Section NR 149.44 - Laboratory equipment(1) GENERAL PROVISIONS. (a) The laboratory shall furnish the equipment necessary and required for the correct performance of all the environmental tests and associated preparations and activities it performs.(b) The laboratory shall use equipment and software for testing and calibration that achieves the accuracy required to comply with the requirements of the methods or specifications relevant to the environmental testing performed by the laboratory.(2) LABORATORY SUPPORT EQUIPMENT. (a) The laboratory shall use support equipment only for its intended purpose, and it shall keep that equipment in working order by routine and preventive maintenance.(b) When support equipment leaves the direct control of the laboratory for maintenance or for any other reason, the laboratory shall ensure that the function and calibration status of that equipment is checked or demonstrated to be in working order before the equipment is returned to service.(3) CALIBRATION AND VERIFICATION OF SUPPORT EQUIPMENT. (a) The laboratory shall calibrate or verify all support equipment within that equipment's range of use using available reference materials traceable to NIST. When reference materials traceable to NIST are not commercially available, the laboratory shall use materials of a quality that will ensure the accuracy of the calibrated or verified support equipment for its intended use.(b) The acceptability criteria for these calibration or verification checks shall be established by the methods, or in the absence, department guidance. Note: Department guidance can be found on the Wisconsin department of natural resources laboratory accreditation program website.
(c) The laboratory shall establish a procedure for calibrating or verifying the calibration of support equipment which shall include all the following elements: 1. Procedures used for calibrating or verifying the calibration.2. Procedures for utilization of correction factors when there is a bias.3. Evaluation criteria used which defensibly documents the continued accuracy of the equipment.4. Procedures for addressing equipment which fails to meet calibration or verification requirements.(d) Minimum verification frequencies include all the following: 1. Annually: devices used to measure atmospheric pressure and temperature.2. Quarterly: mechanical and automatic volumetric dispensing devices, including pipettes.3. Monthly: balances, with one weight in the expected range of use. Balance weights shall be all the following: a. Handled and stored in a manner that protects the weights' integrity.b. Traceable to NIST and of class 2 quality or better. Certified for accuracy every five years by a metrology service outside the laboratory. Alternatively, new weights of class 2 quality or better, traceable to NIST, shall be purchased for use. Weight recertifica-tion shall be performed sooner than every five years if balance checks performed using these weights suggest that a change in the certified weights has occurred. Note: Weights that are currently NIST traceable may be used to verify other weights.
4. Each day of use: when specific temperatures are required by method, regulation, or covered program, the operating temperature of the equipment used to control temperatures shall be checked and documented.(e) All the following are exempt from accuracy verification under this section: 1. Glass microliter syringes.3. Automatic titrator systems.(4) LABORATORY ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTS. (a) The laboratory shall use personnel properly trained to operate analytical instruments. Instructions on the use and maintenance of equipment shall be available to instrument operators.(b) The laboratory shall properly maintain, inspect, and clean all instruments. The laboratory shall establish procedures for the maintenance of analytical instruments to prevent contamination or deterioration that may affect reported results.(c) The laboratory shall remove from service all analytical instruments that give suspect results or that have been shown to be defective or outside of performance specifications.(d) When analytical instruments leave the direct control of the laboratory for maintenance or for any other reason, the laboratory shall ensure that the instruments are functional and that a new initial calibration has passed to demonstrate that the instruments are in satisfactory working order before returned to service.Wis. Admin. Code Department of Natural Resources NR 149.44
CR 06-005: cr. Register April 2008 No. 628, eff. 9-1-08.Amended by, CR 17-046: cr. Register February 2021 No. 782, eff. 6/29/2021