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Choosing calibration software

ISO/IEC 17025 Calibration Software: The Equipment Evidence an Assessor Follows

7 min read Published Updated

We make calibration software, so weigh our view accordingly. ISO/IEC 17025 does not require software. It requires a lab to show that the equipment behind its results is calibrated, traceable to the SI and under control. This guide maps the equipment clauses to the evidence an assessor follows and to where that evidence should live in software. It also says plainly where equipment software stops and lab management software begins.

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What ISO/IEC 17025 asks of your equipment

The equipment requirements sit in clause 6.4, traceability in 6.5 and outside services in 6.6. Together they ask for a calibration programme, visible status, control of equipment that gives questionable results, and records that let an assessor follow any result back to the SI.

  • Calibrate equipment whose accuracy or uncertainty affects your results, under a programme you review and adjust.
  • Check that equipment meets requirements before you put it into service.
  • Label equipment with its calibration status or validity period where practicable.
  • Take equipment out of service when it gives questionable results, and examine the effect on earlier work.
  • Keep an unbroken, documented chain to the SI, with a stated uncertainty at each step.
  • Use competent calibration providers and keep the certificates that show the chain.

The evidence an assessor follows, and where it lives

An assessor usually starts from a reported result and works backwards: the instrument, its last calibration, the reference standard behind it, and that standard's own certificate. The table follows the same path. The right-hand column describes Axiospec. Any tool you consider should answer each row.

ISO/IEC 17025 equipment clauses, the evidence an assessor follows, and where it lives in calibration software
ClauseWhat the assessor followsWhere it lives in calibration software
6.4.6 and 6.4.7 Calibration programmeWhich equipment needs calibration, and how the programme is reviewed and adjusted.The instrument register with an interval on each item, and interval review from each instrument's own history.
6.4.4 Check before serviceEvidence the equipment met requirements before first use.The first calibration or verification logged on the instrument. Until then it shows no calibration date.
6.4.8 Status labelsA label, code or other marking that shows calibration status or validity.Printable QR labels with the due date, and a live status on the instrument record.
6.4.9 Questionable resultsWhat happened to the equipment and the effect on earlier work.Quarantine status, as-found readings with an automatic out-of-tolerance check, and a reverse trace from a drifted standard to each calibration it supported.
6.4.10 Intermediate checksThe check procedure and its results between calibrations.Not a separate record type in Axiospec. Keep the procedure and results in your quality system, or log a check as a calibration where your procedure treats it as one.
6.4.13 Equipment recordsFor one instrument: identity, location, calibration dates, results, adjustments, acceptance criteria and next due date.One instrument record holding these, with a tamper-evident audit trail and an audit pack export.
6.5 Metrological traceabilityThe chain to the SI and the uncertainty at each step.The certificate on each calibration, the link to the reference standard used, and a measurement uncertainty budget per instrument.
6.6 Calibration providersEvidence the outside lab is competent, and its certificates.The external provider on each instrument with its ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation recorded, and the provider's certificate on each external calibration.

Where equipment software stops

ISO/IEC 17025 covers the whole lab, not only its equipment. Method validation, competence records, proficiency testing, complaints and the reports you issue to customers sit outside equipment software, Axiospec included.

If you run a commercial lab that quotes, schedules and bills customer work, you need lab management features such as work orders, customer records and customer certificates. Axiospec tracks your own equipment and does not do customer billing. A lab that calibrates its own reference standards and in-house gauges is the better fit.

What to look for in ISO/IEC 17025 calibration software

  • A link from each calibration to the reference standard it ran against, and a reverse trace when that standard drifts.
  • Uncertainty kept with the instrument, so a test uncertainty ratio can be checked rather than assumed.
  • As-found readings kept as data, with an automatic out-of-tolerance check.
  • Status and due date on a label your technicians can scan.
  • Records nobody can silently change, with the original kept when a correction is made.
  • Provider details and certificates for outside calibrations, not only your own work.

Trying it with your own instruments

The live demo runs a working calibration program on sample data with no signup. To try it with your own instruments, create a free account. It runs the full platform for its first 45 days with no card and then stays free for up to 50 instruments.

You do not have to retype your list. Send us whatever your current system gives you and we load it for you at no cost, usually within a couple of business days.

Common questions

Does ISO/IEC 17025 require calibration software?
No. It requires calibrated, traceable equipment under a controlled programme, with records an assessor can follow. Software is one way to keep those records complete. Spreadsheets are allowed, but they make the reverse trace and the audit trail hard work.
Is calibration software the same as a LIMS?
No. A LIMS runs the lab's work for customers: samples, tests, results and reports. Calibration management software controls the lab's own equipment. Many labs use both, and a small lab may need only the second.
Can I record an outside lab's accreditation in calibration software?
In Axiospec, yes. You set the external provider on each instrument and record its ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation, and the provider's certificate goes on each calibration they perform.
Will using calibration software get my lab accredited?
No. Your accreditation body assesses your whole management system and technical competence. Software keeps the equipment and traceability evidence easy to produce.

Put it into practice

Got a gage list? Send it over and we load it for you, usually in a couple of business days. Free on every plan. Then log every calibration to a tamper-evident audit trail and produce records on demand.

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Axiospec is a documentation and workflow tool. It helps you keep clean, traceable, audit-ready records. Certification depends on your own processes, scope and assessor.