The Instruments page manages the laboratory's analytical instruments, with calibration, intermediate-check and maintenance tracking (EN ISO/IEC 17025:2017 §6.4, §6.5).
Found under: Analysis Configuration → Equipment → Instruments.
| Button | Action |
|---|---|
| Add — Create a new record | |
| Columns — Show/hide table columns | |
| Filters — Open/close the filter panel. A red dot indicates active filters | |
| Export CSV — Download table data as a CSV file | |
| Orientation — Toggle between portrait and landscape printing | |
| Print — Generate a PDF of the current view | |
| Help — Open the help dialog | |
| Search — Quick search through table data |
Clicking the icon on each row shows:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | Instrument name (up to 100 characters) |
| Model | Manufacturer model |
| Serial No. | Instrument serial number |
| Manufacturer | Manufacturer name (distinct from model, ISO 17025 §6.4.13(b)) |
| Firmware Version | Instrument software/firmware version (ISO 17025 §6.4.13(a)) |
| Location | Physical location in the lab (ISO 17025 §6.4.13(d)) |
| Last Calibration | Date of last calibration |
| Next Calibration | Date of next calibration |
| Status | Auto-calculated: Calibrated, Soon, Overdue, Out of Service, Under Repair or Awaiting Verification — colour-coded |
| Requires Calibration | Whether the instrument is subject to formal calibration (hidden column) |
| Seal | Physical seal status of the instrument: N/A, Intact or Broken (hidden column) |
| Notes | Additional remarks (hidden column) |
| Active | Whether the instrument is in use (Yes/No) |
In addition to the standard row-menu (⋮) actions, each row also has:
Clicking an instrument opens its own page, with four tabs. The last three stay disabled while the instrument is unsaved.
| Tab | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Info | Identity, location, accuracy, uncertainty, calibration programme, seal |
| Calibrations | The calibration history with its metrological fields — see below |
| Maintenance | §6.4.3 — the date, type and performer of each maintenance |
| Intermediate Checks | §6.4.10 — the checks that hold confidence between two calibrations |
Each tab has its own Columns button, whose display and print settings apply both on screen and in the PDF.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Calibration Date · Next Date | When it is done and when it lapses |
| Certificate # | The certificate's number |
| Traceability Statement (§6.5.2) | What the measurement is traceable to — the chain back to the SI |
| Calibration provider | Chosen from the approved suppliers of calibration type |
| Calibration Interval (days) | The recalibration interval |
| Expanded Uncertainty U (§7.6.2) · Coverage Factor k | The certificate's uncertainty and its k |
| As-found error · Tolerance limit (±) | What the provider found, and what your limit is |
| Within tolerance · Deviation Notes | Your own judgement and its justification |
As soon as all three are filled in — as-found error, expanded uncertainty and tolerance limit — a verdict appears below the fields: Fit for use with U or Not fit for use with U, in green or red. The rule is explicit: |error| + U ≤ tolerance limit.
You do not type it and you cannot override it: it is derived, and the server derives it again by the same rule when you save. What the screen shows is exactly what gets written. An instrument inside tolerance but whose uncertainty pushes it out is not fit for use, and that is why U belongs in the rule.
Save a calibration marked out of tolerance and a deviation opens automatically, with source "Calibration" and classification "Significant", naming the instrument, the certificate, the date and your notes. Three things are worth knowing:
The "instrument file" an assessor asks for, as one PDF in one click:
| Section | What it shows |
|---|---|
| §6.4.7 | The calibration programme |
| §6.5 | Calibration history and metrological traceability |
| §6.4.10 | Intermediate checks |
| §6.4.3 | Maintenance history |
| §6.4.4 | Verification before use (IQ / OQ / PQ) |
| §6.4.9 | Service state and affected analyses |
| §7.11.3 | Audit trail |
Like the analysis pack, it needs a permission and follows the toolbar's orientation.
Points at — this page does not stand without these:
Used by — a change here shows up in these:
🔴 This page has three silent escape hatches. The check that stops an unfit instrument being
used (assertInstrumentCalibrated) returns immediately when:
| What is missing | What happens |
|---|---|
| No instrument recorded on the measurement | No verification at all. The measurement passes with no instrument checked. |
| Next calibration date empty | The instrument is never locked out, however old its calibration is. |
| "Requires calibration" set to No | A deliberate exemption (§6.4.6) for glassware and manual tools. Correct — but not for a spectrophotometer. |
The dangerous one is the middle: you see no error, you see success. An empty field looks like
"I have not filled this in yet" and behaves like "turn the check off".
By contrast an inactive instrument, or one out of service, blocks the measurement with a
message — those failures are loud and harmless.