This is the content of a letter from the Chair of ILAC to all ILAC members. For all new ISO/IEC 17025:2005 certificates issued by UKAS, with effect from Monday 3 October 2005, the wording will be revised to incorporate these requirements.
ILAC members will be aware that many of their accredited laboratories have been experiencing difficulty convincing their customers they should be asking laboratories to be accredited to ISO/IEC 17025, (prior to 1999 ISO Guide 25) rather than be certified (registered) to ISO 9001. The situation became more acute with the publication of ISO 9001:2000, as some customers continually asked laboratories to be certified, when they really meant accredited. The confusion is caused by the perception that accredited laboratories do not operate a recognised quality management system.
To address this problem the ILAC Laboratory Committee asked that a statement be put on accreditation (attestation) certificates, issued by their accreditation body, stating that an accredited laboratory’s management system meets the principles of ISO 9001:2000. The same statement could also be used by accredited laboratories on their calibration certificates and test reports.
Working through the ISO-ILAC-IAF Joint Working Group (JWG), ILAC is pleased to be able to advise it’s member accreditation bodies that the problem raised by the Laboratory Committee may now be addressed as follows:-
On accreditation (attestation) certificates, accreditation bodies may add the following:
"This laboratory is accredited in accordance with the recognised International Standard ISO/IEC 17025:2005. This accreditation demonstrates technical competence for a defined scope and the operation of a laboratory quality management system (refer joint ISO-ILAC-IAF Communiqué dated 18 June 2005)"
Accreditation Bodies choosing to use the above statement on their accreditation certificates should either supply, or provide access to (via a website), the Joint ISO-ILAC-IAF Communique as part of the package. (It may be convenient for accreditation bodies to do this when they issue new accreditation certificates for ISO/IEC 17025:2005 to their accredited laboratories.)
Accredited laboratories choosing to use the above statement on their test reports and calibration certificates should also either supply, or provide access to (via a website), the Joint ISO-ILAC-IAF Communique as part of the package for their laboratory customers.
The ILAC Laboratory Committee thanks the members of the ILAC and IAF Executive Committees and the ISO-ILAC-IAF JWG, for developing a solution to a critical market issue facing some accredited laboratories.
Daniel Pierre, ILAC Chair