Overdue Calibration Finder
Findings · finding 4 of 12

Out of tolerance as found, with no impact assessment recorded

The auditor's question: what did it measure since its last good calibration, and were those results still valid? ISO 9001, ISO 13485 and AS9100D ask the organization to judge whether earlier results remain valid; IATF 16949 asks for that judgement and for the customer to be told if suspect product shipped; ISO/IEC 17025 treats it as nonconforming work.

When the finder raises it

Fires when the as-found column reads out of tolerance and the impact assessment column is blank, "no" or pending. The period in question runs from the calibration before (the last calibration minus the interval) to the last calibration.

A question for the quality manager

Which parts or lots were measured with it between the calibration before and this one, and what was decided about them?

Clauses behind it

12 across the standards
StandardClauseApplies to
ISO 9001ISO 9001 7.1.5 Monitoring and measuring resourcesa manufacturer holding ISO 9001 certification
ISO 9001ISO 9001 8.7 Control of nonconforming outputsa manufacturer holding ISO 9001 certification
IATF 16949IATF 16949 7.1.5.2.1 Calibration and verification recordsan automotive supplier holding IATF 16949 certification
IATF 16949IATF 16949 8.7.1.3 Control of suspect productan automotive supplier holding IATF 16949 certification
AS9100DAS9100D 7.1.5 Monitoring and measuring resourcesan aerospace supplier holding AS9100 certification
AS9100DAS9100D 8.7 Control of nonconforming outputsan aerospace supplier holding AS9100 certification
AS9100DAS9100D 10.2 Nonconformity and corrective actionan aerospace supplier holding AS9100 certification
ISO 13485ISO 13485 7.6 Control of monitoring and measuring equipmenta medical device maker holding ISO 13485 certification
ISO 13485ISO 13485 8.3.1 Control of nonconforming product: generala medical device maker holding ISO 13485 certification
ISO 13485ISO 13485 8.5.2 Corrective actiona medical device maker holding ISO 13485 certification
ISO/IEC 17025ISO/IEC 17025 7.10 Nonconforming worka testing or calibration laboratory accredited to ISO/IEC 17025
21 CFR 5821 CFR 58.63 Maintenance and Calibration of Equipmenta laboratory running nonclinical studies under 21 CFR 58
ISO 9001 7.1.5Monitoring and measuring resources

Where monitoring or measurement is used to check that products and services conform, the organization identifies and provides the resources needed for results to be valid and reliable. It makes sure those resources suit the kind of monitoring and measurement done and are maintained so they stay fit for purpose, and it retains documented information as evidence that they are. Where traceability of measurement is required, or the organization judges it essential to confidence in the results, measuring equipment is: calibrated or verified, or both, at set intervals or before use, against standards traceable to international or national ones (and where none exist, the basis used is recorded); identified so its status is known; and protected from adjustment, damage or deterioration that would make its calibration status or later results invalid. If equipment proves unfit for its purpose, the organization judges whether earlier results remain valid and acts as needed.

What a certification body auditor asks to see: Register of monitoring and measuring equipment with calibration status; Calibration certificates traceable to national standards; Procedure for handling out-of-tolerance equipment and assessing previous results; Identification and safeguarding of equipment
Where registers usually fall short: Equipment used for acceptance not in the calibration register; Out-of-tolerance findings not followed by an assessment of prior results; Software used for measurement not validated
Source: ISO 9001:2015, quality management systems

On Solo, every instrument that raises this finding gets a block on the impact assessment worksheet: what the register said, the period in question with its dates, and blank fields for the lots or parts measured, the action taken (re-inspect, quarantine, notify the customer, accept with a written justification), who decided and when. The worksheet is your own record; the finder makes no judgement on any product.

See it on the specimenAll twelve findings