There are plenty of testing companies providing services to Industry in the fields of electrical product safety, environmental, EMC and calibration.  Most established testing laboratories have been through the rigorous process of gaining accreditation to ISO Guide 17025, which is the relevant quality system standard for laboratories (similar to ISO 9001 for manufacturers).  Accreditation is gained from independent 3rd party certifiers such as NATA or A2LA.

Apart from overall lab accreditation, many regulators rely upon accredited reports to specific standards.  This involves an accredited lab developing test methods, having all relevant test equipment, ensuring the equipment is calibrated (often externally by an accredited calibration lab) and demonstrating technical competence and proficiency in testing to specific standards, which are then listed on a lab’s scope of accreditation.    An example of an accredited scope can be found here.  Note while a lab may be accredited to NATA or A2LA, it’s important to examine their accreditation document to ensure the standards you require are listed on the scope.

Positives of a non accredited test report or test results;

  1. Testing should be cheaper as there would be no accreditation costs, no quality assurance overheads and possibly no calibration of equipment costs

Negatives of a non accredited test report or test results;

  1. No traceability or verified measurement uncertaintychamber
  2. Reports usually not accepted by State or Federal Regulators or Corporations
  3. No international recognition
  4. Greater product liability
  5. Lower level of confidence in the accuracy of the results
  6. Lower standard of quality

Despite the overwhelming benefits of accredited testing, some manufacturers, importers and exporters choose to use either non ISO 17025 accredited testing companies, or labs that are not accredited in the areas of the expertise required.   Often people are unaware of the difference between accredited and non accredited testing.

There are a number of companies attempting to exploit this lack of knowledge by providing non accredited testing….often failing to disclose their reports lack the endorsement of NATA, A2LA, IANZ, CNAS or other accreditation bodies.  This is currently most prevalent in the environmental product testing sector, where structural change in the automotive industry has led to component suppliers with in-house test facilities touting for any sort of work that will keep them afloat.  These companies usually lack the experience/expertise of testing products & components for other industries.

Using non accredited labs for pre-scans or preliminary evaluations can prove disastrous if the test data they provide is proven incorrect upon submitting a product to an accredited lab for conformance testing. Apart from the waste of initial money in testing, a product may fail accredited testing, resulting in the redesign of a product that may have already been made in volume.

Problems of non accredited reports typically surface when seeking some sort of formal product approval, either locally or when exporting.  This often results in retesting of the product, this time at an accredited lab.  A good example would be CE mark compliance, where a company has produced a Declaration of Conformity to various standards, although when asked, the test reports either do not exist, were based on in-house testing or are from a non accredited lab.

Don’t risk a product recall because your device wasn’t tested correctly to the required standard.

Many industries and regulators, routinely specify accredited reports to satisfy their compliance requirements, including the Australian electrical regulators and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). Larger Companies or Government Departments that purchase electrical and electronic products often specify accredited test reports or Australian safety approval certificates so as to minimise their risk of non-compliance and product recalls.

Accredited labs represent the highest level of testing competence available and are independently audited by an accreditation body that is a signatory of the International Laboratory Accreditation Committee (ILAC) Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA).  As an example, A2LA (American Association for Laboratory Accreditation) and NATA (National Association of Testing Authorities) are both signatories to the ILAC and APLAC MRA’s for mutual acceptance of test data and reports.

How can you tell if a report is accredited ?  An endorsed/accredited report will usually carry the endorsement logo of their accreditation body and often include the ILAC logo. accreditation

 

Don’t trust non accredited testing!