The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed the Calibration Laboratories Accreditation Program (LAP) through its National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP). This voluntary program aims to assess the competency of calibration laboratories without imposing specific procedures or minimum uncertainties. The program offers accreditation in 8 major fields of metrology with over 90 individual parameters, and laboratories’ uncertainties range from working level to values equivalent to NIST.
The program utilizes assessors with expertise in the specific parameters at or above the level at which the laboratories operate. For measurement parameters where available, participation is mandatory in an appropriately rigorous Proficiency Testing (PT) program. NVLAP accepts PT results from accredited laboratories when the PT provider is accredited to ISO/IEC 17043 and the accreditation is issued by a body signatory to a mutual recognition arrangement (MRA) recognized by the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC).
Source: https://www.nist.gov/nvlap/calibration-lap
Keywords: Accreditation, Calibration, Metrology, Uncertainty, Standards
