Published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), ISO/IEC 17025 recognizes a laboratory’s capabilities and areas of competence. The accreditation focuses on the operation and effectiveness of the quality management system within a laboratory and the factors that determine the correctness and reliability of the tests and calibrations performed there. It is the main standard used by testing and calibration laboratories to document a laboratory’s ability to consistently produce valid results.

“As part of the accreditation process, we built an entire quality system for our lab,” said Bob Brown, vice president of engineering at WaterFurnace. “This accreditation assures WaterFurnace dealers and customers that our laboratory is accurate and that our products perform just as our specifications indicate. It really underscores the credibility and performance of the equipment we design and manufacture.”

WaterFurnace said implementing ISO/IEC 17025 as part of its laboratory quality initiatives provides the company with continually improving data quality and laboratory effectiveness. It also serves as a basis for other quality systems related to good research, manufacturing, and design.

“In addition, ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation improves the national and global reputation of the WaterFurnace Engineering Laboratory,” said Brown. “Lab reports generated at our Fort Wayne facility can now be accepted directly, without third party verification, by other compliance organizations, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the British Department of Energy and Climate Change, which require proof of performance and efficiency.”

For more information, visit www.waterfurnace.com.

Publication date: 10/10/2011