Nonconformance, MRB Authority and Supplier Corrective Action

Updated October 12, 2026

The sequence, start to finish

Corrective action fails most often in the order of operations, not in the analysis. The sequence the prime documents describe is:

1. Contain. Identify, document and segregate the suspect material so it cannot be used or shipped. The NGAS SQAR, section 2.2, adds that the supplier evaluates what else the problem could have touched.
2. Look backward. Decide whether the same condition could exist in product already shipped. Appendix QX paragraph 1.14 requires this check on every nonconformance.
3. Disposition. Within the supplier's authority, or by the customer's MRB.
4. Disclose. If product already left, notify the customer on its clock.
5. Find root cause and correct it. On request, in the customer's format.
6. Verify effectiveness. Show the fix works on later production, and expect the customer to check.
7. Keep the records. For as long as the PO requires.

The basic disposition terms and the receiving-side process are explained in receiving inspection. This page covers the supplier side and the authority limits primes put in writing.

Who may disposition what

Material review authority follows design authority. If the prime owns the design, the supplier's own MRB is limited to returning the part to drawing or getting rid of it.

The "parameter the prime controls" limit is spelled out in both documents. Appendix QX 1.15.G limits a seller-designed item's MR authority to nonconformances that do not affect form, fit, function, interchangeability, critical safety characteristics, service life or reliability defined by the buyer's data, and says seller MR authority never extends to delivered product or to government-owned assets. SQAR 2.2.b lets ISO 9001 or AS9100 certified suppliers with design authority to a source or specification control drawing use repair or use as is, unless the nonconformance departs from that drawing or touches form, fit, function, weight, interchangeability, maintainability, reliability, key characteristics, safety or customer-furnished material. Some NGAS project IDs require independent MRB authority to be granted first under QOS 0043. Material the buyer furnished is outside the supplier's MRB entirely: Appendix QX 1.15.E forbids scrapping it without written authorization.

While waiting, Appendix QX allows further processing only if it does not hide, alter or limit the ability to inspect, disposition or repair the item. The SQAR is stricter: no processing on the nonconformance until a written final disposition arrives. Under the L3Harris Aerojet Rocketdyne distributor requirements AR2, submission of a nonconformance is not acceptance, and no repair is permitted without prior approval.

Escapes: disclosure deadlines

An escape is a nonconformance found after the product left the supplier. The clocks are short and they start at discovery.

Two related obligations come with escapes. Appendix QX 1.15.C requires the ability to report nonconformances on critical safety items under DFARS 252.246-7003. Both QX and the SQAR require GIDEP membership where the supplier is eligible, and the SQAR requires the supplier to screen GIDEP alerts and tell NGAS if affected product was delivered.

The SCAR and what a complete answer contains

A supplier corrective action request (SCAR) is the customer's formal demand for root cause and corrective action, usually with a due date and a required format.

The NGAS SQAR, section 2.9, lists the forms it uses: a SCAR, a corrective action request (CAR), or failure analysis reporting when the specification or contract data requirements call for it. The supplier must keep a documented system for root cause and corrective action, both internally and with its own suppliers, and is accountable for its effectiveness. If the supplier believes it is not responsible, section 2.2.d requires a letter of exception to the buyer and the SCAR initiator, citing the applicable documents. Appendix QX 1.14.F covers the opposite case: when a supplier cannot verify a reported nonconformance, it says so formally through a Supplier Responsibility Evaluation Document.

A complete response normally includes:

• A precise problem statement: part, characteristic, requirement, actual condition, quantity and where found.
• Containment at every location: work in process, stock, in transit, at the customer and at sub-tiers.
• Root cause for why it happened and why it escaped detection, treated as two separate questions.
• Corrective actions with owners and dates, aimed at the cause rather than the symptom.
• Evidence, and a plan to show effectiveness over later lots.

"Operator error, retrained" on its own rarely survives review. AS9100 asks corrective action to consider human factors, which means asking why the process let a person make that error.

AS13000A, 8D and ARP9136

Primes increasingly name the problem solving method. Appendix QX 1.14.D requires suppliers, when requested, to provide trend data and perform a problem solving analysis using AS13000 or ARP9136 as guidance, and to train the people who lead that work.

We could not verify any document numbered AS9136; the IAQG root cause document is the recommended practice ARP9136. The common 8D sequence runs from forming a team and describing the problem, through containment, root cause, choosing and implementing permanent corrective action, preventing recurrence across similar products and processes, to closing out with the team. Whichever method the customer names, the response is judged on the quality of the evidence, not the form.

Verification of effectiveness

A corrective action is not closed when the paperwork is accepted. It is closed when later production shows the problem is gone.

The NGAS SQAR, section 2.9.d, reserves the right to verify corrective action at the supplier and at its sub-tier, and says delegated suppliers are not exempt from on-site verification. Material under corrective action investigation, up to and including verification, may not ship without NG supplier quality authorization. Extensions for responses or verification must be requested in writing at least 48 hours before the due date, with investigation status and revised dates.

Appendix QX 1.14.A puts repeat deviations in scope: corrective action must address repetitive nonconformances even when an MRB dispositioned them use as is or repair. A part that keeps getting accepted on deviation is still a process that is not capable. Effectiveness evidence usually means inspection results on the next several lots, a capability study on the characteristic, or a process audit, chosen to match the root cause.

Records of nonconformance and corrective action

The records have to show the whole chain: what was found, what was decided, by whom, why it happened and whether the fix worked.

Appendix QX 1.6 requires records of all nonconforming material, dispositions, corrective and preventive actions, assignable causes and the effectiveness of corrective actions, kept at least three years after final payment unless the PO says longer. The SQAR lists material review reports among required quality records and requires suppliers to mark discrepant material with the nonconformance document number. When a disposition requires re-identification with a new dash number, the SQAR directs the supplier to get a revised PO line from the buyer so certificates and shipping documents carry the new number. Approved deviations travel with the parts: AR2 requires copies of approved nonconformances to accompany the shipment, and the C of C should reference them. Retention periods across primes are compared in records, change control and FOD.

What to put on the PO to your suppliers

• MRB authority limits: rework to drawing, scrap and return only, unless you delegate more in writing.
• No shipment of nonconforming product without your written disposition, and any approved deviation listed on the certificate of conformance.
• Escape notification deadlines no longer than the ones you owe your customer, counted from discovery.
• SCAR response format and due dates, naming AS13000A or ARP9136 if your customer does.
• Your right to verify corrective action at the supplier and its sub-tiers.
• Retention of nonconformance and corrective action records for the period your contract requires.
• A changed process after corrective action may need a partial AS9102 first article.

For the full set of prime clauses these come from, see supplier quality clauses, for how corrective action timeliness is scored see supplier scorecards, and for certification level see AS9100 vs ISO 9001 suppliers. The quality library lists the rest.

Get nonconformance limits flowed down from day one

When you request a quote, include your MRB limits, disclosure deadlines and corrective action format with your quality clauses. We flow them down to the supplier, check the paperwork against your PO before delivery, and every order ships with a certificate of conformance plus the other certs your request requires. A person replies within 1 business day.

Questions

Related

• What Prime Supplier Quality Clauses Require
• How Primes Score Supplier Delivery and Quality
• Record Retention, Change Control and FOD Prevention at Suppliers
• Receiving Inspection: What Buyers Check and Why Parts Get Held

Sources

• Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Appendix QX, Supplier Quality Requirements, Rev 10 (released January 1, 2023, last reviewed October 23, 2025)
• Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems Supplier Quality Assurance Requirements (SQAR) manual, revision date May 15, 2026
• Lockheed Martin QA022-01 External Provider Quality Requirements, Rev 2 (June 29, 2017)
• L3Harris Aerojet Rocketdyne AR2, Aerospace Requirements for Distributors (effective November 5, 2025)
• SAE AS13000A, Problem Solving Requirements for Suppliers (September 18, 2024, stabilized)
• SAE ARP9136, Root Cause Analysis and Problem Solving (9S Methodology) (November 8, 2016)
• SAE AS9131, Quality Systems Non-Conformance Documentation