Accreditation of laboratory - necessary procedure

Accreditation of the laboratory is a confirmation of competence for the performance of certain works.

To date, there are such areas of activity that an unaccredited laboratory does not have the right to engage in, i.e. State expertise will not recognize the results. For example, work on industrial safety, certification of work places on working conditions, etc. Therefore, if the organization is going to provide services in the selected area, the question of whether or not laboratory accreditation is needed is decided unequivocally.

To complete this procedure, it is necessary to prepare a package of documents compiled according to established forms containing objective information about the laboratory and an application. The documents are sent to the Accreditation Body for review. Experts within a fixed period (usually 1 month) should give an opinion on whether the documents meet the requirements.

Accreditation of testing laboratories is confirmation that these organizations comply with state standards in all parameters. Such laboratories should have the necessary equipment, measuring instruments, trained specialists. Measuring instruments that measure certain parameters must be checked and have test certificates.

If the document does not meet the requirements (for example, the lack of certain points in the field of accreditation related to the lack of means of measurement), a package of documents with a conclusion on it is sent back to the applicant. When correcting all the indicated deficiencies, the applicant has the right to return the application for review.

If everything is in order with the package of documents, then an agreement for accreditation is concluded with the accreditation body. After a certain time, a commission comes to check the laboratory on site. Experts get acquainted on the spot with laboratory staff, conduct testing, may ask for any tests to make sure that they are competent.

If the commission has not found any deficiencies, the accreditation of the laboratory is considered complete. Organization is entered in the Unified Register. The certificate of accreditation of the testing laboratory is issued, valid for 5 years.

The supervisory authority may conduct unscheduled inspections (if complaints about incompetence in work have been received) and are obliged to conduct periodic audits of the organizations accredited to them.

If during the work of the laboratory there is a need to expand the scope of accreditation, then the whole procedure does not need to be re-done. This can be done within the framework of inspection control.

Re-accreditation of the laboratory may be required after 5 years. In this case, six months before the expiration of the certificate, you must send a package of documents to the appropriate authority. If the laboratory has an excellent reputation, then it may be decided to issue an accreditation certificate without checking on the spot.