ISO 17025 : 2005 New Requirements

In July, 2005, the International Standards Organization (ISO) revised the ISO/IEC 17025:1999 Standard with the
principle objective being to align it closer with ISO 9001:2000. Three underlying principles of ISO 9001:2000 were, in the
opinion of the ISO Task Groups, not present in ISO/IEC 17025:1999. These were:

• Continuous improvement
• Process definition and mapping
• Process metrics

There were those who felt that process definition and mapping was reflected in all of section 5 of ISO/IEC 17025:1999,
and that process metrics was reflected in section 5.9. These two items are still open today and hopefully will be
addressed in the 2010 revision of the ISO/IEC 17025:2010 standard.

Continuous improvement is the topic largely reflected in the additions to ISO/IEC 17025:2005. These additions add major emphasis to the requirements for preventive action, which under the 1999 standard were treated as minor elements
by most laboratories and even by many assessors.

Download Sttachment for more detailed information