Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Summary
• The only way to ensure that you know and continue to know the
measurement uncertainties associated with a measuring
instrument is to have it calibrated regularly (not necessarily
frequently) by an organisation that is formally third-party
accredited to do so.
• The frequency of calibration depends on the reproducibility of the
instrument in question (from its calibration history) and how this
relates to the overall uncertainty required in the measurements
you need to make with it.
• Purchasers of calibration services should review their expectation
of an instrument before requesting a calibration - to ensure that
the calibration is likely to meet their needs.
• If you don't have an instrument calibrated (or it is calibrated by
a non-accredited calibration provider) there can be very
substantial hidden costs and risks. Provided it is acted upon, the
information contained in a certificate of calibration is usually
worth considerably more than the cost of the calibration.