(2)(i) In preparing instructions for Government inspections, the technical activity shall consider, as applicable—

(A) The past quality history of the contractor;

(B) The criticality of the material procured in relation to its intended use, considering factors such as—

(1) Reliability;

(2) Safety;

(3) Interchangeability; and

(4) Maintainability;

(C) Problems encountered in the development of the material;

(D) Problems encountered in other procurements of the same or similar material;

(E) Available feedback data from contract administration, receiving, testing, or using activities; and

(F) The experience of other contractors in overcoming manufacturing problems.

(ii) The instructions shall—

(A) Be kept to a minimum;

(B) Ensure that the activities requested are in direct relation to contract quality requirements to serve as objective evidence of quality conformance; and

(C) Be prepared on a contract-by-contract basis.

(iii) The instructions shall not—

(A) Serve as a substitute for incomplete contract quality requirements;

(B) Impose greater inspection requirements than are in the contract;

(C) Use broad or general designations such as—

(1) All requirements;

(2) All characteristics; or

(3) All characteristics in the classification of defects;

(D) Be used for routine administrative procedures; or

(E) Specify continued inspection requirements when statistically sound sampling will provide an adequate degree of protection.

(iv) After issuing the instructions, the technical activity must—

(A) Provide the contract administration office with available information regarding those factors that resulted in the requirement for Government inspection;

(B) Periodically analyze the need to continue, change, or discontinue the instructions; and

(C) Advise the contract administration office of the results of the periodic analyses.

(1) The objective of this requirement is to ensure that the Government receives timely notification of potential safety defects so that—

(i) Systems and equipment likely affected by the situation can be identified; and

(ii) An appropriate engineering investigation and follow-on actions can be taken to establish and mitigate risk.

(2) The notification is intended to be neither an admission of nor a release from liability.

(3) Upon notification of a potential safety nonconformance or deficiency—

(i) The procuring contracting officer must—

(A) Advise the affected program office(s) or integrated materiel manager(s); and

(B) Request a point of contact from the affected program office(s) or materiel management organization to assess the impact of the situation, address technical concerns, and provide recommendations;

(ii) The administrative contracting officer must—

(A) Confirm that potentially affected program offices, integrated materiel managers, and other contract management offices that may be recipients of the suspect items are aware of the situation; and

(B) Identify a point of contact to provide support and technical assistance to the investigative team; and

(iii) For replenishment parts, the integrated materiel manager must—

(A) Identify any potentially affected programs or equipment; and

(B) Request engineering assistance from affected engineering support activities, as prescribed by—

(1) DLAI 3200.1/PAM 715.13/NAVSUPINST 4120.30A/AFI 21-408/MCO 4000.18, Engineering Support Instruction for Items Supplied by Defense Logistics Agency;

(2) SECNAVINST 4140.2/AFI 20-106/DA PAM 95-9/DLAI 3200.4/DCMA INST CSI (AV), Management of Aviation Critical Safety Items;

(3) DA PAM 738-751, Functional Users Manual for the Army Maintenance Management System—Aviation (TAMMS-A);

(4) AMCOM REG 702-7, Flight Safety Parts/New Source Testing Program Management; or

(5) Internal agency procedures.

Additional information on delegation of authority for acceptance of minor nonconformances in aviation and ship critical safety items is available at http://www.aviation.dla.mil/UserWeb/AviationEngineering/EngineeringSupport/Documents/AviationCSIHandbook.pdf.

(a)(i) There are two DoD quality inspection approval marking designs (stamps).

(A) Both stamps are used—

(1) Only by, or under the direct supervision of, the Government representative; and

(2) For both prime and subcontracts.

(B) The designs of the two stamps and the differences in their uses are—

(1) Partial (Circle) Inspection Approval Stamp.

(i) This circular stamp is used to identify material inspected for conformance to only a portion of the contract quality requirements.

(ii) Further inspection is to be performed at another time and/or place.

(iii) Material not inspected is so listed on the associated DD Form 250 (Material Inspection and Receiving Report), packing list, or comparable document.

(2) Complete (Square) Inspection Approval Stamp.

(i) This square stamp is used to identify material completely inspected for all contract quality requirements at source.

(ii) The material satisfies all contract quality requirements and is in complete conformance with all contract quality requirements applicable at the time and place of inspection.

(iii) Complete inspection approval establishes that material that once was partially approved has subsequently been completely approved.

(iv) One imprint of the square stamp voids multiple imprints of the circle stamp.

(ii) The marking of each item is neither required nor prohibited. Ordinarily, the stamping of shipping containers, packing lists, or routing tickets serves to adequately indicate the status of the material and to control or facilitate its movement.

(iii) Stamping material does not mean that it has been accepted by the Government. Evidence of acceptance is ordinarily a signed acceptance certificate on the DD Form 250, Material Inspection and Receiving Report.

“Duration,” “fixed expiration,” “starting event,” “usage,” and “warranty repair source” are defined in the clause at 252.246-7006, Warranty Tracking of Serialized Items.