NVLAP ACCREDITATION AT HART

I n November 2000, Hart Scientifics tem-

perature laboratory became officially ac-
credited by the National Voluntary
Laboratory Accreditation Program
(NVLAP lab code 200348), which operates
under the umbrella of NIST, the national
metrology institute of the United States.
Harts lab accreditation was renewed for
two years in early 2003. An abbreviated re-
production of our new scope of accredita-
tion under ISO/IEC 17025 can be found on
our web site at www.hartscientific.com.
NVLAP has signed Mutual Recognition
Arrangements (MRAs) with the Asia Pa-
cific Laboratory Accreditation Coopera-
tion (APLAC) and the International Labo-
ratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC).
Signatories to the ILAC agreement include
most of the worlds developed nations (see
sidebar on following page). In short, Harts
in calibration certificates and reports by Digital thermometer readout
lab is recognized as an accredited
employing generally established standards calibration
laboratory in most countries in the world.
set by the European (CEN) or international Digital thermometer / probe
What Is Accreditation? (ISO) standardization bodies. Accredita- system calibration
tion in the United States is voluntary. Nev-
Accreditation is the unbiased assess- Whats in It for You?
ertheless, as more companies become ISO
ment by a third party of a laboratorys qual-
9000 certified, accreditation is becoming a First, since accreditation involves a
ity program and technical capabilities. The
more common practice in the United third party assessment of a laboratorys QA
third party assesses the laboratory against a
States. program and technical capabilities, it pro-
recognized standard. In December 1999,
vides an impartial viewpoint of the compe-
the new standard, ISO/IEC 17025, Gen- What Is the Scope of Harts Accreditation? tency of the laboratory. It also provides an
eral Requirements for the Competence of
The scope of Harts accreditation is in- unbiased assessment of the laboratorys
Testing and Calibration Laboratories, was
tended to satisfy the traceability and other standards, procedures, personnel qualifica-
adopted and has now replaced ISO Guide
requirements for ongoing company opera- tions, and traceability to an appropriate na-
25 as the accepted standard for accredited
tions, research requirements, and customer tional laboratory. In the United States, this
test and measurement laboratories.
support for both primary and secondary means traceability of all standards to NIST.
Accreditation indicates that a laboratory
thermometry. In the United States, By showing traceability to NIST, we show
has demonstrated that it functions within
NVLAP and A2LA have already accred- traceability directly to the ITS-90. In short,
the parameters of the standard. While ac-
ited hundreds of calibration laboratories. accreditation offers a labs customers a
creditation is not a guarantee of a labora-
Harts laboratory, however, is accredited high level of confidence in its quality and
torys performance, it does provide a
for some of the lowest uncertainties of all technical abilities.
means for determining the laboratorys
commercial laboratories in the world. The Second, because ISO 9000 includes cal-
competence to perform particular types of
following areas are included within Harts ibration requirements, many companies in-
tests or calibrations. The technical evalua-
scope of accreditation: clude accreditation for calibration suppli-
tion during an accreditation includes a re- Thermometric fixed-point cell ers as a mandatory part of their QA system.
view (by experts in the relevant discipline)
certification Often, accredited suppliers need only remit
of calibration procedures, calibration stan- SPRT calibration by fixed point a copy of their accreditation scope in order
dards, traceability, uncertainty analysis, Noble-metal thermocouple to become an approved vendor. This elimi-
actual results, and statistical process
calibration by fixed point nates the need for time-consuming, expen-
control. PRT calibration sive audits and other supplier evaluation
Laboratory accreditation has been a re- Thermistor calibration methods. Further, in cases where custom-
quirement in many countries for years. Na- Reference resistor calibration ers audits are still necessary, the audits run
tionally recognized accreditation bodies
(DC) smoother when accredited suppliers are
have provided customers with confidence
used.

3
 Continued
Third, accreditation has benefits for in- made and implemented. While the lab was
ternational customers. All recognized ac- already excellent, it is now the best its ever
creditation bodies have adopted ISO/IEC been, and we have independent confirma-
17025 as the basis for accreditation of cali- tion that we are qualified to do what we say
bration and testing laboratories. Because we can do.
these accreditations are based on the same For the Scope of Accreditation In the end, accreditation benefits both
standards, countries may enter into MRAs Under NVLAP Lab Code 200348-0 the accredited lab and its customers. Our
whereby an accreditation body in one processes and systems have been validated,
country recognizes the accreditations done our stated uncertainties scrutinized, and
by a fellow MRA signatory in another with providing repetitive audits to numer- our traceability examined. At the same
country. This has the effect of easing some ous customers will decline with time, customers confidence in our labs
of the barriers that have historically hin- accreditation. quality system and technical capabilities
dered the flow of calibrated instruments Perhaps the single greatest benefit of ac- has been independently substantiated. The
across borders. creditation to Hart is the accreditation pro- complete scope, ranges, and uncertainties
cess itself. Hart employs some of the of Harts accreditation are available for
Whats in It for Us? worlds leading temperature metrologists. review on our web site at
Customer demand for laboratory ac- One such expert, Tom Wiandt, has done an www.hartscientific.com.
creditation has been rising for years. With outstanding job running our calibration lab Take a look. We make the worlds finest
many companies requiring their calibration since 1996. However, the opportunity to temperature calibration equipment, and we
services suppliers to be accredited, this de- receive evaluation and criticism from in- know how to use it. We used it, in fact, to
mand is starting to reach a critical level. By dustry peers is extremely valuable. Both get our accreditation. Trust your critical
becoming accredited, Hart is better posi- the QA systems and the technical operating calibration work to an accredited
tioned to serve a wide variety of customers. procedures were thoroughly examined. Is- laboratory.
Additionally, the time and costs associated sues were discussed and recommendations

Signatory Organizations to the ILAC MRA

Australia NATA www.nata.asn.au Israel ISRAC www.israc.gov.il
Austria BMWA [email protected] Italy SINAL www.sinal.it
Belgium BeltestOBE/BKO BELTEST.fgov.be Japan IAJapan www.nite.go.jp
Brazil CGCRE www.inmetro.gov.br Japan JAB www.jab.or.jp
Canada SCC www.scc.ca Korea, Republic of KOLAS kolas.ats.go.kr
China, Hong Kong HKAS www.info.gov.hk/itc/hkas Netherlands RvA www.rva.nl
China, Peoples CNAL www.cnal.org.cn New Zealand IANZ www.ianz.govt.nz
Republic of
Norway NA www.justervesenet.no/na
Chinese Taipei CNLA www.cnla.org.tw
Portugal IPQ www.ipq.pt
Czech Republic CAI www.cai.cz
Singapore SAC www.sac-ccreditation.org.sg
Denmark DANAK www.danak.dk
Slovakia SNAS www.snas.sk
Finland FINAS www.finas.fi
South Africa SANAS www.sanas.co.za
France COFRAC www.cofrac.fr
Spain ENAC www.enac.es
Germany DACH [email protected]
Sweden Swedac www.swedac.se
Germany DAP www.dap.de
Switzerland SAS www.sas.ch
Germany DAR www.dar.bam.de
Thailand TISI www.tisi.go.th
Germany DASMIN www.dasmin.de
United Kingdom UKAS www.ukas.com
Germany DATech www.datech.de
USA A2LA www.a2la.org
Germany DKD www.dkd.info
USA ICBO www.icboes.org
India NABL www.nabl-india.org
USA NVLAP www.nist.gov/nvlap
Indonesia BSN www.bsn.or.id
Viet Nam VILAS vol.vnn.vn
Ireland NAB www.nab.ie