ISO/IEC 17025 is the joint International Organization for Standardization and International Electrotechnical Commission standard that specifies the general requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. The standard is the global accreditation reference for laboratories of every kind, and within the gem and jewellery trade it is the credential that distinguishes the world's recognised major laboratories from regional or commercial-only operations. ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation underpins the international recognition of gemmological reports, hallmarking assays, and metrological calibration certificates.

Standard scope

The standard sets out two main families of requirements. Management requirements, addressing the operation of the laboratory as an organisation, cover document control, internal audit, management review, customer-complaint handling, corrective and preventive action, and the maintenance of records. Technical requirements cover personnel competence, accommodation and environmental conditions, the validation and verification of test and calibration methods, equipment calibration and maintenance, measurement traceability to international standards (typically through the SI system via national metrology institutes), sampling, the handling of test and calibration items, and the assurance of the quality of test and calibration results. Reporting of results is also addressed, with requirements on the content and accuracy of test reports and calibration certificates.

The current version of the standard is ISO/IEC 17025:2017, which incorporated significant updates in alignment with the high-level structure of modern ISO management-system standards and added explicit requirements for risk-based thinking and impartiality.

Accreditation structure

Accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025 is granted by national accreditation bodies after on-site audit, with surveillance audits at one- or two-year intervals and full recertification typically every four years. The major national accreditation bodies operate under the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) Mutual Recognition Arrangement, providing reciprocal recognition of accreditation across borders. ILAC signatories include the major economic-zone bodies: A2LA and ANAB in the United States, UKAS in the United Kingdom, COFRAC in France, Accredia in Italy, DAkkS in Germany, SAS in Switzerland, SCC in Canada, NATA in Australia, IANZ in New Zealand, JAB in Japan, KOLAS in South Korea, and CNAS in China.

Application in the gem trade

The major gemmological laboratories operate under ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation. GIA holds accreditation through A2LA covering its global laboratory network. IGI holds accreditation through ANAB and through national bodies in markets where it operates. HRD Antwerp holds accreditation through BELAC (the Belgian accreditation body). The Swiss Gemmological Institute (SSEF) holds accreditation through SAS. Gübelin Gem Lab holds equivalent accreditation through SAS. The American Gem Society Laboratory holds accreditation through A2LA. AnchorCert and the British Assay Offices hold accreditation through UKAS for their assay and gemmological work.

The accreditation scope listed for each laboratory specifies the methods, parameters, and ranges over which the laboratory is competent, and only reports issued within the accredited scope are recognised under the ILAC arrangement. A laboratory may operate methods outside its accredited scope, but reports for such methods do not carry the same international recognition.

Trade significance

For the working trade, ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation is the credential that turns a laboratory's report into an internationally recognised document. A coloured-stone origin determination from an ISO/IEC 17025-accredited Swiss or German laboratory carries weight at auction or in cross-border insurance and customs valuation in a way that an unaccredited laboratory's report does not. Buyers of important coloured stones, large diamonds, and high-value coloured diamonds invariably require an accredited laboratory's report, and trade contracts often specify a list of acceptable laboratories explicitly limited to ISO/IEC 17025-accredited operations.