The International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission recently published a new version of ISO/IEC 17025, the influential standard for testing and calibration laboratories. ISO/IEC 17025:2005 was released, among other reasons, to ensure compatibility with ISO 9001, a requirement made in an amendment to ISO/IEC 17025:1999. The new version also seeks to clarify that while the two standards are compatible, they aren’t interchangeable. Although both standards can be used by laboratories as a framework for providing customers with confidence that they’re properly managing their activities, only ISO/IEC 17025 can be used to demonstrate technical competence specific to laboratories.

ISO/IEC 17025:2005 contains all of the requirements that testing and calibration laboratories must meet to demonstrate to customers and regulators that they operate a sound management system and can generate technically valid results. Accreditation bodies that recognize testing and calibration laboratories will use the standard as the basis for accreditation.

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