SCC Requirements and Guidance for the Accreditation of Testing Laboratories

Bulletin date:
Bulletin number:
2017-25

Action required

Effective immediately, all laboratories must now refer to SCC Requirements and Guidance for the Accreditation of Testing Laboratories and cease referring to CAN-P-1630 - PALCAN Interpretations for Conducting Assessments of Testing and Calibration Laboratories - January 2008. As well, with the publication of the new requirements and guidance document, the following documents are also being withdrawn:

  • CAN-P-1581B - Accreditation of Fastener Testing Laboratories - May 2009
  • CAN-P-1587 - Requirements for the Accreditation of Agriculture Inputs, Food, Animal Health and Plant Protection Testing Laboratories - April 2008
  • CAN-P-1585 - Requirements for the Accreditation of Environmental Testing Laboratories, Program Specialty Area - Environmental Testing (PSA-ET) - December 2008

 

Affected customers

This change affects all applicant and accredited laboratories, as well as SCC assessors working in the laboratory accreditation program.

 

Background

This change was made as part of SCC’s overall QMS modernization project. SCC, with input from various stakeholders, conducted a review of CAN-P-1630 with an eye towards eliminating some redundancies between that document, ISO/IEC 17025:2005, and several other CAN-P documents related to SCC Program Specialty Areas (PSAs).

 

Please note that SCC will begin developing a version of this document for the new ISO/IEC 17025:2017 standard, once that standard is published. It will be published and implemented as part of SCC’s larger overall transition project.

 

New requirements

The following clauses contain new or significantly modified requirements in the new document:

  • 4.5.1 (Subcontracting of Test and Calibrations)
  • 4.14 (Internal Audits)
  • 4.15 (Management Review)
  • 5.4.7.2 (Test and Calibration Methods and Method Validation)

  • 5.10.2 e) (Reporting the Results)

     

As well, the following clauses contain new or significantly modified guidance in the new document:

  • 4.2.5 (Management System)
  • 4.9 (Control of Nonconforming Testing and/or Calibration Work)
  • 4.10 (Improvement)
  • 4.11 (Corrective Action)

  • 4.13.1.1 and 4.13.1.2 (Control of Records)

     

The following requirements and/or guidance statements contained in CAN-P-1630 have been removed or significantly reduced in the new document:

  • 4.1.1 and 4.1.5 (Organization)
  • 4.2.1, 4.2.2, 4.2.3, 4.2.4, and 4.2.7 (Management System)
  • 4.3.1, 4.3.2.1, and 4.3.3.4 (Document Control)
  • 4.4.1 (Review of Requests, Tenders and Contracts)
  • 4.5.2 and 4.5.4 (Subcontracting of Tests and Calibrations)
  • 4.7.1 (Service to the Customer)
  • 4.9.1 (Control of Nonconforming Testing and/or Calibration Work)
  • 4.12 (Preventive Action)
  • 5.2 and 5.2.1 (Personnel)
  • 5.3.5 (Accommodation and Environmental Conditions)
  • 5.4.2, 5.4.3, 5.4.5, 5.4.5.3, 5.4.6.1, 5.4.6.3, and 5.4.7.2a) (Test and Calibration Methods and Method Validation)
  • 5.5.1, 5.5.4, 5.5.7, and 5.5.9 (Equipment)
  • 5.6.3.1 and 5.6.3.3 (Measurement Traceability)
  • 5.7 and 5.7.1 (Sampling)
  • 5.8.1 (Handling of test and Calibration Items)
  • 5.9.1 (Assuring the Quality of Test and Calibration Results)
  • 5.10.2c), 5.10.2d), 5.10.2j), 5.10.3, 5.10.4.1, 5.10.4.2, 5.10.4.4, 5.10.5, 5.10.6, and 5.10.7 (Reporting the Results)

 

Finally, some requirements and guidance statements have been slightly re-worded for clarity.

 

Deadline

The new document is in effect immediately. However, until September 1st, 2018, all findings raised against new or modified requirements will be raised as observations. After that date, they may be raised as NCRs.

 

Questions?

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