The NRC's Calibration Laboratory Assessment Service (CLAS) is a service available to calibration laboratories seeking accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025.
Before you apply to the service, first familiarize yourself with the eligibility criteria and technical requirements which will need to be met during the accreditation process.
Calibration laboratories wanting to become accredited must meet the requirements of published CLAS requirements documents and the general requirements outlined in the latest edition of the international standard ISO/IEC 17025 General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. Conformance with the requirements is assessed by the Calibration Laboratory Assessment Service (CLAS) of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) as part of the accreditation process of our partner accreditation bodies, either the Canadian Association for Laboratory Accreditation (CALA) or the Standards Council of Canada (SCC).
Laboratories also must demonstrate competence to perform the specific calibrations and measurements for which they wish to become accredited. Applicants must agree to comply with published CLAS requirements and with the accreditation body requirements.
Applicants should review CLAS Requirements Documents, the accreditation body requirements, and the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025. CLAS Technical Advisors are available to assist applicants in understanding the requirements before an application is submitted.
A CLAS certificate is only granted as part of the accreditation process, not independently, and will only be issued at the completion of the accreditation process.
Ensure your calibration laboratory is eligible for accreditation
Both Canadian accreditation bodies (CALA and SCC), require laboratories to obtain a CLAS certificate as part of their accreditation process. Therefore, it is important to ensure that your calibration laboratory will meet CLAS certification.
To be eligible for a CLAS certificate, a calibration laboratory must:
- demonstrate that it is capable of performing specific calibrations and measurements with verified uncertainties and traceability to the International System of Units (SI);
- have in place the appropriate personnel, measurement standards and equipment, systems, procedures, and environment necessary to achieve the measurement uncertainties that it is claiming.
Ensure your calibration laboratory meets the technical requirements for accreditation
For the assessment, a laboratory must be prepared to provide the following supporting technical information (if applicable):
- calibration procedures
- examples of completed calibration certificates (CLAS Requirements Document 6)
- evidence of traceability (CLAS Requirements Document 9)
- measurement uncertainty budget(s)
- control of measurement standards (CLAS Requirements Document 3); and
- records of proficiency testing (CLAS Requirements Document 7)