American Certification Corporation

Quality Certification & Registration Services

PROCEDURE:ACCP-027AS 9000/9100 (A or B) CERTIFICATION & REGISTRATION PROCESS

APPROVALS: Revision C
Date:January 25, 2006
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1.0Purpose

To provide certification and registration services to the aerospace Quality System requirements AS 9000/9100.

2.0Scope

This procedure modifies ACC’s ISO 9000 program requirements to include and satisfy the AS 9000/AS9100 (A or B) certification requirements. The basic program conforms to the requirements of ACCP-024, Overall Procedure for Certification and Registration Process, and of ACCP-022, Overall Registration Review Process, except as specifically described within this procedure. The modifications contained herein apply only to activities associated with AS 9000/9100 (A or B) and do not apply to other Quality System programs.

3.0Qualifications & Responsibilities

3.1Auditors

3.1.1All auditors performing assessments within this program must be qualified as Aerospace Industry experienced Auditors, and be registered for that industry by RABQSA or IRCA with the following exception:

-experts included in an assessment team for their expertise.

-Trainees.

3.1.2At least one member of the assessment team shall have relevant experience in the aerospace industry. Experience is defined as gained with aerospace manufacturers or associated industries with similar technologies. Assessments in an appropriate industry classification (SIC code) may be considered as relevant experience.

3.2ACC AS 9000/9100 (A or B) Requirements

3.2.1To review assessment documentation and issue AS 9000/9100 (A or B) certificates, at least one of the Registration Review Board must have experience in the aerospace or associated industries (suppliers to that industry). The member(s) of the Registration Review Board with AS 9000/9100 (A or B) experience has veto power over registration decisions.

3.2.2AS 9000/9100 (A or B) certification and registration assessments may be performed as revision assessments for clients holding ISO 9000 certification, or issued through a full certification process for new clients.

4.0Assessment Performance and Registration Requirements

4.1The AS 9000/9100 (A or B) assessments are performed only by qualified auditors or teams. The assessment activity shall follow the requirements of ACCP-024, with the following exceptions:

  1. For AS9100B, the length of the assessment-day must be 8 working hours, exclusive of breaks or lunch periods, but does include auditee and auditor meeting times.
  2. Using Form ACC-101, Assessment Checklist, and Form ACC-101-1, its AS 9000 Addendum, or Form 101-2, its AS 9100A Addendum, and AS9101 for AS9100B will be used during assessments.
  3. The AS 9000/9100A certified client must receive a surveillance assessment at least annually and semi-annually for AS9100B. Each site of a multiple site facility must be assessed.
  4. A complete re-assessment is not required every three years if all applicable AS 9000/9100A elements are assessed during the three-year period. However, a complete re-certification is required for AS9100 (A or B).
  5. A single Certificate may be issued for multiple sites, or, if the client prefers, a Certificate may be issued to each site. If a certificate is issued to each site, then that certificate will define specific scope applicable to that site.
  6. If a single certificate is issued for multiple sites, then the assessment must comply with ACCP-021, Certification and Registration of a Quality System with a Network of Sites, except that each site must be monitored/evaluated.
  7. The scope of the assessment must include all processes and product lines on all shifts within the facility(ies) assessed, whether they are intended for aerospace customers or not. Certification assessments are to assess the quality system on all shifts. This will include assessing of dedicated and non-rotating weekend shifts. During the life of the certification, all shifts will continue to be assessed. No more than two shifts are expected to be assessed during a one-day on-site surveillance assessment. Assessing of a shift will require being present during the shift, but not necessarily throughout the entire shift.

  1. Recommendations for improvement, without providing specific solutions, shall be included in the assessment and in the assessment report.
  2. Continuous improvement activities shall be assessed.
  3. All systems and processes implemented by the client, intended to satisfy aerospace customer requirements, shall be included in the assessment, even when these exceed the AS 9000/AS9100A or AS9100B requirements.
  4. Each on-site assessment will include a review of the following:
  • Customer complaints and supplier response,
  • Internal Audit program and management review and results,
  • Progress made towards continuous improvement targets.
  1. Each assessment report shall be completed, in accordance with the criteria defined above in subsection h., j. and k., utilizing Form ACC 105.

4.2Revision assessments for client currently hold ISO 9000 certification shall include all requirements contained within AS 9000/9100 (A or B) which are not in ISO 9001:2000. For conversion from ISO 9000 certification to AS9100B certification, AS9101 and Form ACC 105 shall be used to record the results of the conversion assessment. All applicable nonconformities shall be recorded on Form ACC103. The assessor or team may expand this minimum requirement after review of the relevant documentation and information.

5.0Assessment Status

A RECOMMENDED assessment status is given when no major nonconformity reports, ACC Form 103, are issued, or after verified acceptance of satisfactory evidence of corrective action closure.

If nonconformity reports, ACC Form 103, are issued, the lead assessor and the client’s management representative will agree to a specified time period for responding with the client’s plan(s) for implementing corrective action(s). This period should be completed within ninety (30) days, and implementation shall not exceed one hundred twenty (120) days without concurrence of ACC’s VP of Registration.

Note:For AS9100B certifications:

  • all nonconformities must be responded to with appropriate corrective action(s), reviewed and cleared by the lead auditor and ACC’s VP – Certification, and
  • all major nonconformities must be responded to with appropriate corrective action(s), reviewed by the lead auditorand cleared by on-site verification of the implementation of the corrective actions.

6.0Issuance of Certificate

The assessors or assessment team may recommend a client for AS 9000/9100 (A or B) certification only when the assessment outcome meets the requirements defined in section 5.0 above and achieves the appropriate successful score for AS9100B. The assessment documentation, including a copy of each nonconformity report, is forwarded to the Registration Review Board for review in accordance with ACCP-022, Overall Registration Review Process. Based on the Registration Review Board results and, with concurrence with the recommendation, ACC will issue a AS 9000/9100 Certificate.

7.0Suspension & Revocation of Registration Certificate of AS 9000/AS9100 (A or B) Registrants

7.1Suspension of Certificate

7.1.1AS 9000/9100A registrants may be suspended for nonconformances (major) which persist through the corrective action follow-up assessments intended to verify the appropriate implementation of the corrective action(s). AS9100B registrants may be suspended for major nonconformances and/or failure to achieve an adequate score.

7.1.2AS 9000/9100 (A or B) registrants may be suspended for violation of the rules of registration.

7.1.3Suspension will occur if payment for services rendered has resisted collection by ACC accounting.

7.1.4Written approval of suspensions by ACC’s VP of Registrations is required on a memo to file in the registrant’s (client’s) certification history file.

7.2Revocation of Certificate

7.2.1AS 9000/9100A registrants may be revoked by ACCfor the following reasons:

  1. Failure to resolve a suspension of registration within six (6) months.
  2. Failure to pay ACC for assessment services rendered. This will occur when ACC accounting classifies the amount as a bad debt.
  3. The client surrenders its certification voluntarily when revocation occurs. The revoked registrant will be notified by certified mail of the action, and the ASQ database will be updated within 10 working days.
  4. By recommendation of ACC’s AS9100B MOU/MRA partner for cause.

8.0References

8.1Forms

ACC-101, ACC-101-1 (AS 9000 Addendum to Form ACC-101), ACC-101-2 (AS 9100 Addendum to Form ACC 101), AS9101, ACC-103, and ACC-105

8.2Procedures

ACCP-001, ACCP-003, ACCP-004, ACCP-022 and ACCP-024

8.3Other Documents

AS 9000: 1997, Aerospace Basic Quality System Standard

AS 9100: 2000, Aerospace Quality System Standard

9.0Amendments (Note: This procedure begins as Revision A.)

9.1From Rev A to Rev B:

  1. Revised to include AS 9100.
  2. From Rev B to Rev C:
  3. Added “(A or B)” after AS9100 throughout document, where appropriate.
  4. In 3.1.1, revised RAB to RABQSA.
  5. Revised 4.1 and 4.2 to define the differences between AS9000/AS9100A versus AS9100B.
  6. In 4.1 h., deleted the last sentence regarding the need to state that no opportunities for improvement were seen/noted on the audit report.
  7. In 5.0, added Note regarding nonconformity clearance requirements for AS9100B.
  8. In 7.2.1, added statement 4. regarding recommendation by ACC’s MOU/MRA partner.
  9. In 8.1, added AS9101.
  10. In 8.2, added ACCP-001, ACCP-003, ACCP-004 to existing referenced documents.