Background on ISO/IEC 17025:1999

ISO/IEC 17025:1999 replaces ISO/IEC Guide 25:1990 & EN 45001:1989 as the contemporary standard to be adhered to by all testing & calibration laboratories. It integrates the requirements of ISO 9001 & 9002(1994) & embodies the extensive experience gained over a time span of 10 years of lab systems implementation. The new standard not only contains specifications for quality systems requirements but also those based on technical competency & the ability to generate technically valid results.As a rule, within an organization any process or technology should be subjected to calibration & testing and measured by a sampling scheme that ensues in data collection & analysis. It is then possible to gauge the effect of the activities or goods produced & plan appropriately for improvement.