(NABL) is an autonomous body under the aegis of Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, and is registered under the Societies Act. NABL has been established with the objective to provide Government, Industry Associations and Industry in general with a scheme for third-party assessment of the quality and technical competence of testing and calibration laboratories. Government of India has authorized NABL as the sole accreditation body for Testing and Calibration laboratories.
In order to achieve this objective, NABL provides laboratory accreditation services to laboratories that are performing tests / calibrations in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025 and ISO 15189 for medical laboratories. These services are offered in a non-discriminatory manner and are accessible to all testing and calibration laboratories in India and abroad, regardless of their ownership, legal status, size and degree of independence.
NABL has established its Accreditation System in accordance with ISO/IEC 17011:2004, which is followed internationally. In addition NABL has to also comply with the requirements of APLAC MR001, which requires the applicant and the accredited laboratories to take part in recognized Proficiency Testing Programs in accordance with ISO/IEC Guide 43. An applicant laboratory has to satisfactorily participate in at least one Proficiency Testing program, while the accredited laboratories are expected to cover the major scopes of accreditation in a cycle time of four years. Towards this objective,
NABL had undergone the first peer evaluation by a 4 member team of APLAC in July 2000, based on which NABL qualified as an APLAC MRA (Mutual Recognition Arrangement) Partner as well as a Signatory to ILAC Arrangements. NABL was reassessed in July 2004 & July 2008 and as stated earlier the signatory status of NABL within APLAC MRA has been confirmed for further four years i.e. October 2012.
This distinction has brought additional responsibility on NABL and its accredited laboratories. Annual Surveillance is carried out to ensure that the accredited laboratories are continuing to comply the accreditation criteria. NABL and its accredited laboratories are also required to meet the new challenges arising out of requirements such as satisfactory participation in a recognized Proficiency Testing Programme and the requirement of estimating the Uncertainty in Measurements even by the testing laboratories. NABL has already published the revised guideline on Estimation of Uncertainty in Measurement for Calibration Laboratories.
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NABL accreditation is based on evaluation of technical competence whereas ISO certification is based upon verification of proper documentation. Though documentation forms an essential and important part of NABL, it lays down great emphasis on quality and the lab can be denied accreditation if one does not comply with the quality standards.
