17025 requirements?

Is there any requirements about the time interval for the M&TE calibration? Is 1 year sufficient or can I extend it to 2 years, provided that my M&TE calibration provider offers this option?

Thank you all.

Raluca

 

[Jerry Eldred]

That is a very broad question. Maybe some others can assist me with asking for more details. This all depends on your quality system requirements. If you could specify what your quality system requirements are (what standard(s) you have to meet), that would help everyone better answer your question.

There are times when parts of that answer will differ depending on your needs.

 

[raluca_eftimoiu]

I am currently seeking accreditation to ISO 17025 and ANSI Z-540-3.

 

[raluca_eftimoiu]

Hi everyone,

In case anyone else has the same question I had: I checked with my AB and I was told the following:

"If you do accredited work to 17025 the standards you use must have an accredited calibration with uncertainties from an accredited vendor or done in house as an accredited calibration using accredited calibrated standards. There are some cases that an accredited calibration may not be available for a piece of equipment and we may allow a waiver to use a Z540-1 calibration with uncertainties. This is rare and a waiver must be approved before doing so."

By "accredited" here I am interpreting it to mean "ISO 17025 accredited". Am I right? I thought you can also have a Z540-1 accredited calibration, but I guess that is not the case?

Raluca

 

[Jerry Eldred]

My understanding is that is correct. You may want to check with what ever vendor may potentially be involved. It could be that they are both Z540 and ISO17025 accredited(?). That does make sense though, that for a sort of "chain of traceability" ( I am slightly misusing that term - reason for the quotes), that is a a chain of ISO17025 traceability (a uniform method for establishing a trail of uncertainties of the measurement), that the standard you use to do an ISO17025 accredited calibration must itself meet ISO17025 requirements. To do that, that standard needs to be calibrated by your outside vendor to ISO17025 (accreditation). Because Z540 and ISO17025 are so close, I can also understand where in an individual case, they may grant a waiver from ISO17025 where not vendor exists, and allow a Z540 vendor to be used.

So their comment does make sense. And yes, by "accredited" they would mean ISO17025 accredited.