Overview
This section provides essential terminology for FAR Part 46, establishing the legal and technical baseline for quality assurance, inspection, and the formal process by which the Government assumes ownership of supplies or approves services.
Key Rules
- Acceptance and Risk Transfer: Acceptance is the formal act by an authorized Government representative that signifies the assumption of ownership for supplies or the approval of services rendered.
- Levels of Nonconformance: The FAR distinguishes between three levels of defects:
- Critical: Likely to result in hazardous/unsafe conditions or prevent vital mission performance.
- Major: Likely to result in failure or materially reduce usability for the intended purpose.
- Minor: Departures from standards that have little bearing on effective use or operation.
- Conditional Acceptance: The Government may accept non-conforming or incomplete items, provided the contractor is contractually obligated to correct the deficiencies by a specific date.
- Counterfeit and Suspect Items: Definitions extend beyond simple "fakes" to include unauthorized substitutions, used items represented as new, or items with false identification of serial numbers or performance characteristics.
- Contract Quality Requirements: These encompass both the technical specifications of the product and the specific clauses that mandate the contractor's internal quality control systems.
Practical Implications
- Milestone Payments and Liability: Because acceptance marks the point where the Government assumes ownership, it is the primary trigger for payment and generally limits the Government’s ability to claim defects later (unless they are latent).
- Supply Chain Integrity: The broad definitions of "Counterfeit" and "Suspect Counterfeit" items mean contractors can be held liable for fraud or breach of contract if they provide used parts labeled as new or items with misrepresented serial numbers.
- Defect Categorization: During inspections, the categorization of a nonconformance (Minor vs. Major/Critical) determines whether the Government can rightfully reject a shipment or if it must accept it with a price reduction.