Organisations need to be confident that the results provided by their instrumentation are accurate because they are used in key activities such as controlling process variables, ensuring the quality or safety of their products, or providing data for analysis.
This is where calibration laboratories come in, but what exactly is an ENAC accredited calibration laboratory and why is it important to have this accreditation?
What does a calibration laboratory do?
We all expect the products we buy to work properly, the infrastructure we use to be safe and the air we breathe to be free of pollutants.
But the ageing of components, changes in temperature or the mechanical stresses to which equipment is subjected gradually erode its functions. When this happens, measurements and tests begin to lose confidence and both the design and quality of the product suffer.
To prevent this, there are conformity assessment bodies that check that the products and services being assessed are safe and meet the requirements set out in the standards.
Calibration is the determination of the error of an instrument through the measurement of a standard of known value and its associated uncertainty. It is a suitable activity for the assessment of supplies of measuring equipment and the associated accreditation is UNE-EN ISO/IEC 17025.
By performing calibration, the user verifies that the instruments used in the analytical process are compatible with the expected performance.
What is ENAC accreditation or certification?
Accreditation is the process by which an independent authority determines, according to recognised standards, the impartiality and competence of an organisation to carry out specific tasks.
In the case of accreditation of calibration services, ISO/IEC 17025 defines the requirements that a laboratory must meet to demonstrate both the technical competence of its personnel and the availability of all technical resources necessary to produce accurate and reliable test, measurement or calibration results.
ISO 17025 Standard
ISO 17025 provides the necessary requirements for testing and calibration laboratories and facilitates the harmonisation of quality criteria.
This ensures technical competence and reliability of analytical results. The standard includes both technical requirements and management processes to ensure the technical competence of laboratories and the validity of the results they produce.
Laboratory accreditation is the formal recognition of this competence and technical capability to perform specific analyses.
ISO/IEC 17025 also requires the laboratory to have a management system that conforms to the principles of ISO 9001, so compliance with ISO 17025 implies that the laboratory meets both the technical competence requirements and the management requirements necessary to deliver technically valid test and calibration results.
However, the mere fact of holding an ISO 9001 accredited certificate does not in itself provide evidence that a laboratory is capable of providing reliable and accurate testing or calibration, it must be accredited as mentioned above.
Benefits of the ISO 17025 Calibration Certificate
Having ENAC accredited calibration laboratories ensures the highest guarantees of technical competence without running risks (compared to non-accredited laboratories).
The main advantages of accredited calibration are:
- Ensure correct operation.
- Quality assurance of analytical processes.
- Reliability in decision making.
- Reduced costs and risks
- Increased equipment lifetime
- International acceptance of results
- Legal defence against potential errors
- Access to new businesses and markets
Accredited calibration of the equipment guarantees the reliability of the measurement processes and their traceability to international standards.
Envira’s accredited laboratory for flowmeters and ambient air analyzers
How long does a calibration certificate last?
The validity of calibration certificates is determined by the customer and depends on the type of instrument and its application.
Accredited calibration laboratory for flowmeters and gas analyzers
Envira has been an Enac accredited laboratory for more than 17 years, in accordance with the criteria set out in the UNE-EN ISO/IEC 17025 standard and the CGA-ENAC-LEC document, for calibrations in the fields of “Gas Flow” and “Chemistry: Gas Concentration”.
Controllers and flowmeters calibration services
In the field of gas flow measurement, we can calibrate any flow rate within the following ranges
- 0,006 l/min ≤ Q ≤ 50.000 l/min
- 60.00 l/min ≤ Q ≤ 1500.00 l/min
Calibration of ambient air gas analyzers
Regarding the concentration of gases, thanks to being one of the ENAC accredited calibration laboratories, we can certify the calibration of:
Ambient air gas analyzers, which allow the calculation of gas concentrations in different instruments, such as for example:
- Ozone analyzer
- Benzene analyzer
- SO2 analyzer
- SH2 analyzer
- NO analyzer, NO2 analyzer
- CO analyzer
We also calibrate automated monitoring system (AMS) against reference equipment.
As an ENAC accredited laboratory, Envira offers companies our many years of experience in calibrating equipment in the fields of “Gas Flow” and “Chemistry: Gas Concentration” with permanent or “in situ” calibrations.
