Australian Accreditation and Certification Services

ISO/IEC 17025 is the international best-practice Standard for the management of laboratory systems. The Standard provides a proven model that, when properly implemented, provides confidence in the accuracy and precision of laboratory test and calibration results. ISO/IEC 17025 enables laboratories to demonstrate they operate competently, and are able to generate valid results.

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ISO/IEC 17025 was recently completely rewritten and updated to align its structure with other recent accreditation Standards. A couple of significant changes of importance to labs are as follows:

 

• Introduction of risk-based thinking which enables some reduction in prescriptive requirements and their replacement by performance-based requirements.

• There is now more flexibility than in the previous edition in the requirements for processes, procedures, documented information and organizational responsibilities.

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ISO/IEC 17025:2017 is currently in transition. The International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) has determined that laboratories that seek accreditation must ensure that they are compliant with the new Standard by November 2020. However, many accreditation bodies have already started to use the new Standard and so it is advisable to  commence your upgrade as soon as possible.

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As well as providing assitance to laboratories that are seeking to establish an ISO/IEC 17025 compliant system, AACS can also assist labs to benchmark their existing operations against the new Standard in preparation for accreditation. See our Transition page.