Supplier verification at subcontractors premises

The standard requires the supplier to specify verification arrangements and the method of product release in the purchasing documents where it is proposed that purchased product is verified at the subcontractor s premises. 

It is important that you inform the subcontractor through the contract of how the product or service will be accepted. Will it be as a result of receipt inspection at the specified destination or as a result of acceptance tests witnessed on site by your authorized representative These details need to be specified at the tendering stage so that the subcontractor can make provision in the quotation to support any of your activities on site. If you have invoked ISO 9001 in the subcontract, you are protected by clause 4.6.4.2. If you have not, you need to specify a similar provision in your subcontract, otherwise you may lose the right to reject the product later. There is no requirement for you to document your proposal to verify product at the subcontractor s premises but such a plan would indeed be a useful section in any quality plan that you produced. (See also Control of subcontractors in this chapter.) 

The standard requires that where specified in the contract the supplier s customer or his/her representative shall be afforded the right to verify at the subcontractor premises and the supplier s premises that subcontracted product conforms to specified requirements. 

The requirements pertain to your customer verifying product purchased by you either at your supplier or on your premises. Verification of purchased product is normally carried out by the supplier before or after receipt as part of the purchasing process but may also be carried out by the customer. However, due to the standard locating most of the inspection and test requirements in clause 4.10, the receipt inspection requirements are displaced. 

When customers visit your subcontractors or inspect product on receipt, they have the right to reserve judgement on the final acceptance of the product. The product is not under their direct control and they may not be able to carry out all the tests and inspec- 

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