Accreditation Bodies for MRAs

Requirements for Laboratory Accreditation Bodies

Under the EMC/Telecom MRAs, NIST designates qualified US-based testing laboratories to specific foreign requirements. The testing laboratories must be accredited by a US laboratory accreditation body listed by NIST. To be listed by NIST, the laboratory accreditation body must be recognized by and in good standing with a laboratory accreditation cooperation (i.e. ILAC, APLAC, etc.) that verifies, by evaluation and assessment, that its members are in full compliance with ISO/IEC 17011 and that their accredited laboratories comply with ISO/IEC 17025.

The laboratory accreditation body must have appropriate assessor expertise to assess and accredit emc/telecom laboratories and must undergo witness audits by technical experts to verify that the relevant technical requirements are being properly assessed.

The following U.S. laboratory accreditation bodies are acceptable for use for the purpose of the NIST MRA designations under various EMC/Telecom MRAs:

American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA)
ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB) 
National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP)

View Requirements for Laboratory Accreditation Bodies

Requirements for Certification Accreditation Bodies

The National Voluntary Conformity Assessment Systems Evaluation (NVCASE) Program evaluates and recognizes qualified accreditation bodies. NVCASE recognition (1) provides regulatory authorities with confidence that U.S. conformity assessment bodies demonstrate conformance with established criteria, and (2) facilitates the acceptance of U.S. products in foreign regulated markets based on U.S. conformity assessment results.

More detailed information about NVCASE can be obtained here.

Requirements for Notified Body Accreditation Bodies

The NIST Tel MRA Program Office maintains a list of these ABs who have successfully demonstrated compliance with all Accreditation Body qualifications included in Section 10 of the NIST Requirements & Application for U.S. Conformity Assessment Bodies Seeking Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Directive 2014/30/EU Notified Body Status and the NIST Requirements & Application for U.S. Conformity Assessment Bodies Seeking EU Radio Equipment Directive (RED) 2014/53/EU Notified Body Status.

The NIST Listed U.S. ABs for NB Activities can be viewed here.