Mark of accreditation in Certificate Report of calibration-IATF

[Soumia]

Hello,

According to IATF standard, Do we need to have the mark of accreditation in each report of calibration certificate that we are receiving from the external laboratory ?

or is it enough to have only that the proof of the external laboratory accreditation ?

Regards,
Soumia

 

[AMIT BALLAL]

Just having accreditation proof won't be enough. There is a requirement (shall) of IATF16949 7.1.5.3.1 (External laboratory) clause to include "mark of national accreditation body" on the test/calibration certificate.

 

[UncleFester]

There's also a sanctioned interpretation no. 10 against 7.1.5.3.2 External laboratory. Yes, if the laboratory is accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 or it's national equivalent then the calibration or test report 'shall include the mark of a national accreditation body'. However, the clause continues with 'where a non-accredited laboratory is utilized (for example, but not limited to: specialist or integrated equipment, parameters with no international traceable standard reference, or original equipment manufacturers), the organization is responsible to ensure that there is evidence that the laboratory has been evaluated and meets the requirements of section 7.1.5.3.1 of IATF 16949".

So, if the item that you're calibrating falls into the examples stated, then certificates can be accepted without a mark of accreditation.

 

[Ashland78]

There's also a sanctioned interpretation no. 10 against 7.1.5.3.2 External laboratory. Yes, if the laboratory is accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 or it's national equivalent then the calibration or test report 'shall include the mark of a national accreditation body'. However, the clause continues with 'where a non-accredited laboratory is utilized (for example, but not limited to: specialist or integrated equipment, parameters with no international traceable standard reference, or original equipment manufacturers), the organization is responsible to ensure that there is evidence that the laboratory has been evaluated and meets the requirements of section 7.1.5.3.1 of IATF 16949".

So, if the item that you're calibrating falls into the examples stated, then certificates can be accepted without a mark of accreditation.

I agree. What has worked with external auditors for me is when I show an email response from 3 known calibration labs that state this is not in their scope. At times only the OEM is able to provide calibration, and adjustments. Example is for spectrophotometer manufactured by Photo Research in California. No one can successfully adjust, calibrate this device.