About NABL

National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) s a constituent Board of Quality Council of India (QCI). QCI is a registered society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India is the nodal Department for QCI.

NABL has been established with the objective of providing Government, Industry Associations and Industry in general with a scheme of Conformity Assessment Body’s accreditation which involves third-party assessment of the technical competence of testing including medical and calibration laboratories, proficiency testing providers and reference material producers.

The laboratory accreditation services to testing and calibration laboratories are provided in accordance with ISO/ IEC 17025: 2005 or ISO/IEC 17025:2017 ‘General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories’ and ISO 15189: 2012 ‘Medical laboratories -- Requirements for quality and competence’ The accreditation to Proficiency testing providers are based on ISO/IEC 17043 :2010 “Conformity assessment -- General requirements for proficiency testing” and to Reference Material Producers based on ISO 17034:2016 - General requirements for the competence of reference material producers ”The fields, disciplines and groups for which the accreditation services are offered are listed in ‘Scope of NABL Accreditation’

Benefits of Accreditation:

• Formal recognition of competence of a laboratory by an Accreditation body in accordance with international criteria provides a ready means for customers to identify and select reliable testing, measurement and calibration services.
• Increased confidence in Testing/ Calibration Reports issued by the laboratory
• Customers can search and identify the laboratories accredited by NABL for their specific requirements from the NABL Web -site or Directory of Accredited Laboratories.Potential increase in business due to enhanced customer confidence and satisfaction.
• International recognition for laboratory; Laboratory accreditation is highly regarded both nationally and internationally as reliable indicator of technical competence. Mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) among the countries enable test and calibration data produced by accredited laboratories to be accepted between these countries.
• Savings in terms of time and money due to reduction or elimination of the need for re-testing of products. The uniform approach for determining laboratory competence encourages laboratories to adopt internationally accepted testing and measurement practices. This effectively reduces costs for both the manufacturer and the importer, as it reduces or eliminates the need for products to be retested in another countr
• Better control of laboratory operations and feedback to laboratories as to whether they have sound Quality Assurance System and are technically competent.

Resources Needed for the NABL Accreditation

We solicit a strong commitment from the management so as to make the drive seamless. There is a requirement of an accreditation coordinator and a core team who would be totally dedicated to the process and to the consultants for a minimum period of 3 to 4 months. We should be prepared and committed to complete the pre-assessment by 4th month and Final Assessment by the 5th month..