Notice of Proposed Standards Activity

Date Posted: 3-1-2017

Volume 2 of the NELAC Institute's (TNI) Environmental Laboratory Sector standard addresses "General Requirements for Accreditation Bodies Accrediting Environmental Laboratories." It comprises three modules: Module 1, General Requirements; Module 2, Proficiency Testing; and Module 3, On-Site Assessment. The TNI Laboratory Accreditation Body Expert Committee (LAB) seeks to consolidate Modules 1 and 3 into one module. Modules 1 and 3 were formerly the responsibility of two separate expert committees, but the former On-Site Assessment Committee is now merged with the LAB Committee, making it responsible for both modules. The existence of separate modules has created some confusion and problems for the Accreditation Bodies (ABs) that are evaluated to these standards. Overlapping requirements are found in both Modules 1 and 3, while some key requirements are found in one of the Modules and not the other. The proposed combined module will have all the new ISO/IEC 17011 requirements incorporated, in order and in one place, along with the additional normative requirements added by TNI.

Pursuant to Section 5.2.1 of SOP 2-100 v2 (available on the TNI website) input is solicited from stakeholders and stakeholder groups who may subsequently adopt this standard as accreditation bodies, may be accredited to the standard, or may use data from accredited testing laboratories. Those who are interested in participating and providing input into this process are invited to contact, within 30 days, the LAB Committee Chair, Dr. Carl Kircher, at phone number 904-791-1574 and through e-mail [email protected]. The LAB Committee will then arrange to meet with interested stakeholders by webinar.