6. What if you're not ready 15 days before the assessment?

Rest assured, it's very rare to be completely ready 15 days before the initial external assessment.

The aim of the initial accreditation assessment is not to evaluate a perfect quality management system, but primarily to ensure that :

• system compliance with accreditation requirements;

• the adequacy of resources for carrying out the services covered by the application for accreditation;

• staff competence;

• the existence of means to ensure the quality of results (intercomparison, reference materials, etc.).

This means knowing whether the laboratory can be trusted to perform the services for which it is applying for accreditation.