.: : SNAS Slovak National Accreditation Service :.

Accreditation Activity

SNAS performs accreditation of technical activities according to the EN 45000 series, the related ISO/IEC standards, guides and application EA, ILAC, IAF documents.

SNAS performs:

(A) Accreditation

in accordance with the following standards/guides:

Accreditation of calibration laboratories (ISO/IEC 17025),
Accreditation of testing laboratories (ISO/IEC 17025)
Accreditation of medicinal laboratories (ISO/IEC 17025, ISO/IEC 15189)
Accreditation of bodies certifying:

Products (EN 45011)
Persons (ISO/IEC 17024)
Management systems (ISO/IEC 17021):

Quality management systems (QMS)
Systems for ensuring quality according to requirements of NATO
Quality Management Systems for Welding
Sustainable Forest Certification Scheme (SFCS)
Quality Management Systems for Medical Devices
Environmental Management Systems
OH&S Management Systems
Information Safety Management Systems
Food Safety Management Systems

Accreditation of inspection bodies (ISO/IEC 17020)
Accreditation of environmental verifiers (Regulation of EP and EC No. 761/2001, Act No. 491/2005 Coll. Ordinance of MŽP SR No. 606/2005 Coll.)
Accreditation of PT providers (ILAC G13, ISO Guide 43 (Part 1 and 2)).

(B) Attestation of fulfilling notification/authorization requirements

(EN 45503, EA-2/17)

(C) Assessment and inspection of laboratories in the field of GLP

(OECD (ENV/MC/CHEM (98)17,No.1, Directive 2004/10EC and 2004/9/EC)

(D) Accreditation abroad:

SNAS performs accreditations abroad in compliance with cross-border accreditation principles EA-2/13 and EP and EC Regulation No. 765/2008 after informing accreditation body in relevant country (RR-P4).

In connection with its accreditation activity SNAS adopts international (EA, ILAC, IAF) or its own application or guidance documents. Where international application or guidance documents are available, these are implemented in the SNAS accreditation practice. SNAS application documents have been formulated by technical committees or persons possessing the necessary competence.

In relation to extending its activities, SNAS has established, documented and implemented procedures for extending its activities taking into account the demands of interested parties.

Character of SNAS Services

In connection with accreditation SNAS provides other following services:

General information on accreditation, its mission and tasks in the economy and in the common market.
Information on SNAS, its activities, the situation in the field of accreditation abroad, the mission and tasks of international organisations in the field of accreditation, etc.
Information on the accreditation procedure.
Information on SNAS guides and documents of international and European organisations active in the field of accreditation, interpretation of individual provisions in the documents mentioned.
Providing, on request, of documents and publications issued by SNAS.
Providing of lecturers in the field of accreditation on request.
Providing of information on the accredited subjects and those recognised by SNAS for accreditation purposes (accredited calibration laboratories), their respective fields of accreditation, validity of accreditation certificates, etc.
Promotion of accredited subjects by means of INTERNET computer net.
Support for participation of Slovak laboratories in inter-laboratory comparison and proficiency testing projects organised by SNAS or other bodies on an international level.
Organisation of the mutual exchange of information in the field of accreditation at the level of accredited subjects aimed at providing the latest information on accreditation in Slovakia and abroad.
Information on the issuing or updating of new standards, documents, guides in the field of accreditation.

SNAS provides no services which might cast doubt on the reliability, objectivity and impartiality of its accreditation. In this relation it does not offer services and/or provide advice, proposals of solutions how to meet accreditation criteria, consultations etc. resulting in a conflict of interests.

SNAS experts involved in the preparation of an applicant for accreditation or providing other services incompatible with the activities of the accreditation body are obliged to declare such activities in the contract and are excluded from the assessment connected with the accreditation of the applicant.
The obligation of independence and impartiality is declared in the working contract and the SNAS Employee Declaration, which is signed by each SNAS permanent employee and Declaration of SNAS Assessor, which is signed by each assessor before being engaged in the particular case of accreditation.

Promotion of SNAS Services

Information on SNAS services provided is available on the SNAS Internet homepage, published in the UNMS SR official journal ”Vestník ÚNMS SR”, in the journal ”Metrológia a skúšobníctvo” and it is distributed on various occasion (e.g. at trainings, seminars or conferences organised by SNAS).

Inquiry into the Client’s Needs and Satisfaction

An inquiry into the needs and satisfaction of the clients of SNAS in the field of accreditation is an important form of feedback information for SNAS on the standard, scope and quality of the services provided.
The inquiry is organised by means of questionnaires distributed to all accredited CABs holding valid accreditation certificates, to all registered applicants for accreditation and to other subjects.
The results of the inquiry are used as one of the sources for SNAS identification of the preventive actions and for suggestions for SNAS quality program improvement.

SLOVAK NATIONAL ACCREDITATION SERVICE