Ensuring that nonconforming product is not used

The standard requires the supplier to establish and maintain documented procedures to ensure that product that does not conform to specified requirements is prevented from inadvertent use or installation. 

A nonconformity exists only when product has been inspected against an acceptance standard and found not to comply. Prior to this the product is either serviceable or unserviceable. Unserviceable products are not necessarily nonconforming - they may simply lack lubrication or calibration. A piece of test equipment, the calibration date of which has expired, is not nonconforming - it is merely unserviceable. When checked against a standard it may be found to be out of calibration and it is then nonconforming, but it could be found to be within the specified calibration limits. 

The only sure way of preventing inadvertent use of nonconforming product is to destroy it, but that may be a little drastic in some cases. It may be possible to eliminate the nonconformity by repair, completion of processing, or rework. A more practical way of preventing the inadvertent use or installation of nonconforming or unserviceable products is to identify the product as nonconforming or unserviceable and place in an area where access to it is controlled. These two aspects are covered further below. 

The standard requires the supplier to provide for the identification of nonconforming product and that this identification be visual. 

On the labels themselves you should identify the product by name and reference number, specification and issue status if necessary and either a statement of the nonconformity or a reference to the service or nonconformity report containing full 

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