Quality standards require that measuring equipment be calibrated prior to being put into service. In addition, the maintenance of measuring equipment requires recalibrations at regular intervals. There are many different types of calibrations, however, and simply saying something like “calibrate coordinate measuring machine (CMM)” when contracting the calibration of a CMM could lead to unforeseen quality risks. What method will be used? What tolerances will be checked, if any? Will accuracy adjustments be done? What kind of calibration certificate will be issued? Assumptions should not be made and, instead, organizations need to be clear in what they expect when hiring calibration services.
Many organizations today require ISO/IEC 17025 accredited calibrations, but simply requesting an accredited calibration is not enough. It is recommended that requests for calibration include much more clarity on what is needed. For example, for the calibration of a Mitutoyo CMM: