What Is Accreditation?
Calibration vs. Verification
Calibration and verification are commonly used terms across many scientific disciplines and industries with varied, yet similar, meanings. In addition, the connotation of the two terms has changed and evolved over time. So closely related, these terms are often used interchangeably by mistake.
The process of calibration is the comparison of the customer’s device to a reference standard the Field Service Engineer uses. For force, it would be the customer’s load force weighing system (load cell and electronics) against the Field Service Engineer’s working standard. For displacement, the process is the comparison of the customer’s displacement measuring system to the Field Service Engineer’s working standard. We do a comparison of the two devices and determine the difference between them, to achieve a measurement result (commonly referred to as the error). A calibration does not make any assessment of Pass or Fail.
Verification takes the measurement result (the error) from the calibration and checks it against the standard to see if it meets the standard’s requirements. In other words, verification classes the machine based upon the error identified and other criteria from the calibration. The verification determines if the device being calibrated meets the requirements and makes a statement of conformance, Pass or Fail.
