Non Conformity Non Conformance & Corrective Action Procedure

Non conformity is always a major concern for any quality engineer/manager. There are incidents when companies handling the big clients faced big problems in closing the projects due to large number of NCR’s.

Non conformance meaning are very broad in terms of the client requirements, but generally non conformity occurs whenever we deviate from the product standard requirements or product specifications.

NCR in construction field is taken very seriously by government clients. Even if there is a single critical non conformity you may not be able to close the project.

I have experienced many time when main contractors are not able to get project closeout approval after months or some times years of handing over the project.

Mostly matter is solved after negotiating with clients because projects are complete and there is no chance of taking any corrective action. Hence putting contractor in trouble and making deductions against the open non conformance.

NCR in Construction Industry

Actual definition or application of Non conformance in construction field is very much misunderstood. Most of the consulting engineers start raising NCR for small issues which are not actually related to non compliance.

If contractor is not having good relations with consultant engineer he starts giving non conformance report for small issues like absence of discipline engineer during inspections.

How to avoid Non Conformity

Although this is a difficult question but we can avoid NCR’s by simply following the NCR quality procedure.

All the companies are having ISO 9001 management systems, therefore if we have good quality assurance and quality control department we can control the non conformity to happen.

Big organizations empower their QAQC departments in order to ensure the QMS implementation that saves them lot of money.

Non conformity means waste of time and money because you will need to repair, replace or offer a compensation ultimately causing increase in production costs.

Top management plays very important role to control the product and management system non conformance. They set examples in front of other employees so that a quality conscious culture starts developing in the organizations.

Finally in order to control the non conformity strict analysis and monitoring of data is necessary.

Companies must establish system to find out root cause of NCR and then find out cost impact to the company.

This will put pressure on all stake holders and it is true that when you start monitoring you start improving.

Best Practices to stop non conformance

Below I have given some quick tips that can be helpful for you and your top management to avoid the non compliance situations in your work environment.

1. Empower quality assurance department if you are at top management level. Quality department head must report the CEO or his nominee.
2. Never put quality department under operation department because it generates conflict of interest and negatively impacts the overall quality.
3. Establish iso 9001 quality management system in true sense
4. Set up best practices as per national quality awards or excellence frameworks
5. Put customer satisfaction at top priority and propagate this requirements at all levels
6. Conduct internal quality audits at least twice an year
7. Select reputed quality auditing companies
8. Establish quality objectives and targets as per SMART criteria and cascade all functions to overall organization vision and mission.
9. Make good business relations with consultants and external auditors

How to Close Non Conformance Report

Despite very strict management systems and well qualified engineers you will get some non conformance reports. Below I am giving some tips which you can follow to close the NCR’s successfully with minimum damage to your company reputation. These tips will also help you minimize cost of poor quality.

1. Set the closeout targets for each NCR as soon as you receive it.
2. Assign responsibility to take corrective and preventive actions on ncr form.
3. Update non conformance register with target dates, responsible person and updates like proposal status etc.
4. Assign one senior level employee to supervise and close the NCR’s as per target dates.
5. Ensure all materials associated with non conformity closure are available, if not these should be procured on top priority basis.
6. Involve originating authority in discussions about corrective and preventive actions so that approval is easy.
7. Escalate delaying occurrences related to NCR closure targets to top level.
8. Give priority to critical NCR’s as compared to less important issues.

Management Procedure to Control Non Conformity

Below I am sharing with you a procedure for control of non conformity in a construction company. The purpose of quality management procedure is to provide a system for

• Evaluating defective products/deliverable.
• Evaluating the causes of defects and to eliminate the nonconformity.
• Creating a permanent solution that prevents recurrence of problems, applies to the review and subsequent disposition of non-conforming product.

Identification of Non-Conformity

Identify non conforming products at different stages of engineering and construction processes i.e:

• At material receiving stage
• In-Process or construction stage
• Testing & final handover stage

Material Receiving Stage

On receipt of the goods from suppliers a representative from the requesting department, quality engineer and store representative inspect the goods.

If material or equipment is as per the specifications and technical submittals he accepts and allows to unload the material in the stores.

Where applicable he initiates material inspection requests for consultant/contractor approval. Once it is acceptable from consultant it is considered approved. Otherwise supplier is responsible for clearing all comments or any other client requirements.

Any non conforming product is returned back to suppliers immediately.

Store keeper/quality inspector puts a stamp of “QC PASSED” on goods receipt voucher. The GRV of the rejected material is stamped “REJECTED” mentioning the reason of rejection.

Store keeper/ quality inspector also evaluates the performance of the supplier with respect to quality, quantity, delivery time, and presentation and mentions the same on GRV.

Stores department segregates the damaged and rejected goods and keep them at a separate area in the store marked as obsolete/rejected goods.

Stores department returns back to suppliers all the damaged / sub-standard goods which are not as per the LPO specifications and obtain Goods Return Notes/Credit Note.

In case of the material/equipment that requires factory test for local as well as overseas procurement, intimate consultant and client for doing inspections prior to delivery.

Conduct all factory testing in accordance with the contract and order terms and conditions.

Where necessary a factory acceptance test report is generated that is duly approved by both parties. The material is then delivered to site incorporating all comments if any.

Non Conformance During In-Process or Construction Stage

During the construction processes the inspect for works and materials as per the ITP intervals.

After completing a reasonable part of work as per agreement with consultant. Site engineer issues a work inspection request for consultant and in the presence of quality engineer, consultant conducts inspection.

In case of any rejections or comments that require rework or repairs project/site engineers are responsible to immediately implement a corrective action and to ensure non-occurrence of same comment in future.

Quality engineer is responsible for making site inspections on routine basis.

In case of non conforming material or work generate an internal corrective action request and issue to respective engineer by quality engineer.

Project engineers are responsible for taking immediate corrective action, find out root cause of non conformity and suggest a preventive action to avoid the same non conformance in future.

Handle all external NCR’s from main contractor or consultant with high concentration and focus in order to avoid the same in future.

It is responsibility of all site staff including project/construction manager to avoid or minimize the occurrence of non-conforming conditions.

Quality engineer is responsible for maintaining the non conformity records and follow up the corrective actions.

He prepares monthly report of NCR’s/CAR’s highlighting the most occurring root cause, and sends the same to quality manager for further analysis and decision making.

A NCR or CAR register is maintained for each project.

Testing & Handover Stage

If any non conformance occurs during testing and commissioning of the systems. This becomes very serious and supplier is responsible to advise and close such ncr. But is is primarily the responsibility of contractor or subcontractor as applicable.

After the delivery of project contractor is responsible for smooth operation of installations for a specific period as per the contract.

During the defect liability period receive customer complaints through telephone or in any other written form. Each division is responsible for taking corrective actions and maintaining the customer complaint register.

After analyzing the root cause of the problem suggest preventive actions, now implement and maintain proper records.

Handling of Non-Conformity Regarding Quality Management System

During the QMS internal audits, record the non conformance on corrective action report and issue to the relevant department by internal auditors.

Department or division heads are responsible for taking corrective actions and suggesting and implementing preventive actions.

Internal auditor will conduct a follow up audit to assess, whether corrective and preventive action is working satisfactorily and that the system is effectively working.

Related Records

Non Conformance report

NCR Register

NCR Monthly Report

Internal Audit Report