[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 15, Volume 1, Parts 0 to 299]
[Revised as of January 1, 2001]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 15CFR200.102]

[Page 368-369]
 
                  TITLE 15--COMMERCE AND FOREIGN TRADE
 
 CHAPTER II--NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT 
                               OF COMMERCE
 
PART 200--POLICIES, SERVICES, PROCEDURES, AND FEES--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 200.102  Types of calibration and test services.

    (a) NIST has developed instrumentation and techniques for realizing 
standards for the seven base units of the International System of Units, 
as agreed upon by the General Conference of Weights and Measures. 
Reference standards have been established not only for these seven base 
units, but also for many derived quantities and their multiples and 
submultiples. Such reference standards, or equivalent working standards, 
are used to calibrate laboratory and plant standards for other 
organizations. Accuracy is maintained by stability checks, by comparison 
with the standards of other national and international laboratories, and 
by the exploration of alternative techniques as a means of reducing 
possible systematic error.
    (b) Calibrations for many types of instruments and ranges of 
physical quantities are described in the NIST Special Publication 250 
(SP 250). (See Sec. 200.115 for details relating to the description of 
service items and listing of fees.)
    (c) In recent years NIST has offered to the public new measurement 
services called measurement assurance programs. These programs are 
designed for laboratories whose measurement process involves the 
calibration of other standards. A measurement assurance program is a 
measurement quality control process. By use of carefully designed 
redundant measurements and measurements made on NIST transport standards 
a total uncertainty of the laboratories measurement process can be 
determined by NIST. The results of these tests are then reported to the 
customer as uncertainties of the customer's measurements relative to 
national standards.
    (d) Special measurements not listed in SP 250 may be made upon 
request. These might involve unusual physical quantities, upper or lower 
extremes of range, higher levels of accuracy, fast response speeds, 
short durations, broader ranges of associated parameters, or special 
environmental conditions. Such inquiries should describe clearly the 
measurement desired. Indication of the scientific or economic basis for 
the requirements to be satisfied will be helpful in determining future 
NIST programs. Fees for work accepted will be based upon actual costs 
incurred.
    (e) The principal emphasis of NIST is on those calibrations and 
other tests requiring such accuracy as can be obtained only by direct 
comparison with its standards.
    (f) Other services which may be obtained include:
    (1) Tests of measuring instruments to determine compliance with 
specifications or claims, when the evaluation is critical in national 
scientific or technical operations, and when suitable facilities are not 
available elsewhere; and
    (2) Referee tests in important cases when clients are unable to 
agree upon the method of measurement, the results of tests, or the 
interpretation of these results, but have agreed in advance in writing 
to accept and abide by the findings of NIST.
    (g) NIST reserves the right to decline any request for services if 
the work would interfere with other activities deemed by the Director to 
be of greater importance. In general, measurement services are not 
provided when available from commercial laboratories.
    (h) Suggestions will be offered on measurement techniques and on 
other sources of assistance on calibration or measurement problems when 
the equipment and personnel of NIST are unable to undertake the work. 
The National Conference of Standards Laboratories issues a Directory of 
Standards Laboratories in the United States which perform calibration 
work (obtainable from NCSL Secretariat, c/o National Institute of 
Standards & Technology, Boulder, CO 80303). Those laboratories which 
perform testing are listed in the ASTM Directory of Testing 
Laboratories, Commercial and Institutional. (Directory available from 
the Amercian Society for Testing and

[[Page 369]]

Materials, 1916 Race Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103.) Similar listings 
appear in buyer's guides for commercial products and in technical 
journals concerned with physical measurement.