AASHTO re:source has been offering assessments and accreditation for ISO/IEC 17025 since March 2000. The title of this ISO standard is “General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories". ISO is the International Organization for Standardization and this internationally-recognized standard is specifically geared towards testing and calibration laboratories, as its title states.
Accreditation for ISO/IEC 17025 is available to all testing laboratories that are currently accredited by the AASHTO Accreditation Program (AAP) for AASHTO R 18, in any testing field(s). Many requirements of ISO/IEC 17025 are similar to AASHTO R 18. However, there are several
additional requirements, including those related to metrological traceability, externally provided products and services, contract review, sampling, complaints, addressing risks and opportunities, and management review. You may purchase a copy of the standard at
www.ansi.org or
www.iso.org to review the requirements.
If your organization desires worldwide recognition of your products or services, or if you simply want to go the extra step in the pursuit of quality, recognition for ISO/IEC 17025 may be of interest to you.
View a list of laboratories currently accredited for ISO/IEC 17025.
The Assessment
The ISO/IEC 17025 assessment is normally combined with a regular AASHTO re:source technical assessment, which involves demonstrations of test methods and a thorough review of the requirements in AASHTO R 18 as well as other ASTM quality management system standards selected by the laboratory. For laboratories that only receive a CCRL inspection, a separate assessment that covers the ISO/IEC 17025 requirements will be performed by AASHTO re:source personnel. The ISO/IEC 17025 assessment includes a review of each requirement in the standard, which involves an in-depth examination of the laboratory's quality management system (QMS) documentation, interviews with laboratory staff regarding their job duties and the QMS, and a thorough review of records that are required by ISO/IEC 17025. The laboratory’s QMS is also evaluated based on the criteria specified by the AASHTO Accreditation Program (AAP) for AASHTO R 18 accreditation. Demonstrations of test methods are typically not required during a stand-alone ISO/IEC 17025 assessment.
Getting Started
The process for requesting an ISO/IEC 17025 assessment is simple – just submit the following information:
- Assessment Request Form:
- Login to the AASHTO re:source website with your e-mail and password
- Request an Assessment
- Select "ISO/IEC 17025" as one of the quality systems you wish to request.
- Click “Submit Request”
- The following information will be requested by AASHTO re:source staff upon receipt of the Assessment Request Form:
- The most recent version of your laboratory's QMS documentation
- Records of your laboratory’s most recent internal audit
- Records of your laboratory’s most recent management review
Scheduling the Assessment
Once the required information is received, the documentation is reviewed by AASHTO re:source staff. If the majority of the documentation requirements in the standard have been met, an assessment will be scheduled. If there are shortcomings with the documentation, AASHTO re:source staff will work with you to ensure everything is in order before an assessment is scheduled. The first ISO/IEC 17025 assessment is typically scheduled for two days, in addition to the time scheduled for the technical assessment.
Accreditation Requirements
Each ISO/IEC 17025 assessment concludes with a preliminary report of the findings. The AASHTO Accreditation Program (AAP) requires that corrective actions for each finding be completed within 60 days of the final report.
Fees and Schedule of Future Assessments
Visit the Laboratory Assessment Program’s
Tests and Fees page for a description of fees. The Base Fee is only charged once for a combined technical assessment and ISO/IEC 17025 assessment. The Base Fee is also charged for stand-alone ISO/IEC 17025 assessments that do not include a technical assessment. Once a laboratory is accredited for ISO/IEC 17025, a surveillance assessment of the ISO/IEC 17025 requirements is conducted during the next technical assessment. A surveillance assessment for ISO/IEC 17025 is typically shorter, lasting approximately one day. After that, ISO/IEC 17025 assessments alternate between full assessments and surveillance assessments and will occur at the same time as the technical assessment.