Interlaboratory comparisons operated by BAM

Interlaboratory comparisons - or intercomparisons for short - are a crucial element of a laboratory's quality system. Participation in intercomparisons is explicitly recommended by the laboratory quality standard ISO/IEC 17025.

BAM organises intercomparisons in selected fields of competence. Participation in these exercises is open to laboratories world-wide. Related activities deployed by BAM include the management of the proficiency testing scheme database EPTIS, and participation in the development and harmonisation of technical regulations concerning the organisation, execution and evaluation of intercomparisons.

Regular intercomparisons

The BAM waste water intercomparison (see below) is operated in the frame of an agreement with the City of Berlin. The contaminated sites intercomparison has been contracted to BAM by the German Government and the German accreditation bodies DACH, DAP and DASMIN.
BAM, the company quo data and PTB are working on an interlaboratory test programme for testing the hazardous characteristics of dangerous goods and substances.
For testing laboratories outside Germany working in the field of soil analysis BAM is offering the regional European PT scheme PROFEA.

• Organic and inorganic parameters in contaminated soil
• Dangerous goods and substances (details)
• PROFEA - BAM PT scheme for environmental analysis (details)

Intercomparisons organised on request

• Emissions of volatile organic compounds from materials (details)
• Penta- and octabromodiphenylether in polymers
• Characterisation of linear polymers (details)
• Primary aromatic amines (PAA) in elastomeric materials
• Particle size determination of finest powders by laser diffraction (details)
• Porous and dispersed materials (details)
• NMR spectroscopy for quantitative analysis (details)

One-off intercomparisons

There are currently no one-off intercomparisons.

Further information

Laboratories in search of a suitable proficiency testing scheme (PTS) can benefit from the PTS database EPTIS. The world's largest PTS directory is a joint publication of an international consortium, managed by BAM. EPTIS contains details of hundreds of PTS operated in Europe and the Americas.

ISO Guide 43-1 check list

Providers of intercomparisons who wish to compare their practice with the requirements of ISO Guide 43-1 can make use of a check list (PDF) based on this guide (in German). They may also find it helpful to benchmark their statistical procedures with the procedures from other providers. Detailed information on these procedures has been gathered in the frame of the EU project CoEPT. BAM participated in this project and hosts the CoEPT website where this information is made available to interested parties.

Participation of BAM in external intercomparisons

Many of the BAM laboratories take part in intercomparisons from external providers. For further details please see Attestations of competence.

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