This paper describes the COMAR database for certified reference materials (CRMs). The Web-based version of COMAR is freely accessible via the Internet. COMAR was established to assist laboratories in finding the CRMs needed. The database is maintained in a collaboration of the worlds major CRM producers. The planned changes in the database as agreed at the last COMAR council meeting in Prague in May 2006 are indicated.
COMAR, the international database for certified reference materials (CRM) has been improved by BAM for the benefit of CRM users and producers worldwide. The usefulness of reference materials (RM) is beyond question. RM provide "measurement benchmarks" for materials testing and chemical analysis and ensure reliability and worldwide comparability of measurements in these fields. The use of RM is a basic requirement for quality assurance. In addition CRM are very important for establishing traceability, especially in chemical analysis. Even in the age of web based technologies and services finding a proper reference material is a demanding task especially for newcomers or for new kind of materials. The best choice ist to use reference material databases that collect data from several RM producers and provide information in a uniform way. COMAR has been established to help laboratories to find the proper CRM needed. The database gives information on the worldwide availibility of certified reference materials. BAM has recently improved COMAR in order to make searching in COMAR more simple and target-orientated and to make the process of updating data more efficient.