ISO/IEC 17025 Transition – Collaboration between SCC, CALA, BNQ and NRC-CLAS to establish a Canadian harmonized approach for the transition of accredited laboratories in Canada

Bulletin date:
Bulletin number:
2017-36

Action required

None for now but consideration should be given to preparing a transition plan to the revised standard which will be required of all ISO/IEC 17025 customers of SCC and those of its partners, Bureau de normalisation du Québec (BNQ) and National Research Council Calibration Laboratory Assessment Services (NRC-CLAS).

 

Affected customers

The upcoming change will affect all applicants and accredited testing, and calibration laboratories, as well as, those labs accredited by other Accreditation Bodies signatories to the ILAC MRA and that are being used by SCC accredited certification bodies for products, processes and services.

 

Background

In preparation for the publication of the revised standard which is planned for November or December 2017, SCC has entered into an agreement with the Canadian Association for Laboratory Accreditation (CALA), as well as BNQ and NRC-CLAS, to establish a harmonized Canadian approach to the transition. The following determinations have been made thus far:

  • Laboratories can be assessed to the revised version of ISO/IEC 17025 one (1) month after publication of the revised standard, subject to each accreditation’s body capacity;
  • SCC, CALA, NRC-CLAS and BNQ are planning to conduct training sessions to a primary team of lead assessors in the Fall of 2017 in order to be ready to offer early assessments one (1) month after publication of the revised standard. Larger training sessions for a broader pool of assessors will take place in early 2018;
  • SCC, CALA, NRC-CLAS and BNQ are proposing, as part of the transition plan, that laboratories assessed  one (1) year after the publication date of the revised standard will have to be assessed to this revised standard; at that time, there will no longer be assessments conducted to the 2005 version of the standard.  The main reason for this target date is that all accredited laboratories must be accredited to the revised version three (3) years after the publication date, and with reassessments done every two (2) years, this plan will enable laboratories to demonstrate conformance without needing to undergo any special assessments to confirm successful transition.  We are inviting comments/feedback on this from all stakeholders as soon as possible so we can confirm the official timelines before the end of the summer.

  • As a group, we have produced a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page, which will be published in early September. The FAQs will be updated regularly based on the questions and comments that will be received from customers, assessors and stakeholders and will remain available during the 3 year transition period.

     

This is the second in a series of bulletins that SCC will issue with regards to the transition to the new version of ISO/IEC 17025. 

 

New requirements

Once the new standard is published, SCC and its partners BNQ and NRC-CLAS, will have three (3) years from the date of publication to ensure that all its accredited testing and calibration laboratories have completed their transition to the revised version. It is the responsibility of all testing and calibration laboratories to conform to the new standard.

 

Upon publication, a reference document that outlines the changes from the 2005 version to the new version will be made available to all stakeholders and information sessions will also be held.

 

Deadline

To be established once the revised standard is published.

 

Questions?

Please contact Cynthia Milito, Director  – Accreditation Services, at cynthia.milito@scc-ccn.ca or +1 613 238 3222 for more information.