National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) is a Constituent Board of Quality Council of India. NABL has been established with the objective to provide Government, Industry Associations and Industry in general with a scheme for third-party assessment of the quality and technical competence of testing and calibration laboratories.
In order to achieve this objective, NABL provides laboratory accreditation services to laboratories that are performing tests / calibrations in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025:2005 and ISO 15189:2012 for medical laboratories. These services are offered in a non-discriminatory manner and are accessible to all testing and calibration laboratories in India and abroad, regardless of their ownership, legal status, size and degree of independence.
NABL accreditation system complies with ISO/IEC 17011:2004 and Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (APAC) MR001. Based on evaluation of NABL operations by APAC in 2000, NABL has been granted signatory member status by APAC and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) under their Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs). Under these MRAs, the reports issued by NABL accredited laboratories are considered to be equivalent to reports issued by laboratories accredited by (currently) 76 accreditation bodies in 64 economies. NABL has undergone re-evaluation by four member APAC evaluation team in July 2008. APAC/ILAC has recommended NABL's Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) status for further four years with extension of scope for Medical Testing laboratory as per new international standard ISO 15189:2012.
Recently, NABL also added a new dimension in the area of accreditation as a new program on "Accreditation of PT Providers" based on international standard ISO/IEC 17043-Conformity Assessment- General Requirements of Proficiency Testing and strive to obtain ILAC / APAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) Signatory Status for international acceptability also.
The users have access to information regarding accredited laboratories through web-based directory of NABL accredited laboratories.
NABL website is updated continuously with respect to status of accredited laboratories and their scope of accreditation. The list of laboratories which are either suspended or their scope of accreditation is partially or fully withdrawn is also available for the benefit of the users. The laboratories will be able to acquire the necessary NABL documents through the website thereby eliminating postal delays. Suggestions are welcome from users of the website for further improvement.