Notice of Intent to Sole Source

The American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) contract agreement for the RESL is due for renewal. This contract renewal is essential for RESL to maintain its accreditations for operations. A new contract quote was provided by A2LA and is included as an attachment. The quote details the services that will be provided and required to satisfactorily meet RESL’s needs. The accreditations currently maintained by RESL are the International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) 17025:2017, the ISO/IEC 17043:2010, and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 17034:2016. The availability of certified accrediting bodies providing accreditations to all three of these specified standards as required is very limited. However, the A2LA has been providing these required accreditation services to RESL since 2005. Although the A2LA is no longer the only accreditation body with the capability to provide accreditations for all three standards required by RESL, it would be most cost efficient and advantageous from an operations standpoint to remain under contract with A2LA as compared to transferring to a new provider. In addition to the international standards, all accrediting body organizations have their own supplemental policies and organizational requirements that must also be complied with for maintaining accreditations. Transferring to a new accrediting body provider would require RESL to revise and remodel their entire quality management system and undergo extensive mandatory surveillances and assessments to ensure compliance with the new provider’s policies. This process alone would take a minimum of two years to complete and the overall burden placed on RESL operations will supersede all possible added benefits.