Quality System
Quality System & Standards
The standards, traceability and management arrangements that govern the work described on this site.
Overview
Calibration performed under this coordination is completed by laboratories accredited to ISO/IEC 17025:2017. Certificates are issued under the performing laboratory's accreditation scope, with reference standards and reported measurement uncertainty stated on every result returned to the customer.
Standards Referenced
Work described on this site is performed under ISO/IEC 17025:2017.
Accreditation, where it is referenced anywhere on this site, is the accreditation held by the laboratory that performs the work, and it extends only to the measurements listed in that laboratory's published scope. Measurements outside a published scope are performed and reported as non-accredited work and are identified as such on the certificate. No accreditation is claimed here that is not held by the party performing the measurement.
What is included with a quotation is explained on the accreditation documentation page.
Metrological Traceability
Measurements are traceable to the SI through NIST. Each certificate documents the reference standards used for that calibration, the environmental conditions recorded at the time of measurement, and the reported uncertainty associated with the result. As-found data is recorded before any adjustment, and as-left data is recorded after, so drift can be tracked across successive calibration cycles. A result outside the stated tolerance is reported as such; it is never adjusted silently.
Traceability is captured at the level of the measurement. The certificate records which reference was used, how that reference stood in its own calibration interval, and the chain that links it to the SI unit. Where a reference is subsequently found out of tolerance, work measured against it since its previous calibration is reviewed and affected parties are notified.
Equipment and Maintenance
Coverage includes 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 appropriate to each equipment category, and result review prior to release. Any customer who wishes to challenge a reported result after certificate issue is handled through the same documented complaints-and-appeals process.
Reference equipment is individually identified and kept under controlled conditions, with a defined recalibration interval that is shortened where drift data supports it. Items that have been damaged or overloaded, or that give results which do not stand up, are withdrawn and labelled, and are not used again until checked and released in writing.
Management System
The work sits inside a documented management system:
Controlled documents
Procedures carry issue and revision status.
Retained records
Retained for a defined period and retrievable against a certificate number.
Audit and review
Internal audit and management review run on a schedule.
Corrective action
Nonconforming work and improvement actions are tracked to closure, and their effectiveness is checked afterwards.
Impartiality and Complaints
Impartiality risks are assessed and controlled, and findings are reported as measured even where the commercial result is unwelcome. Complaints and appeals are treated as a formal input rather than an inconvenience — 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.
Looking for paperwork to support a supplier file?
Scope, method statements and traceability detail are supplied with the quotation.