The decision to provide a new NIST calibration service requires a careful assessment of the role the service will play for NIST’s customers.  The following policy documents the procedures and roles and responsibilities in reaching the decision to provide a new calibration service.  This policy applies to Regular Calibration Tests [as listed in Special Publication (SP) 250 NIST Calibration Services User Guide], Special Tests, and Measurement Assurance Programs.  In this policy, the phrase “calibration service” refers to all three types of service.

Factors influencing the decision to offer a calibration service include, among other items, customer demand, possible leveraging of the measurement provided by NIST in the government or private sector, the impact of the service on industry, and considerations related to NIST’s ability to make a long-term commitment to providing the service.

The responsibility for establishing a calibration service belongs to the individual Laboratory.  In developing a new calibration service, the technical division should work with the Statistical Engineering Division of the Information Technology Laboratory to obtain guidance in the development of technically sound estimates of uncertainty.  A Laboratory proposing to establish a new NIST calibration service will inform the NIST Measurement Services Advisory Group (MSAG) of the intended new service.  The Laboratory should do this early in the process of developing the new service to ensure that the proposed service does not conflict with existing or planned measurement services of other Laboratories.  The Chair of the MSAG will then notify the Measurement Services Division (MSD) of Technology Services about the new calibration service.  Upon notification, MSD staff will contact the service provider in the Laboratory for information on calculating a fee for the new services, if appropriate, post the service on the Calibration Services website, include the service in future printed material such as the SP 250 and the Fee Schedule appendix, and insert the service in the Information System to Support Calibrations (ISSC).

It is the responsibility of the individual Laboratories to ensure that the new calibration service is in compliance with requirements of the NIST Quality System (see Section 5.20.12f ).