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Products and services

Calibration

Excellent service with expert and timely advice

NPL offers a comprehensive range of high-quality calibration services, all of which are directly traceable to the internationally recognised primary measurement standards that we maintain on behalf of the UK.  Most of these services are independently accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Services (UKAS) to ISO 17025. The others are at the very leading-edge of metrology capability and are delivered under NPL's ISO 9001 compliant quality system.

NPL makes accessing calibration services as easy as possible for customers. Our dedicated team of Customer Service Specialists ensure the best response and turnaround times available from an NMI. We are uniquely set up to enable our customers to access easily the advice of NPL measurement experts to clarify calibration requirements and interpret the results.

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What is calibration?

For measurements to be trusted they must be comparable to those made by other people or at different times. Calibration is a process in which an instrument or piece of equipment's accuracy is compared with a recognised standard. The timely and correct calibration of measurement equipment is essential for compliance with standards and for trusted measurements. As an NMI, NPL provides calibrations with the lowest measurement uncertainties and with traceability to the primary standards.

NPL has a wide range of calibration artefacts

When should it happen?

There are no set rules in place that govern when an instrument should be calibrated. If your organisation carries out measurement using any form of instrument, then you need to be able to prove that the instrument provides accurate and reliable readings. Annual calibration is common practice, or you can follow your own Quality Management Systems. We can help you to determine the recalibration period and then arrange it.

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Acoustics
Chemical
Dimensional
Electrical
Environmental
Force, pressure and mass
Fibre optics and transmission
Ionising radiation and radioactivity
Temperature and humidity
Time and frequency
Optical radiation

UKAS accreditation

NPL's standard calibration, measurement and testing services have been accredited by UKAS. The accredited capability of those services may be found in the calibration schedule issued by UKAS. A UKAS certificate is issued for the services which have been accredited by UKAS and for calibrations made using these accredited services. 

Calibration – UKAS reference number 0478

Testing – UKAS reference number 0002

Reference Materials – UKAS reference number 4002

Proficiency Testing – UKAS reference number 0016

International traceability

By having your equipment calibrated, you compare your measurement equipment directly or indirectly with the primary standards. 

Available across some 200 distinct areas of technology, many of NPL’s calibration services operate under the Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) that allows nations across the world to recognise the equivalence of NPL's traceable services to those of their own National Measurement Institutes (NMIs).

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Case study

Validating nanoparticles for calibration standards

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Case study

Improving safety in automated vehicles

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Case study

Validating a new scanner for checking the quality of temperature sensors

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Case study

Validating virtual measurements of 3D models

Article