Laboratory Metrology Resources: Calibration Procedures

Current NISTIR Publications

A selection of NISTIRs relevant to calibration procedures is provided below:

• NISTIR 6969, 2019, Selected Laboratory and Measurement Practices, and Procedures to Support Basic Mass Calibrations, Georgia L. Harris.
• NISTIR 5672, 2019, Advanced Mass Calibrations and Measurements Assurance Program for the State Calibration Laboratories, Kenneth L. Fraley, Georgia L. Harris.
• NISTIR 7383, 2019, Selected Procedures for Volumetric Calibrations, Georgia L. Harris
• NISTIR 8028, 2014, Selected Laboratory and Measurement Practices and Procedures for Length Calibrations, Jose A. Torres, Georgia L. Harris
• NISTIR 8250, 2019, Calibration Procedures for Weights and Measures Laboratories, Georgia L. Harris

All NIST Interagency or Internal Reports (NISTIR) publications for OWM are provided here. 

Other Calibration Procedure References

Some of the Good Laboratory Practices (GLPs), Good Measurement Practices (GMPs), and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) have been updated on the associated pages. However, many of these references are dated 1986. Please take note of the date of each reference and verify the latest version of a procedure by checking this site on a periodic basis.

NBS Handbook 145, Quality Assurance  (1986)

NBS Handbook 145, 1986, Handbook for the Quality Assurance of Metrological Measurements, by John K. Taylor, and Henry V. Oppermann was developed as a source of calibration procedures for weights and measures laboratories and covered mass, length, and volume calibrations for field standards used in the commercial marketplace. This 1986 NBS publication is currently out of print and the majority of content has been updated and published in the publications noted above. 

The original Table of Contents and several legacy sections are provided here as reference only. Individual sections and procedures are provided to enable periodic updates of selected content as needed and to provide downloadable copy for laboratories to review, modify, and implement as needed and as appropriate. 

• Table of Contents (Legacy Handbook 145) PDF
• Section 1, Introduction (Legacy Handbook 145) PDF
• Section 2, Concepts of Accuracy and Precision and Statistical Control (Not Current, Handbook 145) PDF
• Section 3, Quality Assurance in a Metrology Laboratory (Superseded by NIST Handbook 143, Program Handbook and ISO/IEC 17025) PDF
• Section 4, Good Laboratory Practices
• Section 5, Good Measurement Practices
• Section 6, Standard Operating Procedures
• Section 7, Miscellaneous Subjects (Legacy Handbook 145) PDF
• Section 8, Statistical Techniques (Updated in NISTIR 6969, 2019) PDF
• Section 9, Reference Tables (Updated in NISTIR 6969, 2019) PDF
• Section 10, Glossary (Out of date; use the International Vocabulary of Metrology, VIM) PDF
• Section 11, Bibliography (Legacy Handbook 145) PDF