Approval of Comparable Accreditation Body - 23 CFR 637 - Materials - Pavements

U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration

MEMORANDUM

Subject:	INFORMATION: Approval of Comparable Accreditation Body - 23 CFR 637	Date:	October 07, 2011
From:	/s/ original signed by Butch Wlaschin Director, Office of Asset Management	Reply to Attn of:	HIAM-1
To:	Directors of Field Services Federal Lands Highway Division Engineers Director of Technical Services Division Administrators

In the regulation titled “Quality Assurance Procedures for Construction” 23 CFR 637 paragraphs 637.209 (a) (2), (3), and (4) require laboratories to be accredited by the AASHTO Accreditation Program or a comparable laboratory accreditation program. On September 22, 2004, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) published a Notice in the Federal Register to document the criteria that was going to be used to determine a comparable laboratory accreditation program. Those criteria are now outlined in paragraph 3b of our Non-regulatory Guidance NS 23 CFR, Part 637B.

On May 12, 2011, the Laboratory Accreditation Bureau, L-A-B, was recognized by National Cooperation for Laboratory Accreditation (NACLA) for meeting the technical requirements of the NIST IR 7012 document. The FHWA participated in the evaluation process. The L-A-B meets the requirements for comparable laboratory accreditation bodies listed in the September 22, 2004, Federal Register Notice. As such, the laboratories that are accredited by L-A-B for Construction Materials Testing are considered to meet the quality assurance requirements in 23 CFR 637.209(a) (2), (3), and (4).

For reference NACLA’s Web site is at www.NACLA.net and L-A-B’s Web site for construction materials testing is at http://l-a-b.com/?q=node/519.

If you have any question, please contact Michael Rafalowski at (202) 366-1571.

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