Purpose Nuclear medicine procedure quality is critically dependent on the accuracy of dose calibrators. The aim of this study is to assess the accuracy of measurements of three dose calibrators. For a more accurate evaluation of the measuring equipment, a comparison was done between those dose calibrators and the secondary standard radionuclide calibrator traceable to National metrology institute. Methods The study was performed with Veenstra VDC-404, Veenstra VDC-405 and PITAGORA dose calibrators in Nuclear medicine department. These dose calibrators were compared with Capintec CRC-15R that was used as a secondary reference standard ionization chamber. This intercomparison was done with 99mTc, 18F, 123I and 137Cs. For relative response assessment 137Cs was used as a check source. Linearity checks were fulfilled with 99mTc for Veenstra VDC-405 and 18F sources for PITAGORA. Results The results of the intercomparison show that the uncertainty for Veenstra VDC-404 and Veenstra VDC-405 was 1.5 % at a coverage factor k = 2 when using 99mTc in both P6 vial and in a 1 ml syringe, while it was 3.5 % ( k = 2 ) for 123I, and a linearity deviation was less than 3.1 % ( k = 2 ) . The uncertainty for PITAGORA was 0.7 % ( k = 1) when using 18F in P6 vial, for 137Cs using P6 vial the geometry factor uncertainty was 0.7 % ( k = 1), the linearity deviation was 2.0 %. Constancy measurements accuracies were within 3 % ( k = 2 ) of the decay-corrected values for all radionuclide dose calibrators. Conclusions Quality control and intercomparison measurements of dose calibrators are an important part of nuclear medicine quality assurance program. In accordance with international recommendations, our results are within 5–10 % of the recommended values. Daily control with a long half-life check source allows detecting potential failure of the ionization chamber components and enabling the staff to reduce the probability of an incorrect injection of radiopharmaceuticals’ activity to the patients. The intercomparisons could identify problems in both calibration and uncertainty evaluation.