FAQ : About Reference Materials (RMs) and Certified Reference Materials (CRMs)

RM stands for Reference Material, a “material, sufficiently homogeneous and stable with reference to specified properties, which has been established to be fit for its intended use in measurement or in examination of nominal properties”.

[SOURCE: Definition for “reference materials” in the International vocabulary of metrology – Basic and general concepts and associated terms (VIM); JCGM 200:2012].

CRM is the acronym for Certified Reference Material, a “reference material, accompanied by documentation issued by an authoritative body and providing one or more specified property values with associated uncertainties and traceabilities, using valid procedures”.

[SOURCE: Definition for “certified reference materials” in the International vocabulary of metrology – Basic and general concepts and associated terms (VIM); JCGM 200:2012].

CRMs/ RMs can be used for:

1. calibration standards;
2. calibration of instruments;

• validation of measurement methods;

1. evaluation of the performance of new measurement procedures or laboratories;
2. quality controls in routine testing; or
3. inter-laboratory comparisons for method validation and for assessing laboratory proficiency.

Yes, CRMs are important to ensure the accuracy and comparability of a measurement result, regardless of when and where the measurement is conducted.

Yes, there are primary and secondary RMs.

Primary RM is “measurement standard established using a primary reference procedure, or created as an artefact, chosen by convention”. It is a pure substance reference material (in the context of chemistry), e.g. benzoic acid or methyl paraben. It forms the metrological foundation for the value assignment of secondary reference material.

Secondary RM is “measurement standard established through calibration with respect to a primary measurement standard for a quantity of the same kind”. For example, benzoic acid or methyl paraben in tomato sauce.

[SOURCE: Definition for “primary measurement standard” and “secondary measurement standard” in the International vocabulary of metrology – Basic and general concepts and associated terms (VIM); JCGM 200:2012].

Product Information Sheet (PIS) is a document containing all the information that is essential for using an RM other than a CRM.

[SOURCE: ISO Guide 30:2015 (2.3.4), Reference materials – Selected terms and definitions]

Reference Material Certificate is a document containing the essential information for the use of a CRM, confirming that the necessary procedures have been carried out to ensure the validity and metrological traceability of the stated property values.

[SOURCE: ISO Guide 30:2015 (2.3.2), Reference materials – Selected terms and definitions]

RM document is a document containing all the information that is essential for using any RM. The RM document covers both the product information sheet and the RM certificate.

[SOURCE: ISO Guide 30:2015, Reference materials – Selected terms and definitions]