Changes in reporting requirements in ISO/IEC 17025:2017

Labs will need to keep an eye on the new reporting requirements ISO/IEC 17025:2017, as they have now changed. Not only have new requirements been added, but the wording in some of the other requirements has been changed. These changes need to be acknowledged.

Reporting requirements ISO/IEC 17025:2017

Clause 7.8.1.1 has been newly written and added, and needs to be read and acknowledged before it can be released.

If the sampling date is critically important to the validity of the results, then it should be included within the report. This is in contrast to the 2005 version, where the sampling date was to be included in the report only if you had the results of the sampling recorded within the same report.

Clause 7.8.2.1 has now required that the issue date and the requirement of the exclusions, additions, and deviations from the established method.

All of this means that labs are now responsible for any information associated with the report, except for when they have a client or outside party who provides the information to them.

When their client provides them with information, this should be noted in writing, as well as accompany a disclaimer that client information is not necessarily valid and can affect the results of the tests.

When the client provides the samples, this should also be noted and it should be written that the results are dependent only on the samples provided.

When the labs perform the sampling procedure, they are then responsible for carrying out the reporting requirements. Clause .8.5 (f) states that the sampling reports must include information that allows replication of testing for further evaluation or recalibration with the samples.

Clause 7.8.6.1 and 7.8.6.2 states that there should be conformity within the reports. The decision rules should be noted within the report, along with any associated risks.

The statement of conformity, along with the results, needs to be identified as being so, along with the specifications (whether they were carried out appropriately or not), and which, as well as how the decision rule(s) was implemented.

Clause 7.8.8.1 states that when reports are reissued, changed, or amended,the information that has been altered must be noted. If possible, the reason for this alteration should be noted.

Also recall–while there have been policy changes in the reporting, there have also been changes in wording.

Labs will need to take the time to acquaint themselves with the new requirements. Most of the new requirements are not very different and are related to the older requirements, however, take note of the wording changes, as they could have a huge effect on how your management system is implemented.

Familiarize yourself with the new requirements to update yourself to the new 2017 system requirements.