What are the general criteria for NATA accreditation?

The NATA Accreditation Criteria (NAC) packages are made up of numerous documents which are available for download. There are General Accreditation Criteria which apply to all facilities, and Specific Accreditation Criteria tailored for industry sectors and activities. General NATA Documents General Accreditation Criteria Specific Accreditation Criteria General Accreditation Guidance and Specific Accreditation Guidance documents present information on common technical or operational issues. General Accreditation Guidance Specific Accreditation Guidance General Accreditation Forms

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ISO 17034 Reference Materials Producers (RMP)

ISO 17034 accreditation provides assurance that reference material producers are competent.

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What is ISO 17034? ISO 17034 accreditation Accreditation benefits Accreditation requirements FAQs Accreditation documents

What is ISO 17034?

ISO 17034 specifies the requirements for the competent and consistent operation of organisations who produce reference materials (RMs) and/or certified reference materials (CRMs).

ISO 17034 accreditation

ISO 17034 accreditation provides confidence and assurance to users of reference materials that the producers have complied with internationally defined requirements to produce the materials. This includes such things as assignment of property values to the material, characterisation, stability, homogeneity through to the labelling, and distributions of the materials.

Accreditation benefits

Overall benefits include:

Recognising and demonstrating competence in the production of reference materials
Helping reduce organisational costs
Providing trade gains in the market
Effective in the marketing of Reference Materials
Improved organisational efficiency

Accreditation requirements

ISO 17034 accreditation is an essential requirement for those who produce reference materials (RM) and certified reference materials (CRM), and a demonstration of both scientific and technical competence for RMPs.

The demand for new RMs of higher quality is increasing because of both the improved precision of measuring equipment, and the requirement for more accurate and reliable data in the scientific and technological disciplines.

Today, it is not only necessary for RMPs to provide information about their materials in the form of RM documents, but also to demonstrate their competence in producing RMs of appropriate quality.

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FAQs

An RMP is a body (organisation) that is fully responsible for project planning and management, as well as the assignment of property values and relevant uncertainties; the authorisation of property values; and the issuance of a Reference Material Certificate, or other statements for the reference materials produced.

RM is material (sufficiently homogeneous and stable with respect to one or more specified properties), that has been established fit for its intended use in a measurement process.

Reference materials are used in all stages of the measurement process, including for method validation, calibration, and quality control. They are also used in interlaboratory comparisons for method validation and for assessing laboratory proficiency.

This is a reference material characterised by a metrologically valid procedure for one or more specified properties and accompanied by a Reference Material Certificate that provides the value of the specified property, its associated uncertainty, and a statement of metrological traceability.

The NATA Accreditation Criteria (NAC) packages are made up of numerous documents which are available for download.

There are General Accreditation Criteria which apply to all facilities, and Specific Accreditation Criteria tailored for industry sectors and activities.

General NATA Documents
General Accreditation Criteria
Specific Accreditation Criteria

General Accreditation Guidance and Specific Accreditation Guidance documents present information on common technical or operational issues.

General Accreditation Guidance
Specific Accreditation Guidance
General Accreditation Forms

ISO 17034 NATA Accreditation Criteria (NAC) Package

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Reference Material Producers ISO 17034 Annex – Reference Gas Producers
August 14, 2025

Scope of Accreditation – Activity and Service Descriptors for Reference Material Producers
December 21, 2023