International standard ANS/ISO/IEC 17025 promotes the use of documented accountability and quality control procedures to assure a laboratory and its clients that the laboratory can produce technically valid data and results in the routine performance of its sampling, sample preparation and testing activities.

A laboratory shall use ANSI/ISO/IEC 17025 to develop its quality system. Clause 4 of ANS/ISO/IEC 17025 specifies the requirements for sound management. Clause 5 of ANS/ISO/IEC 17025 specifies the requirements for technical competence for the type of tests or calibrations, or both the laboratory undertakes.

In addition to complying with the requirements of ANS/ISO/IEC 17025, the Annex of this standard practice contains information that shall be considered important for the evaluation and operation of a competent Coal and Coke sampling or testing facility, or both. The information in this Annex is presented where it is not otherwise covered in ANS/ISO/IEC 17025 or the applicable ASTM methods.

Laboratory clients, regulatory authorities, and accreditation bodies that recognize the competence of testing and calibration laboratories can use this standard practice as the basis for their evaluation.

The primary significance of this practice is to establish that for a laboratory to generate measurements traceable to SI units, it must:

Have a clear understanding of the work requested by the client.

Meet the quality system requirements of the internationally accepted ANS/ISO/IEC 17025 standard.

Use test methods which have been shown to be traceable to SI units of measurement

Be able to demonstrate that the laboratory is in statistical control at the time the measurements are made.

1.1 This practice specifies requirements to operate and evaluate the quality and management systems in a laboratory that provides services with respect to sample collection, sample preparation, or testing of coal, coke, and ash derived from coal or coke using ASTM standards that are under the jurisdiction of Committee D05 on Coal and Coke.

Note 1—The word “laboratory” is used throughout this practice when referring to an organization that provides services in coal sampling or testing, or both. It is recognized, however, that the word may not be appropriate to an organization that does not perform actual laboratory sample testing.

1.2 International standard ANS/ISO/IEC 17025 shall be the governing document specifying requirements for management, technical competence and evaluation of a laboratory.

Note 2—An accrediting body or user of laboratory services can also impose technical or non-technical requirements not specifically addressed in ANS/ISO/IEC 17025 provided they do not invalidate the requirements of ANS/ISO/IEC 17025.

1.3 This practice is used to evaluate only those capabilites specifically claimed by a laboratory.

1.4 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.