Assurance
Equipment Assurance
Equipment Assurance establishes whether an instrument satisfies the conditions required for the evidence it produces: its governed identity, applicable assurance status and eligibility for governed use.
It is one of the seven Assurance Domains of the DICRI Assurance Framework and one of DICRI's institutional functions. It is assurance, not equipment certification, and it does not replace equipment manufacturers or qualified calibration providers.
Equipment as an Assurance Condition
Engineering measurements depend on both the professional performing the activity and the equipment through which the observation is established. Evidence produced through equipment whose required assurance conditions cannot be demonstrated carries a limitation in the evidentiary basis supporting the resulting measurement or observation.
Equipment Assurance is the Assurance Domain of The DICRI Assurance Framework that establishes whether applicable instruments satisfy the conditions necessary to support the evidence they produce.
Calibration is an important part of that position, but not all of it. A current calibration provides a documented basis for relying on an instrument within its applicable conditions and tolerances; it does not establish that every measurement the instrument produces is correct, or that the instrument is suitable for the activity being performed.
The qualifying condition of the equipment must be established before the measurement is produced, and the evidence produced through it retains the relationship to the assurance condition under which the measurement or observation was created.
Equipment Assurance and professional competency are separate conditions. Evidence produced by a competent professional may remain insufficiently assured where the equipment cannot be supported, and an instrument's capability does not establish that the professional selected and applied the appropriate method.
Enrollment, Assurance Status and Eligibility
Equipment Enrollment establishes identity; eligibility for a particular governed activity depends on satisfying the complete Equipment Assurance requirements that apply at the time of use. Three distinct conditions are involved.
- Equipment Enrollment
Establishes the governed identity of a specific instrument, through applicable information such as its manufacturer, model, serial number and equipment class, so that the instrument, its assurance attributes and its subsequent use remain associated within the assurance record.
Enrollment establishes identity. It does not by itself establish eligibility, and it is not an endorsement of a manufacturer or product.
- Assurance status
The applicable assurance information associated with that identity, which may include manufacturer requirements, calibration status and interval where calibration is required, maintenance and repair condition, operating limitations and other qualifying attributes relevant to the evidence being produced.
Where calibration, verification or inspection is required, it must be satisfied within its applicable scope and currency. Assuring this status does not mean DICRI performs OEM calibration.
- Eligibility for governed use
An instrument is eligible for a governed activity when it satisfies the assurance requirements associated with that activity at the time of use, including suitability: the capability, configuration, accuracy, range and resolution the activity requires.
An instrument that does not satisfy an applicable requirement is ineligible for the activity until the required condition has been established or restored.
Eligible equipment is one of the readiness conditions for governed work, alongside the authorized activity, the required professional competency and the approved evidentiary method.