We encountered an event where the measuring equipment used in the R&D (Reliability) Lab were not calibrated or on a calibration frequency. The owners of this lab was explaining it is not required or needed as the results are not directly connected to products/services we build and ship to our customers.
This confused me as I was under the impression within ISO 9001:7.1.5 that all measurement equipment should be calibrated. I feel as though I am ignorant in this instance. Almost if there is an exception to this rule I have not experienced yet.
Has anyone else experienced this? Can someone help educate me for this instance?
@Ashley N White Usually in cases like this I'd expect to see a label of “Calibration Not Required” or some type of documentation that states the equipment in the R&D Lab are not required to get calibrated. The explanation from the owner sounds appropriate. You can have equipment be used as a reference but they should be labeled as such (“Reference Only” or “Calibration Not Required”).
@Ashley N White
I believe that audit is a system level activity (& not related to specific product) unless specifically mentioned as product audit. In system level audit, all the equipment that are required to be calibrated should have calibration sticker. If the calibration sticker is missing, the equipment should not be used for measurement. If the owner is mentioning that equipment is not used for measurement, I would question the purpose of the equipment, if the owner shows “sticker used for reference”, I would question “error-proofing” the use.
Hope the above helps
Sincerely, Chai
