Overdue Calibration Finder
Findings · finding 1 of 12

Overdue: the due date worked out is earlier than the as-at date

Every standard here asks for calibration or verification of measuring equipment at set intervals, and for its status to be known. A due date earlier than the as-at date is the first thing a certification body auditor samples. A due date equal to the as-at date reads as due today, not overdue.

When the finder raises it

Fires when the due date worked out (last calibration plus interval) is earlier than the as-at date, for an instrument in service. A due date equal to the as-at date is due today, not overdue. Out-of-service, lost, quarantined, retired, reference-only and calibration-not-required instruments raise no date finding. Where the register has a control type column, the wording names it: a verification due, not a calibration due.

A question for the quality manager

Is it out of use until it is done, and who books it?

Clauses behind it

7 across the standards
StandardClauseApplies to
ISO 9001ISO 9001 7.1.5 Monitoring and measuring resourcesa manufacturer holding ISO 9001 certification
IATF 16949IATF 16949 7.1.5.2.1 Calibration and verification recordsan automotive supplier holding IATF 16949 certification
AS9100DAS9100D 7.1.5 Monitoring and measuring resourcesan aerospace supplier holding AS9100 certification
ISO 13485ISO 13485 7.6 Control of monitoring and measuring equipmenta medical device maker holding ISO 13485 certification
ISO/IEC 17025ISO/IEC 17025 6.4 Equipmenta testing or calibration laboratory accredited to ISO/IEC 17025
21 CFR 21121 CFR 211.68 Automatic, Mechanical, and Electronic Equipmenta drug maker under 21 CFR 211
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

See it on the specimenAll twelve findings