NATA, ISO 17025, and What Lab Accreditation Actually Means
The accreditation standards that distinguish a legitimate testing lab from a marketing claim.
Last updated: 14 April 2026
ISO 17025: the global standard
ISO/IEC 17025 is the international standard for testing and calibration laboratories. It defines competence — the lab's ability to produce technically valid results — through requirements covering staff qualifications, equipment, methods, sampling, quality assurance and reporting.
Accreditation under ISO 17025 is performed by national accreditation bodies. In Australia that's NATA. In the United States it's typically A2LA. In the UK it's UKAS. The underlying standard is the same; the accrediting body differs by country.
Scope of accreditation
Accreditation is scoped to specific tests. A lab might be accredited for HPLC purity analysis but not for endotoxin testing. The COA should specify which tests are within the lab's accredited scope.
A lab that is technically accredited but reports tests outside its scope is providing useful information but not accredited evidence for those specific tests.
How to verify accreditation
NATA publishes its accredited facility list at nata.com.au. International equivalents are published by the relevant national bodies. Verifying takes about a minute and resolves any doubt about whether a lab is what it claims to be.