Handling of Non-Conformance Procedure: To ensure that only products, services, materials, and installations of required quality are handed over to the Employer. To prevent recurrence of defective work and non-conformances being produced with the ultimate aim of reducing levels of rejected work and rework.
Handlıng of Non-Conformance
Non-conformance (NC) is a deviation, variation, or disparity from a set of agreed standards, specifications, procedures, or instruction mutually agreed upon by Contractor and Employer for the benefit of the implementation of a Quality Management System.
Non-Conformities or Potential Non-Conformities may be identified and raised by, not be limited to, following personnel/originator:
- Employer,
- PMT
- 3rd Party Auditors
- Project Managers
- Site Quality Control Team
- Contractor Corporate Quality Manager / Representative
- Internal Auditors
The criteria for personnel to be able to raise a Non-conformance are the ability to identify deviations of the actual work status based on a set of standard requirements by the Employer and PMT. (Handling of Non-Conformance Procedure)
Non-conformances may be found during the following activities:
- Internal Quality Audits
- In-process Inspections
- Completion Inspection
- Customer Complaints
- Sub-Contractor Control
- Incoming Material Control
- Site Surveillance Visits
- Testing of Materials
- The Employer/ PMT issued NCR/SSR
Upon identification of the non-conformances or potential non-conformances by the originator, the issues shall be discussed and forwarded to the Site QA/QC Manager for assessment of the issue.
The Site QA/QC Manager shall investigate and verify the validity of the non- conformance and categorize it as Invalid Non-Conformance, Minor Non- Conformance and Major Non-Conformance.
Invalid Non-conformance
The issue raised was not a Non-Conformance based on approved documents and/or records. (Handling of Non-Conformance Procedure)
Contractor QA/QC Manager shall request any clarifications required by the construction team and Contractor Project Manager, to address them with any requirements or supporting documents.
In such a case, the QA/QC Manager shall forward the necessary documents to the originator for proper justification.
Minor Non-conformance
A deviation is treated as minor when the non-conformance is simple by nature and also does not affect the function and appearance of the product or service.
The QA/QC Manager shall ask the Document Controller to log the non-conformance to the Minor Non-Conformance Log. The Site QC Engineer /Inspector shall review and give a disposition to the minor deviation. The issue shall be discussed to the Project Manager and Construction Manager for rectification. After resolving the issue, the Minor Non-Conformance Log shall be updated to reflect the status.
Major Non-Conformance
A deviation is treated as major when the non-conformance is a deviation from the specified limits of Corresponding Specification/Code/Standard/Contract.
Upon classification of a Major NCR, the Site QA/QC Manager shall forward the NCR report to the Contractor Project Manager for acknowledgment and to take the necessary action.
Contractor Project Manager, upon receipt and review of NCR, shall assign the appropriate personnel, also called the “action owner”, to answer and close the NCR. (Handling of Non-Conformance Procedure)
- Read also: Quality Inspection Procedure
Upon identification of the “action owner”, the Site QA/QC Manager shall forward and explain the NCR and root cause analysis to the assigned “action owner”. The Site QA/QC Manager may suggest or propose correction, corrective action, and preventive actions.
Upon receipt and discussion of the NCR from the Site QA/QC Manager, the ”action owner” shall generate his correction, corrective and preventive action, containing the target date of accomplishment, and all documents needed to execute the correction, corrective and preventive action before returning it back to the Site QA/QC Manager for review and approval.
The Site QA/QC Manager, upon receipt of the NCR form containing the correction, corrective, and preventive action, shall assess the validity of the proposed correction, corrective, and preventive action. If found valid and correct, the Site QA/QC Manager shall forward the proposed actions to PMT for approval. If approved, it will be returned back to the ”action owner” for execution and the Site QA/QC Manager shall inform the Project Manager regarding the execution of the correction, corrective and preventive action.
- Read also: Control of Quality Records Procedure
If in the case that the correction, corrective and preventive action is not valid, incomplete, or inappropriate for the said issue, the Site QA/QC Manager shall relay all his comments to the ”action owner” for changes, modifications, and re-submission of a new proposal.
The Site QA/QC Manager shall monitor the effectiveness of the proposal during and after its execution. (Handling of Non-Conformance Procedure)
If the Site QA/QC Manager/ Engineer notice discrepancies with the proposal and the actual execution, he would immediately inform both the manager and the “action owner” regarding the concern for proper rectification and redirection.
In case that the said proposal is not achieving the desired result, the Site QC Engineer shall re-assess the corrective action and raise a new Corrective/Preventive Action Request using the CPAR Form to address and close further issues. This shall be processed in accordance with the Corrective & Preventive Action Procedure.
- Read also: Project Communication Procedure and Plan
Upon completion of the correction, corrective and preventive action, the Site QA/QC Manager should notify the PMT prior to signing the NCR form indicating its final closure.
Site QC Engineer shall forward a copy of the closed NCR to the non-conformance originator, “Action-Owner” and Project Manager for their reference.
QA/QC Manager/ Site QC Engineer shall report all NCR, CPAR proposals and its status on the Management Review Meeting conducted at the site.
The Site QA/QC Manager shall prepare a weekly log sheet of all open and closed NCR’s and submit to the PMT office for Information if Required. (Handling of Non-Conformance Procedure)
In handling Non-Conformances, the following shall be observed:
- Internal and External NCR logs shall be prepared and maintained separately.
- Copies of internal issued NCR/CPAR shall be sent to PMT upon initiating.
- The Site QA/QC Manager shall submit all approved internal issued NCR’s Corrective Action and final closure to PMT for
- For PMT issued NCR/SSR, the Site QA/QC Manager in collaboration with the Project Manager shall respond in writing within 24 hours with proposed corrective
Non-Conformıng Materıal
For material that has been identified as non-conforming and is returned to the supplier without being unloaded in the stores, the Storekeeper shall not raise a Site Store Receiving Voucher but shall raise a sequential number Over, Short & Damage Report.
For material rejected subsequent to off-loading, the storekeeper shall store the material in the “QUARANTINE AREA” and raise an Over, Short & Damage Report. Adjust stock records if the material has previously been entered into the stock records.
The Over, Short & Damage Report shall be signed by:
- The Storekeeper indicating that stock records are correct
- The site personnel responsible for rejecting the delivered materials who shall also record the reason for the rejection
- The Project Manager who shall record the necessary action to be taken in the tick boxes on the form.
Copies of the completed Over, Short & Damage Report shall be distributed as follows:
- Copy to the Procurement Manager for updating the records of the supplier
- Copy to the Accounts Department for assessment of suppliers’ payment
- To the Project file and to the Store file
- Photo Copy to Site QA/QC Manager to raise an NCR if necessary
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