Can anyone share a lab specific supplier questionnaire please?

Hello

During our recent audit, we have received an observation regarding our Vendor Management.  We are using an external /contract laboratory for our finished goods testing but the current supplier questionnaire is mostly not applicable to them so it was not completed.

Can anyone share a lab specific supplier questionnaire please?

Many thanks

IMO: The lab can be a (contracted) service provider to you, how can they be your vendor? They are not supplying you with any products, but providing services for your company/product.

You can provide a contract( if available ) and a certificate for the lab ( if they have one example ISO 17025) to satisfy the observation.

I have never, ever seen a laboratory questionnaire, I've worked in the food industry for >25years & 5 years of that was managing a food microbiological testing lab so suspect this is pretty rare.

I'm guessing that the logic is that, if the laboratory is ISO17025, it will meet any requirement you would add to a self audit questionnaire?. 

A bit like our smaller, less technically savvy customers, who send us poorly designed SAQs that ask if we are GFSI certified & then go on to ask "do you have HACCP, do you allergen control, do you have PPM, do you train your staff etc etc......"    ummm, yes!.... these are all essential to the GFSI standard - so it will be a given that these are in place.

Also - do you have anybody within your quality/team who is trained/experienced in laboratory standards, who would actually be qualified to review the completed questionnaire? (3.5.1.2)

I am assuming this is to prove you have approved your service suppliers (BRC 3.5.3)....if so I would obtain a copy of the laboratory's ISO17025 cert & scope of accreditation (you'll need to prove the tests you have done are under their scope of accreditation, sometimes they aren't.... look for # or * on the COAs as this is usually a clue that those tests aren't under the scope of ISO17025) and also draw up a formal contract with the laboratory service supplier that requires that they inform you immediately if they lose their certification and/or any risks to your product testing. Regular monitoring of supplier performance (documented meetings) is also a good idea

- I have never had any external auditor, or customer (even the pickiest UK retailers) question this approach so it seems to work

Lastly - there is one large UK food retailer & one large manufacturer that I know of, that also mandate that you can only use laboratories that they, themselves, have audited (oh, and the laboratory pays for this privilege too) so make sure you check customer requirements (even though 3.12 has been removed from BRC 8)

Thank you very much both, for your help. Lesley your detailed description will help for sure. I have missed the MHRA audit during which this was highlighted but the advice I have received will definitely set me on the right path.  

Many thanks and...Merry Christmas! :x_tongue: