Templates and records · ISO 17025 · Clause 6.4 y 6.5

ISO 17025 equipment file and calibration plan

The history of every instrument that influences a result: what it is, where it is, when it was calibrated and with what traceability, which intermediate checks it passes and what faults it has had.

In one sentence

The equipment file in an accredited laboratory identifies the equipment and its software or firmware version, its manufacturer, serial number and location, the evidence that it meets specifications, the dates, results, adjustments, acceptance criteria and next due date of each calibration, the reference materials, the maintenance plan and work done, and any damage or repairs, because clause 6.4.13 of ISO/IEC 17025 lists that content and requires it to be retained.

Content reviewed on 17 October 2026

Where the standard requires it: ISO 17025 · Clause 6.4 y 6.5 Clauses are cited using the numbering of ISO/IEC 17025:2017, the current edition and the same one the Academy uses.
Type of information: Mandatory record Records for equipment that can influence laboratory activities (6.4.13)
Who fills it in: Equipment or metrology lead Whoever uses the equipment performs the intermediate checks and logs any issues
When: On receipt and throughout its working life Calibrations according to the programme; intermediate checks at the defined frequency
How long it is kept: Set by the laboratory The standard requires a retention time to be defined for each record, consistent with contractual and legal obligations (8.4.2). Covering at least the accreditation cycle lets you show the history at every reassessment.

What the standard requires

What ISO 17025 demands and what it leaves to your judgement

Equipment is calibrated when its accuracy or uncertainty affects the validity of results or when calibration is needed to establish metrological traceability. The laboratory keeps a calibration programme, which it reviews and adjusts to maintain confidence in the equipment’s status.

Metrological traceability (6.5) is demonstrated through an unbroken chain of calibrations back to the International System of Units, usually via accredited calibration laboratories. ILAC policy P10 describes how accreditation bodies assess it.

The standard adds what ISO 9001 does not ask for: intermediate checks where needed, management of correction factors after calibration and a record of the software or firmware version. Equipment giving questionable results is taken out of service and its effect is analysed as nonconforming work.

Read it in context: Resource requirements, in the ISO 17025 Academy

Structure

Fields the template should include

Unique identification, type, manufacturer and serial number
Software and firmware version
Current location
Acceptance check against specifications
Calibrations: date, laboratory, result, uncertainty, adjustments
Acceptance criterion and fitness decision
Correction factors and how they are applied
Calibration interval and next due date
Intermediate checks and their frequency
Associated reference materials
Maintenance plan, faults, repairs and modifications

Example

Example: file for an analytical balance

Company, people and figures are fictitious: the example only shows what a properly completed record looks like.

Field	Content
Equipment	BAL-03 · analytical balance 220 g × 0.1 mg · invented serial number 40213
Firmware	2.07
Location	Weighing room, anti-vibration table
Calibration	14 February 2026 · accredited laboratory · uncertainty at 100 g: 0.2 mg (k = 2)
Criterion	Error + uncertainty ≤ 0.5 mg across the range · fit for use
Interval	12 months · next due February 2027
Intermediate check	Daily with a 100 g class E2 weight · tolerance ±0.3 mg
Issue	3 June: check out of tolerance after the table was moved · taken out of use and nonconforming work TNC-2026-09

At the audit

Mistakes auditors commonly flag

Calibration certificates filed with no fitness decision against a criterion.
Intermediate checks defined in the procedure but never recorded.
Correction factors from the certificate that never reach the calculation of results.
Calibrations by laboratories with no accreditation or any other demonstrated traceability.
Equipment software updates that go unrecorded.

In Kimobox

How this record is kept in Kimobox

1The equipment calibration schedule is set up with automatic alerts before each due date.
2Each instrument’s metrological traceability is linked to its file.
3The environmental conditions relevant to each method are documented in the same system.
4Equipment found out of tolerance is recorded as nonconforming work, with its impact assessment on earlier results.

Frequently asked questions

What people ask us before getting started

What is an intermediate check?

A check between calibrations to confirm that the equipment remains in the state in which it was calibrated: a standard weight on a balance, a reference thermometer in an oven. ISO/IEC 17025 requires it when needed to maintain confidence in the equipment.

How does it differ from the ISO 9001 calibration record?

ISO 9001 asks you to keep evidence that measuring equipment is fit for purpose. ISO/IEC 17025 specifies the content of the file, requires demonstrated metrological traceability and adds intermediate checks, correction factors and software control.

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Sources

Where each figure comes from

References to the official text in force. If a standard is revised, this page is updated and the review date says so.

ISO/IEC 17025:2017 — General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories ISO/IEC · November 2017
ILAC Policy Series (P9 on proficiency testing, P10 on metrological traceability) ILAC · Current editions
Entidad Nacional de Acreditación (Spain’s national accreditation body): laboratory accreditation criteria and documents ENAC · Official website, consulted in October 2026