UKAS 17025 - why & where it matters!
ISO 17025 accredited work vs testing carried out without UKAS accreditation cover.
UKAS is the body who regulate & control Test Houses (Laboratories) in the UK.
The basic standard applicable is ISO 17025.
A test house carries out testing of client products for many reasons including:-
1. To demonstrate compliance to a specific test standard.
If this is to a national, or international standard where a final report or certificate of compliance is required the Test House can issue this. However it will only be fully “recognised” if the test house can also demonstrate they meet the ISO17025 requirements which include all aspects of their operation that may affect test results. To demonstrate this properly in the UK a test house should be able to show they have been, and are currently accredited by UKAS for both the Test House operations in general AND the specific test to a specific recognised and published standard. UKAS accredited test houses are regularly and thorougly audited by UKAS. If no formal certificate of conformance is required, or if the test is not a national or international standard (e.g. a corporate or company standard) then the test house may still issue a report or a statement of conformance to the specific test criteria but this will not be within the scope of ISO 17025 or UKAS accreditation. This report or statement of compliance may still be entirely correct but the recipient of this must rely on its own judgement or other indicators as to the accuracy & veracity of results.
2. Testing for product development, fault finding and other R&D concerns.
A significant amount of testing is carried out without seeking compliance to any specific standard. The results achieved are interpreted empirically and assessed by the client engineers against project or product design/performance criteria or other requirements. These products may ultimately need to comply with a national/international standard. However in the development process, or in fault/weakness test processes although the requirements of some standards may be “considered” a traceable and absolute compliance requirement at this stage introduces cost and time constraints centred on product that may be discounted for other reasons entirely.
3. Other reasons.
Many and varied - not discussued here.
So, If you DO require certainty of compliance to a recognised national or international standard you need to check:
- The Test House is accredited by UKAS to ISO 17025 the test you require is listed on the Test House UKAS “schedule of accreditation” and is within the parameters listed.
If you do not require traceable compliance certainty (e.g. you testing is comparative or “results seeking” but not to a specific standard) you should check:
- The test house has significant other indicators of competence such as ISO 9001, listing by “authorised bodies” such as UKAS for other testing (e.g. ISO17025), and/or has been audited by your own company or others that you consider relevant.
Alphatech publishes two significant documents:
- Test House Capabilities.
- Schedule of accreditation.
We are also ISO 9001 certified.