DQS Assessment and Certification Regulations

Annex Aerospace

 

1.    Scope and Applicability

This “Aerospace Annex to DQS Assessment and Certification Regulations” apply to all assessment and certification services offered and rendered to clients of the international DQS Group according to the standards of Aerospace Quality Management System (AQMS). These regulations are only valid in combination with the general DQS Assessment and Certification Regulation available in English language at https://dqsglobal.com/intl/about/accreditation-and-notification/dqs-group-auditing-and-certification-rules or upon request from every DQS office.

 

2. Program Requirements

For Clients applying for the Aerospace Quality Management System (AQMS) certification/Certification scheme, the following terms and conditions apply:

a)    Aerospace Quality Management System (“AQMS”) standards are identified and include any standard recognized by the International Aerospace Quality Group (“IAQG”) and/or Americas Aerospace Quality Group (“AAQG”) and/or by the Asia-Pacific Aerospace Quality Group (“APAQG”), and/or European Aerospace Quality Group (“EAQG”) that is offered for accreditation under the “Industry Controlled Other Party-” (ICOP-) registration/certification scheme, e.g. AS/EN 9100, AS/EN 9110, AS/EN 9120, in conjunction with AS/EN 9101.

b)    DQS will only issue accredited certificates for AQMS standards in accordance with IAQG Aerospace Standard (AS) AS 9104/1 or EN 9104-001, Requirements for Aerospace Quality Management System Certifications/Registrations Programs.

c)    Client agrees that DQS in performing its functions in accordance with AS/EN 9104-1  and other requirement documents, in compliance with the AQMS accreditation scheme, can provide full access to the Accreditation Bodies (“AB’s”), AAQG, APAQG, EAQG and IAQG member representatives, and regulatory and government authorities, as necessary, for the right for review of all records and information pertaining to activities associated with demonstrating compliance to accreditation requirements. This includes information from all audit types.

d)    Client agrees that AB’s, AAQG, APAQG, EAQG and IAQG member representatives, other parties assessors, representatives of client’s customer, and regulatory and government authorities have the right to attend a DQS audit for the purpose of witnessing or oversight at any and all client locations covered under the AQMS certification.

e)    Client agrees to allow AQMS assessment data to be entered into the IAQG On-Line Aerospace Supplier Information System (OASIS) by DQS for each assessment or surveillance visit upon Certification and subsequent audits, in accordance with the requirements identified in AS/EN9104-1 and related AAQG, APAQG, EAQG and IAQG documentation.

f)    Client is not authorized to use or create logos representative of the AB’s, AAQG, APAQG, EAQG and IAQG AQMS Oversight Teams, and/or the relevant Certification Body Management Committees without direct authorization by said organization(s).

g)    Although participation in the AAQG, APAQG, EAQG, IAQG and AQMS programs are voluntary, the participating Client agrees to adhere to all aspects and requirements of the AQMS program and sector management schemes in their entirety. This includes, but is not limited to, the payment of fees and costs associated with participation, such as OASIS database Certification and purchase of applicable standards.

h)    Client must be identified under one of the five certification structures as identified in AS9104/1 or EN 9104-001 as agreed or previously agreed to with DQS.

i)    Client shall provide access to the Tier 2 data in the OASIS database to their aviation, space, and defense customers and authorities, upon request, unless justification can be provided for not providing such access (e.g., competition, confidentiality, conflict of interest).

j)    Client shall immediate notify their aviation, space, and defense customers if they lose AQMS standard certification. If a major nonconformance is issued to Client as an AQMS certified organization by one of their customers, the organization shall notify DQS.

k)    Client shall identify an OASIS administrator and be responsible to maintain organization name, address, and locations included on the certification ( the name(s) and e-mail address(es) of the organization’s OASIS database administrator(s); and the organization’s contact person, phone, fax, e-mail address, and website), as applicable. DQS is required to be notified of significant changes within the organization (e.g., changes related to address, ownership, key management, number of employees, scope of operations, customer contract requirements).

l)    Client’s OASIS database administrator is responsible for managing the organization’s contact information within the database, users associated with the organization, external access to organization audit results in the database, and OASIS database feedback. The administrator shall be identified and entered into the OASIS database, prior to certification. Client’s OASIS database administrator is required to be maintained throughout the certification. DQS may be required to suspend the Client’s certificate during the certification cycle, or delay issuance of recertification should the Client fail to maintain the OASIS database administrator.

m)    Client is responsible to have an effective complaint/issue resolution process in place. Effective corrective action process is expected to provide for containment activities, conformance to the Applicable standard, completion of root cause analysis, corrective actions addressing all root causes, and a completion date for the implementation of all corrective actions. The process shall ensure that complaints are acceptably resolved within the AQMS requirement timeframes to assure effectiveness of the certified management system. If the complaint cannot be acceptably resolved DQS has the right to perform a short notice audit; this audit shall be completed within 90 calendar days from receipt of the complaint.

n)    Prior to contracting for and conducting AQMS standard audits, Client must disclose any classified material and/or export control requirements related to DQS auditor having access to these processes and materials. Formal agreement must be reached prior to the assessment for inclusion into the audit planning activities. Records of the disclosure and agreements, regarding auditor access, shall be maintained by the Client.

o)    The scope of certification shall not include processes that are not audited to sufficient depth and must be within the permissible exclusions of the standard.

p)    Client requests for AQMS auditor changes/substitutions without substantiated evidence of improper activity or contract violations will not be honored. Conformance to rules concerning export controls, auditor nationalities, and confidentiality/conflict of interest challenges shall be an exception to this requirement.

q)    Prior to each registration and each subsequent audit , Client must disclose information pertaining to their top 5 aviation, space, and defense customers including identifying who they are, the percent of business with each one, and contact information.

r)    Client agrees that DQS may provide information in its possession, as a result of the provision of services to the organization, to government, regulatory or law enforcement agency or department upon request of such agency or department. DQS shall notify Customer that it has received such a request. Client acknowledges that DQS will follow the rules for such disclosures as set out in the scheme.