Quality System
Quality System & Standards
The standards, traceability and management arrangements that govern the work described on this site.
Overview
This site coordinates calibration and verification work performed by laboratories accredited to ISO/IEC 17025:2017. Each job is scoped against the performing laboratory's published scope of accreditation before it is quoted. The instrument's range and required uncertainty are matched to what that scope actually covers, not to the laboratory's name alone.
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, documented as an unbroken chain of comparisons, each with a stated uncertainty. Certificates identify the reference standards used, state the reported measurement uncertainty and coverage factor, and carry the decision rule applied to any statement of conformity. Where adjustment or repair occurs, results are reported before and after. Accredited and non-accredited items on a single quote or gage crib visit are identified separately, never blended into one certificate format.
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
Work covers bridge, gantry and cantilever coordinate measuring machines, portable articulated arms, granite surface plates, gauge blocks, and ring and plug gauges. Documented procedures govern request review, method selection against the applicable standard, result review and release, and a complaints-and-appeals process for disputed findings. Out-of-tolerance results are reported with as-found data intact, supporting a reverse-traceability impact assessment back to the last passing calibration before any correction is applied.
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.
Need documentation for an approved-supplier file?
Scope, method statements and traceability detail are supplied with the quotation.