Quality & compliance

Four terms get used interchangeably in this trade and mean four different things. Getting them right decides whether your documentation survives an assessment — and whether a supplier is claiming something they are not entitled to.

What Patel Chemhub does and does not hold

Patel Chemhub Private Limited is a trading company. It currently holds no certifications of its own, and this page will list them here — with certificate numbers and validity dates — as and when it does.

Where a certification is referenced anywhere on this site, it belongs to the party named on that certificate. A manufacturer’s ISO 9001 certifies that manufacturer, not their dealers. A NABL scope belongs to the laboratory that holds it. We name them rather than borrowing the credential, because a trading company presenting a supplier’s accreditation as its own is misrepresentation — and it is common enough in this industry to be worth saying out loud.

NABL accreditation (ISO/IEC 17025)

Who issues it: National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories, a constituent board of the Quality Council of India.
What it actually means: Formal third-party recognition that a laboratory is technically competent to perform specific tests or calibrations. It is granted scope by scope — a laboratory accredited for Thermal is not thereby accredited for Force — and assessed by technical experts in that discipline.
Where it gets misused: Accreditation is not certification. NABL’s own guidance draws the line: ISO 9001 certification covers the quality management system; NABL accreditation covers technical competence. A calibration certificate carrying the NABL symbol for a parameter outside the accredited scope is a compliance problem, not a stronger certificate. Always check the scope, not just the logo.

ISO 9001:2015

Who issues it: Private certification bodies, whose own credibility depends on accreditation by NABCB in India or an equivalent IAF-signatory body abroad. ISO itself certifies nobody.
What it actually means: That documented quality-management processes exist and are followed.
Where it gets misused: It says nothing about the technical accuracy of any measurement — which is exactly why a calibration laboratory needs ISO/IEC 17025 and not merely ISO 9001. A certificate from an unaccredited certification body carries little weight in a tender.

CE marking

Who issues it: For most laboratory instruments, the manufacturer itself, by compiling a Technical File and signing an EU Declaration of Conformity. A Notified Body is involved only for higher-risk product categories.
What it actually means: The manufacturer declares the product conforms to all applicable EU legislation. It is a market-access passport for the European Economic Area.
Where it gets misused: It is not a quality mark, not a safety endorsement and not proof of performance. The correct phrasing is "CE marked", never "CE certified" or "CE approved" — overclaiming here is a real legal exposure in export markets.

GMP (Schedule M)

Who issues it: Enforced through State Licensing Authorities for manufacturing licences, with CDSCO as central regulator. WHO-GMP certificates and Certificates of Pharmaceutical Product are issued by the SLA together with CDSCO.
What it actually means: The manufacturing quality regime for pharmaceuticals in India, substantially revised in 2023 to align more closely with WHO-GMP and PIC/S expectations.
Where it gets misused: For equipment buyers, "GMP model" is a real product specification — mirror-finish stainless contact surfaces, coved corners, validated PLC control, audit trails, 21 CFR Part 11 software — and it is bought qualified: DQ, IQ, OQ, PQ with mapping and recovery studies. Specify it at enquiry stage.

ISI mark / BIS licence

Who issues it: Bureau of Indian Standards, under its Product Certification Scheme.
What it actually means: The manufacturer holds a licence permitting the product to bear the ISI mark against a specific Indian Standard.
Where it gets misused: "ISI marked" is a materially stronger claim than "conforms to IS". Only the first means a BIS licence exists. We reproduce the ISI claim only where the manufacturer holds the licence.

Documentation we supply

Safety Data Sheets accompany every chemical consignment, and we send them in advance on request so your EHS review can happen before the material arrives rather than after.

Certificates of Analysis are batch specific. Quote the batch number printed on the label and we will retrieve the correct one — a COA for a different batch is not evidence of anything.

Calibration certificates are issued by the accredited laboratory that performed the work, with the scope, the accreditation number and the traceability chain shown. We state on the quotation whether the calibration is within a NABL scope or is a non-accredited verification — those are different products at different prices, and conflating them is a genuine risk to your assessment.

Qualification documentation for GMP equipment — IQ, OQ, PQ protocols with mapping and recovery studies — is arranged with the manufacturer and quoted as a separate line, not assumed.

How to obtain SDS and COA documents →