Defects & Non-Conformances

When an activity on a workpack fails inspection, you raise a defect (also called a non-conformance, or NCR) against that row. The defect captures what went wrong, how it will be resolved, the evidence of rectification, and a signed close-out — all attached to the exact checkpoint that failed. This page is for the people running inspections on site: QA managers, site supervisors, and anyone with sign-off rights on a workpack.

A defect is never a free-floating record. It always belongs to a specific activity row, and its state directly controls that row's progress through the workpack. Closing the defect is what moves the row forward (or holds it back), so the workpack's overall completion always reflects the true quality status of the work.

When to raise a defect

Raise a defect when an activity row that is in progress fails its acceptance criteria — the work doesn't meet the specification, a Hold or Witness point can't be passed, or an inspection turns up a non-conformance that needs to be tracked to resolution.

You can raise a defect on any row that is still in flight (pending, in progress, or with a witness called). You can't raise one against a row that is already complete or otherwise closed out.

Raising a defect

From the workpack's execution view, find the activity row that failed:

1. On the activity card, select Mark failed.
2. The row's status changes to Failed, and a new open defect is created against it.
3. If the activity has a defect form linked to it (see below), complete that form to record the details and evidence of the non-conformance.

Each time a row fails, it gets its own defect record. If a row is reworked and then fails inspection again later, a fresh defect is raised for that new failure — the history of each failure event is kept separate and intact.

The linked defect form

Activities can have a Field form attached that fires automatically when the row is marked failed. This is your structured place to describe the non-conformance — what was found, where, photos of the issue, measurements, and any other evidence your quality process requires.

• The form appears inline on the activity card, in the linked-forms panel, ready to complete.
• Whoever completes it is recorded as the author of the submission (not an automated entry).
• The completed submission becomes the defect's supporting evidence and stays linked to it.

If no defect form is linked to the activity, you can still raise and close the defect — the form is the evidence layer, not a requirement for the cycle itself.

Choosing a disposition

Every defect is closed with an ISO 9001 disposition that records the formal decision on how the non-conformance is resolved. Open the defect's Close out panel on the activity card and choose one of:

• Rework — the work will be corrected and re-inspected. This is the standard path for a genuine defect that must be fixed.
• Accept as is — the non-conformance is accepted by concession without rework, because it has been judged acceptable as built. This is a deliberate quality concession and carries the strongest evidence requirement (see below).
• Reject — the work is rejected outright. The row stays in its failed state so a manager can replace it, mark it not applicable, or otherwise deal with it outside the normal pass flow.

What each disposition does to the row

The disposition you choose routes the activity row automatically:

• Rework sends the row back to In progress so it can be corrected and re-inspected. The next inspection either passes the row or raises a new defect.
• Accept as is moves the row to Accepted as is, a terminal state — the row is settled and won't be inspected again.
• Reject leaves the row in Failed for a manager to action.

Closing out a defect

The originator closes the defect from the Close out panel:

1. Choose the Disposition (Rework, Accept as is, or Reject).
2. Enter Comments explaining the decision and the rectification. A meaningful explanation is required — short or empty comments are rejected.
3. If the disposition is Accept as is, sign in the signature pad. A signed concession is mandatory before a non-conformance can be accepted as built; the other dispositions don't require a signature.
4. Select Submit to close the defect.

Once closed, a defect is locked — its disposition, comments, and signature can't be edited afterward. This keeps the quality record auditable. If the same row fails again after rework, that's tracked as a brand-new defect rather than a change to the closed one.

Uploading rectification evidence

Evidence of the fix is captured through the activity's linked Field form — use it to attach photos of the corrected work, revised measurements, or re-test results. The comments on the close-out panel record the disposition decision itself, while the linked form holds the supporting documentation.

How defects affect workpack progress

Because a defect controls its activity row's status, it has a direct effect on the workpack as a whole:

• An open defect holds the row in Failed, so the workpack can't be completed while the defect is outstanding.
• Closing with Rework reopens the row for re-inspection, keeping it in play until it genuinely passes.
• Closing with Accept as is settles the row, allowing the workpack to progress with a documented concession on record.
• A Reject keeps the row failed and visible until a manager resolves it.

This means the workpack's completion status is always honest: a workpack can only reach its closeout PDF once every failed row has been properly dispositioned and resolved, with the full defect history — evidence, decisions, and signatures — preserved for the quality record.

Permissions

Raising and closing defects is restricted to people with workpack sign-off or workpack management rights. Other team members on the account can see the defect state on the execution view but can't run the fail or close-out steps.

Related pages

• On-Site Execution — working through activity rows, Hold/Witness/Monitor points, and per-row sign-offs.
• Closeout — finalising a fully resolved workpack and generating the closeout PDF.
• Forms — building the Field forms used to capture defect details and rectification evidence.