The National Metrology Laboratory (NML) is the national metrology institute of the Philippines tasked by law to be responsible for establishing and maintaining the national measurement standards for physical quantities such as mass, temperature, pressure, voltage, resistance, luminous intensity and time interval and their dissemination to Filipino users. It has 27 staff and is located at the Metrology Building within the Department of Science and Technology Compound. The main entrance to the compound is located at General Santos Avenue, Bicutan, Taguig City.
The NML operates under the Industrial Technology Development Institute (ITDI), one of the agencies of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). DOST is the executive department of the Philippine Government responsible for the coordination of science and technology-related projects in the Philippines and for the formulation of policies and projects in the fields of science and technology in support of national development.
Profile
History
| 1998 | Formally established as the Philippine Metrology Laboratory in March 24, 1998 under the DOST Flagship Project entitled “Development of a National Infrastructure for Metrology”, the National Metrology Laboratory (NML) provided calibration services to customers while operating inside one of the Divisions of the ITDI, the Standards and Testing Division (STD). The NML had its base laboratory in the same building as the testing laboratory of the STD. However, that same year all the calibration and measurement facilities of the NML were transferred to the newly built Metrology Building. |
| 2009
|
Upon the approval of the Rationalization Plan of the government for the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the NML became officially recognized as a separate Division of the Industrial Technology Development Institute (ITDI). It was renamed as the National Metrology Division. However as it was better known as the National Metrology Laboratory in the regional and international metrology organizations, the name National Metrology Laboratory was retained. The national task of the NML as the national metrology institute of the Philippines remains the same even before the rationalization was approved |
| 2012
|
The new corporate identity of the NML was launched in March 2012. Though still operating under the auspices of the ITDI, it now had its own logo. The new logo reinforces NML’s position as the national metrology institute of the Philippines, sitting at the helm of the national metrology pyramid |
Vision / Mission
Organization
The Chief occupies the highest position within the NML and is responsible for managing the technical and administrative functions of the Laboratory. As such, the Chief is also the Head of the DAkkS Calibration Laboratory within the defined accredited scope. (Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle or DAkkS is the national accreditation body for the Federal Republic of Germany).
The Chief of the NML is a member of the executive committee of the Institute and reports directly to the ITDI Director. As such she participates in the ITDI planning and in the formulation of policies and procedures.
Operational control of the calibration services provided by the NML in pursuit of its mandate is delegated to the Section Heads and quality management to the Quality Manager. The Section Heads, in most cases, are also the Deputy Head of the DAkkS Calibration Laboratory in the specific field of calibration within the accredited scope and reports directly to the Chief of the NML.
The organizational chart below provides an overview of the sections within the NML. Each Section is managed by the Section Head.
NML Organizational Chart
Sections with DakkS accredited scopes are enclosed in the solid line
Traceability
International Memberships
The Republic of the Philippines, through the ITDI-NML, is a full member of the Asia Pacific Metrology Programme (APMP) and the Asia Pacific Legal Metrology Forum (APLMF), and an Associate State of the General Conference on Weights and Measures (Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures, CGPM).
Network activities
The NML represents the interest of the Philippines in General Assemblies and Technical Committee meetings, and actively participates in the activities and events organized in the Region such as interlaboratory comparisons in various fields of measurements, preparatory and concluding workshops, symposiums, train-the-trainer courses/workshops among others.
Mutual Recognition
The ITDI-NML is a signatory to the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement. The CIPM, International Committee for Weights and Measures (Comité International des Poids et Mesures) is made up of eighteen individuals, each from a different Member State under the Metre Convention whose principal task is to promote world-wide uniformity in units of measurement and it does this by direct action or by submitting draft resolutions to the General Conference (CGPM).
Accreditation
ACCREDITATION
The National Metrology Laboratory of the Philippines (NML) is the first and the only laboratory in the Philippines that has been accredited under the terms of ISO/IEC 17025:2017 by the German Accreditation Body, DAkkS to carry out calibrations in the fields of Mechanical quantities and Thermodynamic quantities. For the specific scopes, refer to Accreditation Certificates and Annexes.
Calibration Certificates issued by NML within the DAkkS accredited scopes bear the DAkkS and ILAC-MRA logo signifying that it is accepted by all member economies worldwide through the mutual recognition of DAkkS in the European Cooperation for Accreditation (EA), the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC).
Visit http://www.dakks.de for the listing of Accredited Bodies (DAkkS).
