The IANZ Drinking-Water Testing Laboratory accreditation programme is a specific industry sector scheme operated for the Ministry of Health.
To demonstrate compliance with the New Zealand Drinking-Water Standards, water suppliers need to monitor the quality of the drinking-water they supply by taking water samples and having them analysed. The Ministry of Health requires all such testing to be performed by laboratories that have appropriate skills and quality assurance procedures. These laboratories, each with a specified list of tests, are recorded in the Register of Ministry of Health Recognised Laboratories. IANZ manages this Register on behalf of the Ministry, using a special copy of the Drinking-Water Online (DWO) database. Any changes to the Register are uploaded to the DWO database at ESR, and from there are made available to all DWO users.
Laboratories will be listed in the Register once they have been assessed and demonstrate compliance with either:
• ISO/IEC 17025 General Requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories, and associated specific or supplementary technical criteria i.e. fully IANZ accredited laboratories, or
• The Ministry of Health Level 2 Criteria, and associated specific or supplementary technical criteria i.e. Level 2 Recognised Laboratories. For further information, see the Supplementary Criteria for Accreditation linked below.
Fee Schedules can be found at the bottom of the 'Get accredited' page.
The scope of application of the Register of Ministry of Health Recognised Laboratories is restricted to:
1. Laboratories that test drinking water from a community drinking water supply for the purpose of grading water supplies i.e. those laboratories that contribute or intend to contribute (either directly or indirectly) test results into the DWO database.
2. Only those tests or determinants which are detailed in the Drinking-Water Standards for New Zealand (against which community drinking water supplies are graded).
Tests of water for any other purpose are outside the scope of this programme. Accreditation for such tests can be sought under the IANZ Chemical Testing and/or Biological Testing Programmes.
