This international ISO 17025 standard is applicable to all laboratories, regardless of their size or scope of testing and calibration procedures. It is used by laboratories to establish quality, body, and technical management systems.

ISO 17025 is the most widely used international standard for determining the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. The most recent version of ISO 17025 is ISO/IEC 17025:2017, which was amended in 2005. Most laboratories must be accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 in order to be regarded technically competent in major countries. Although ISO/IEC 17025 and ISO 9001 have many similarities, ISO/IEC 17025 is more precise in its competence criteria and applies directly to enterprises that generate testing and calibration results. It is based on more technological concepts and offers laboratories various benefits.