Technical Interviews and Observations

Interviews and observations are the key to verify the overall competence of the laboratory to perform the methods in (or to be added to) the laboratory's range of activities (which may be more than what is listed in the lab's Scope of Accreditation).

The Scope of Accreditation shows each parameter that the lab is able to test or calibrate, along with the Range and Calibration and Measurement Capability (CMC — Best measurement uncertainty) for each. This gives the auditor a list of items that can be investigated and confirmed during the technical audit.

A lab's scope might run to 20 pages or more, so it would be neither practical nor particularly enlightening to see work done on every item. The auditor should use his or her experience and scientific judgment to choose (sample) a sufficient number of operations to observe in order to reach a reasonable conclusion about proper performance and laboratory competence.

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