(Or Non-conformity – let’s not get into that debate now!)

A non-conformance describes a failure to meet a requirement, it might be a business requirement, a customer requirement or a regulatory requirement.

Whilst NCs are never a good thing, trend analysis of NCs can be a vital indicator to a Management Team of the extent to which the organisation is meeting (or not meeting) its various obligations for product quality, customer and regulator requirements, and therefore an action list of activities needed to ensure those obligations are satisfied.

External ISO certification auditors will grade NCs as Minor or Major, a minor being a partial failure to meet requirements, where a major is a systemic breakdown in a management system.

So are you team, “Non-conformance, Non-conformity, or even Non-compliance?” – I’m sticking with NC!