A nonconformance record is a controlled quality record that documents a detected departure from a specified requirement. In manufacturing and industrial operations, it commonly captures what was found, where it was found, what item or process is affected, and how the issue is contained, evaluated, dispositioned, and closed.
A nonconformance record may apply to material, parts, assemblies, processes, documentation, test results, tooling, or service findings. It often includes identifiers such as part number, serial number, lot number, work order, operation, inspection result, defect description, suspected cause, containment action, disposition, approvals, and linked evidence. In regulated or quality-sensitive environments, it supports traceability and provides a record of decisions made about use, repair, rework, scrap, return to supplier, or other disposition paths.
The term is closely related to NCR, which may mean nonconformance record or nonconformance report depending on the organization. It should not be confused with a corrective action record. A nonconformance record documents the specific detected issue and its disposition; a corrective action record addresses the broader cause and prevention of recurrence when further investigation is required.
Nonconformance records are commonly managed in QMS, MES, ERP, MRO, or supplier quality workflows. In aerospace MRO, for example, an in-service finding may generate a record that links inspection evidence, engineering disposition, material needs, customer approvals, and return-to-service documentation without replacing the need for approved data or authorized decisions.