Analytical evidence
How to Check a Laboratory Accreditation Claim
Check the laboratory, site, accreditation status and relevant test scope. Keep ISO/IEC 17025, ISO 9001 and GLP claims separate.
In this guide · 8 sections
The short answer
Follow the laboratory name to its official directory entry, then check the scope for the work you need.
For laboratory research procurement only. Accreditation does not establish suitability for human or veterinary use.
An accreditation logo can be a useful starting point. The useful conclusion comes later, when you have matched the laboratory, its location, the relevant scope and the analysis described in your report.
For a research-peptide purchase, save that match alongside the actual analytical results. A laboratory may perform many kinds of work, and a short statement such as “ISO accredited” leaves several questions unanswered. This guide helps you resolve those questions without turning a credential into a blanket endorsement.
Identify the kind of claim
First copy the claim exactly, including the standard number and the organisation it names. These three terms concern different systems:
ISO/IEC 17025 sets requirements for testing and calibration laboratory competence, impartiality and consistent operation. Accreditation bodies use it to assess laboratories. ISO overview
ISO 9001 concerns an organisation's quality management system. Its certification should be recorded as that credential, rather than substituted for laboratory accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025. ISO quality management overview
Good Laboratory Practice, or GLP, concerns the organisation and conduct of non-clinical health and environmental safety studies. OECD describes a separate compliance-monitoring system for those studies and facilities. OECD GLP overview
The practical question is which credential your project requires and whether the specific work falls within it. “Follows GLP principles,” “ISO certified” and “accredited testing laboratory” should stay as separate claims until their meaning is established.
Start with the laboratory on the report
Use the complete report to record the laboratory's name, address and any accreditation number. Keep the supplier, the organisation commissioning the test and the laboratory performing it on separate lines if they differ.
Search with the full name or accreditation number. An abbreviated brand name may miss a directory entry or lead to a similarly named business. Where the organisation has multiple locations, check the location that performed the relevant work.
If the document names another laboratory for part of the analysis, note which results came from that organisation. Do not assume that the first laboratory's credential also answers questions about the other one's work.
Use the accreditation body's directory
ILAC explains that its member accreditation bodies accredit laboratories; ILAC itself does not. Its signatory search provides accreditation-body details and, in many cases, links to directories of accredited facilities.
Follow the official route to the body's own entry for the laboratory. Compare the name, location, number and status with the certificate or report you were given. Save the entry's URL and the date of your check.
A certificate image may help you locate the record, but it should not end the search. If you are reviewing an older report, distinguish the laboratory's status today from its status when that work was performed. Ask the accreditation body about the historical position if it matters and the public record does not resolve it.
Match the scope to the reported work
Open the scope document associated with the directory entry. ILAC's guidance on accredited facilities identifies the accreditation body as the source for confirming both status and scope.
Put the report and scope beside each other. Look for the relevant testing activity, the material or sample type, the analyte or property, the method where listed, and any stated limitations. Keep the actual wording rather than reducing it to a single “covered” checkbox.
A technique name alone is a weak match. High-performance liquid chromatography, or HPLC, describes a technique; the question is whether the particular work on the relevant material is covered. Conversely, do not decide that work is excluded just because the exact commercial product name is absent. A scope may describe a category rather than an individual product.
Where coverage remains ambiguous, ask the laboratory to identify the relevant scope entry. Ask the accreditation body to clarify the scope if needed. A broad reading you devised yourself should not become a claim that the analysis was accredited.
Make a four-part scope record
Use this short record for one report at a time. It is an original review aid, not an accreditation certificate.
| Check | What to save |
|---|---|
| Laboratory and site | Report issuer, performing laboratory where different, address and accreditation number |
| Accreditation status | Official directory entry, status shown, check date and any historical-status question |
| Relevant scope | Scope document, revision and exact entry being relied on |
| Reported work | Report identifier, relevant test or method, and explanation connecting it to the scope |
Then use the outcome that fits the evidence:
Relevant scope matched: record the entry and basis for the match
Accreditation found; test coverage unclear: the laboratory is identified, but the relevant work still needs clarification
Relevant test outside stated scope: retain the evidence establishing that limitation
Claim not yet confirmed: the identity, status or supporting record remains unresolved
These are evidence-review outcomes. They do not approve a product or replace a decision about the results themselves.
A result outside the stated scope is not thereby shown to be incorrect. It must, however, be evaluated without representing that work as covered by the accreditation.
Ask a question that can be answered
Suppose you have a laboratory certificate but cannot find the scope that applies to your analysis. A useful request is:
“For report [identifier], please identify the laboratory location that performed [test], the relevant accreditation scope entry, and whether that work was within scope when performed.”
Keep the response with the directory record. If the reply supplies another general certificate without resolving the test, keep the question open.
A failed name search alone does not establish a false claim. Equally, an unresolved check should not quietly become “verified” because the supplier answered quickly. Record what you found and let the responsible reviewer decide what that means for the purchase.
Put accreditation beside the analytical evidence
NIST explains that accreditation recognises competence for specific tasks and does not itself qualify a laboratory to approve a particular product.
Your final record should therefore preserve both the credential check and the report. You still need the actual findings, the connection between sample and offered material, and your laboratory's requirements.
For a Peptide Confidential record, begin at published lab records. Use contact to ask a precise documentation question, including the report or lot identifier. This article does not establish accreditation for Peptide Confidential or any laboratory named in its records.
For the separate task of reviewing the document's contents, use the COA reading guide.
Sources and scope
The references explain the ISO/IEC 17025, ISO 9001 and GLP systems, the role of accreditation bodies and what accreditation does and does not recognise. The scope record and review outcomes are original editorial tools. No particular laboratory or accreditation status is asserted.
Published by Peptide Confidential, a commercial supplier of research materials. Apply these checks to our documentation as well as another supplier's.