ANAB to Offer Lab Accreditation

October 1st, 2007

The ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB) has acquired Assured Calibration and Laboratory Accreditation Select Services, LLC (ACLASS), expanding ANAB’s range of conformity assessment services to include accreditation of testing and calibration laboratories.

ANAB is the U.S. accreditation body for management systems and is located in Milwaukee. ACLASS is located in Arlington, Va.

With the acquisition of ACLASS, ANAB adds to its existing programs accreditation of laboratories to ISO/IEC 17025, inspection bodies to ISO/IEC 17020, and reference material producers using ISO Guide 34. ANAB accredits certification bodies (CBs) for ISO 9001 quality management systems (QMS) and ISO 14001 environmental management systems (EMS), as well as numerous industry-specific requirements.

ANAB is a member of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and a signatory of the IAF multilateral cooperative arrangements (MLAs) for QMS and EMS. Through the IAF MLAs and the Multilateral Cooperative Accreditation Arrangement, ANAB cooperates with other accreditation bodies around the world to provide value to its accredited CBs and their clients, ensuring that accredited certificates are recognized nationally and internationally. The global conformity assessment system ensures confidence and reduces risk for customers engaging in trade worldwide.

Under terms of the acquisition, the two ACLASS principals and current staff and experts will be employed by ANAB and current ACLASS assessors are expected to provide ongoing service to existing and new clients. There will be no change to the ILAC recognition process.

Entry Filed under: Business News, Test Labs