Templates and records · ISO 17025 · Clause 6.2
ISO 17025 staff qualification and authorisation record
Who may do what in the laboratory, since when and on what evidence: each technician’s authorisation for each method, for reviewing results and for signing reports.
In one sentence
The staff qualification and authorisation record holds, for each person, the competence requirements of their role, their selection, training and supervision period, the specific authorisations they hold —for methods, review of results, statements of conformity or signing reports— and the monitoring of their competence, because clauses 6.2.5 and 6.2.6 of ISO/IEC 17025 require those records to be kept and staff to be authorised for specific activities.
- Where the standard requires it
- ISO 17025 · Clause 6.2 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 competence, training, supervision, authorisation and monitoring (6.2.5)
- Who fills it in
- Technical management With the head of each area, who supervises and proposes the authorisation
- When
- Before the person works unsupervised Competence monitoring is repeated at the defined frequency, usually once a year
- 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 standard requires procedures and records for determining competence requirements and for selecting, training, supervising, authorising and monitoring the competence of personnel.
Authorisation is specific: the laboratory authorises named people to develop, modify, verify and validate methods, to analyse results —including statements of conformity, opinions and interpretations— and to report, review and authorise results.
Competence monitoring does not end with initial training: it is demonstrated through direct observation, repeat testing, and each technician’s quality control or proficiency testing results.
Structure
Fields the template should include
- Person and role
- Competence requirements for the role: education, experience, knowledge
- Evidence that the requirements are met
- Training received in each method
- Supervision period and its evaluation
- Specific authorisations and date granted
- Competence monitoring: method and result
- Suspension or withdrawal of authorisations
Example
Example: authorising an ICP-MS technician
Company, people and figures are fictitious: the example only shows what a properly completed record looks like.
| Field | Content |
|---|---|
| Person | Laboratory technician (invented details) · chemistry degree |
| Requirements | Science degree, 6 months’ experience in spectrometry and training in method PE-ICP-07 |
| Training | PE-ICP-07: 40 hours · January 2026 |
| Supervision | 20 supervised batches · control results within limits |
| Evaluation | Blind repeat of 5 retained samples: differences within reproducibility |
| Authorisation | Perform test PE-ICP-07 and carry out first-level review of results · 1 March 2026 |
| Not authorised | To sign reports or issue statements of conformity |
| Monitoring | October 2026 proficiency test · satisfactory result |
At the audit
Mistakes auditors commonly flag
- Generic authorisations (“laboratory technician”) with no specific methods.
- People signing reports with no recorded authorisation.
- Initial supervision with no defined pass criterion.
- Competence monitoring limited to course attendance.
- Authorisations not withdrawn when someone has not performed a test for a long time.
In Kimobox
How this record is kept in Kimobox
- 1Each technician’s competence and authorisation are recorded in their file on the employee portal.
- 2The training matrix shows who is authorised for each method and who is not.
- 3Confidentiality agreements are linked to each employee.
Frequently asked questions
What people ask us before getting started
What is an authorisation matrix?
A table that cross-references people with methods and activities —perform, review, sign, state conformity— and shows who is authorised for what. The standard does not require it by that name, but it is the usual way to demonstrate 6.2.6 at a glance.
Does whoever signs reports also need authorising?
Yes. Reviewing and authorising results is one of the activities for which ISO/IEC 17025 requires specific authorisation.
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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