Templates and records · ISO 17025 · Clause 7.10

ISO 17025 nonconforming work record

What happens when a test or calibration fails to meet the laboratory’s own procedures or what was agreed with the customer: stop, assess which results may be affected and decide what to communicate.

In one sentence

The nonconforming work record describes the deviation, the actions taken —halting work, withholding reports—, the evaluation of its significance including the impact on previous results, the decision on its acceptability, notification of the customer and recall of work where necessary, and the authorisation to resume, because clause 7.10 of ISO/IEC 17025 requires those records to be kept and corrective action to be taken when the failure could recur.

Content reviewed on 17 October 2026

Where the standard requires it: ISO 17025 · Clause 7.10 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 of nonconforming work and of the actions taken (7.10.2)
Who fills it in: Whoever detects it, and technical management Technical management assesses the impact and authorises resumption
When: As soon as it is detected The impact on earlier results is assessed before work resumes
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

The laboratory needs a procedure for when any aspect of its activities or results fails to meet its own procedures or the requirements agreed with the customer. It must define responsibilities for halting or resuming work and for withholding reports.

The standard requires the significance of the nonconforming work to be evaluated, including its impact on previous results; a decision on its acceptability; notification of the customer and recall of the work where necessary; and a definition of who authorises resumption.

If the evaluation shows the failure could recur or there is doubt about conformity with the management system, corrective action is taken (8.7). What sets it apart from a system nonconformity is the focus on technical results already issued.

Read it in context: Management system requirements, in the ISO 17025 Academy

Structure

Fields the template should include

Number, date and origin: quality control, equipment, complaint, audit
Description of the deviation and requirement not met
Immediate actions: halt work, withhold reports
Period and results potentially affected
Assessment of the impact on earlier results
Decision on acceptability
Notification of the customer and recall of reports, where necessary
Authorisation to resume
Could it recur? Link to the corrective action

Example

Example: balance out of tolerance

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

Field	Content
Number	TNC-2026-09 · 3 June 2026 · intermediate check on BAL-03
Deviation	Error of +0.6 mg with the 100 g weight, outside the ±0.3 mg tolerance
Actions	Balance taken out of use · that day’s suspended solids reports withheld
Period	Since the last satisfactory check, on 2 June
Impact	14 samples weighed · the error amounts to 0.3 % of the lowest result, far below its uncertainty
Decision	Results acceptable · reports released · no need to notify the customer
Resumption	After levelling and checking the balance · technical management · 4 June
Corrective action	AC-2026-14: table anchored and a check after any movement

At the audit

Mistakes auditors commonly flag

No assessment of the impact on results issued since the last satisfactory check.
Work resumes without recorded authorisation.
Reports recalled with no documented notice to the customer.
Repeated failures with no corrective action.
It is confused with the system nonconformity log and the technical side gets lost.

In Kimobox

How this record is kept in Kimobox

1Each instance of nonconforming work is recorded with its impact assessment on earlier results.
2It is linked to the results it might affect, with no need to hunt for them by hand.
3If it could recur, the corrective action follows its own path of root cause, action and effectiveness check.
4The management review is prepared with the laboratory’s data already aggregated.

Frequently asked questions

What people ask us before getting started

What is the difference between nonconforming work and a nonconformity?

Nonconforming work refers to a technical activity or result that does not meet requirements; it calls for assessing the affected results and deciding what to communicate. A system nonconformity is broader. Nonconforming work that could recur leads to a corrective action within the system.

Must the customer always be notified?

Only when necessary, according to the impact assessment. If issued results may be significantly affected, the customer is notified and, where appropriate, the report is recalled.

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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
Entidad Nacional de Acreditación (Spain’s national accreditation body): laboratory accreditation criteria and documents ENAC · Official website, consulted in October 2026