Telarc (Testing Laboratory Registration Council) was established by an Act of Parliament in 1972. The role of Telarc 
includes promoting the highest possible technical standards in New Zealand’s industrial, technical, and health care 
sectors.

In 1997, Telarc was reorganised to form two organisations, Telarc Ltd and IANZ (International Accreditation New 
Zealand). Both organisations report to the Council of nine members, who are responsible to the Minister of Commerce 
for the administration of its programmes. Telarc Ltd is responsible for certification of organisations to the ISO 9000 
quality standards, and operates in a competitive environment with similar certification bodies.

IANZ is the sole organisation in New Zealand responsible for accreditation of laboratories. The governing standard is 
ISO/IEC 17025:2005, "General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories". This standard 
meets the principles of ISO 9001.

IANZ is equivalent to NATA in Australia and A2LA in USA. Mutual recognition agreements have been established in 
over twenty countries, which ensures that IANZ endorsed reports are accepted in many countries.

IANZ accredited calibration laboratories are subject to an annual inspection or assessment by an IANZ assessor. 
Every three years, an independent expert in the relevant field attends the assessment. In the case of Thermocal 
Laboratory Ltd, the expert is a scientist from the New Zealand national standards laboratory who specializes in the 
temperature measurement field.

Visit the IANZ website