Quality System
Quality System & Standards
The standards, traceability and management arrangements that govern the work described on this site.
Overview
Calibration is performed by laboratories accredited to ISO/IEC 17025:2017. Certificates are issued under the performing laboratory's own scope of accreditation, and every request is checked against that scope before it is accepted. Accredited and non-accredited items on a single quote are identified separately, on both the quote and the resulting certificate, so a quality manager can see which results carry accredited status and which do not.
Standards Referenced
Work described on this site is performed under ISO/IEC 17025:2017.
The accreditation referenced on this site is held by the laboratory that performs the work, and it reaches only as far as the measurements in that laboratory's published scope. Anything measured outside it is issued as non-accredited work and labelled on the certificate, so an approved-supplier file shows exactly which lines sit inside an accredited scope.
Metrological Traceability
Measurements are traceable to the SI through NIST. Each certificate states the reference standards used and their own calibration status, along with the reported measurement uncertainty for the result issued. Where a statement of conformity is requested, the decision rule applied is stated on the certificate rather than left implicit, consistent with what ISO/IEC 17025:2017 requires. Where adjustment or repair is performed, both as-found and as-left results appear, so the record supports an impact assessment rather than only documenting the final state.
Traceability is documented measurement by measurement. The certificate names the reference standard, states where that standard stands in its own calibration cycle, and sets out the chain back to the SI unit. A reference found out of tolerance triggers a review of the work done against it since its previous calibration, and notification of whoever received that work.
Equipment and Maintenance
Documented procedures cover request review, method selection, result review and release, and a complaints-and-appeals process, applied consistently across the equipment categories handled: bridge, gantry and cantilever coordinate measuring machines, portable articulated arms, granite surface plates, gauge blocks, and ring and plug gauges. Out-of-tolerance findings are reported with as-found data before any adjustment proceeds, and records are retained in a form that can be retrieved on short notice for a customer or registrar audit.
Reference equipment is tagged with a unique identity, held under controlled conditions and recalibrated on a documented interval, shortened where the drift record justifies it. Where an item is damaged, overloaded or returns results that cannot be relied on, it is withdrawn and labelled, and its return to service is recorded in writing.
Management System
The work sits inside a documented management system:
- 01
Controlled documents
Procedures carry issue and revision status.
- 02
Retained records
Retained for a defined period and retrievable against a certificate number.
- 03
Audit and review
Internal audit and management review run on a schedule.
- 04
Corrective action
Nonconforming work and improvement actions are tracked to closure, and their effectiveness is checked afterwards.
Impartiality and Complaints
Impartiality is treated as a controlled risk, and results are issued on their merits whatever the commercial consequence. Complaints and appeals are logged as a formal input to the management system — the process, including the response commitment, is set out on the complaints policy page. How results should and should not be read is covered on the disclaimer page.
Assembling an approved-supplier file?
Scope, method statements and traceability detail are supplied with the quotation.