QA (quality assurance)

QA stands for quality assurance. NATO's glossary of acronyms and abbreviations lists "quality assurance" as the expansion of QA. In procurement, the term covers the work of confirming that what a supplier delivers meets the standards set in the contract.

QA is a quality-management and contract-compliance concept. In Canada it appears most explicitly in Department of National Defence (DND) and other defence-materiel solicitations published on CanadaBuys, where it sets out how a supplier must control quality and how the government will verify it.

How NATO procurement guidance describes QA

NATO procurement guidance describes QA as evaluating procured products and services against prespecified standards or performance indicators. It also covers taking or recommending remedial contract action when a product or service does not conform. The NATO procurement regulations frame QA as both an inspection activity and a way to correct problems. NATO's glossary, AAP-15, also covers AQAP, the Allied Quality Assurance Publications. These include publications on general QA, design, development and production, and inspection.

Terms that travel with QA in Canadian solicitations

• Quality management system (QMS): the supplier's own system for controlling and demonstrating the quality of its work.
• Government quality assurance (GQA): QA performed by the government at a contractor's or subcontractor's facility, or at the installation site.
• Quality Assurance Representative (QAR): the government representative who performs or supports GQA.
• Director of Quality Assurance (DQA): in DND contracts, the quality-assurance authority responsible for monitoring the supplier's QMS, as in this CanadaBuys solicitation.
• ISO 9001:2015: the principal quality-management standard named in the Canadian clauses and solicitations reviewed.

What the SACC Manual and DND solicitations require

Section D of the Standard Acquisition Clauses and Conditions (SACC) Manual, Delivery, Inspection and Acceptance, includes clauses on ISO 9001:2015 compliance. It also states that work may be subject to GQA at contractor and subcontractor facilities and at the installation site. Contractors must give the QAR the accommodation, facilities and assistance needed for evaluation, verification, validation, documentation and product release.

Defence solicitations commonly ask the contractor to implement a QMS appropriate to the work and to address the ISO 9001:2015 requirements that apply. Compliance is not the same as certification. One DND request for proposal requires compliance with ISO 9001:2015 but states that registration to ISO 9001 is not intended to be required. The supplier's QMS must still address the requirements appropriate to the scope of work.

Solicitations can also require the supplier to perform or arrange the inspections and tests needed to show that supplied materiel or services conform to the drawings, specifications and contract requirements, as in this weapon security cabinet solicitation.

Quality Assurance Codes in defence bids

CanadaBuys defence solicitations set different QA requirements through SACC clauses and Quality Assurance Codes. Code C and Code Q are examples, applied through clauses such as D5545C and D5540C. The spares solicitation W8486-249372 shows how a code is assigned, and the trailer parts solicitation shows another. DND solicitations can also include specific arrangements for foreign-based or United States contractors through SACC quality-assurance clauses.

What QA means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

Read the quality clauses and the assigned Quality Assurance Code before you price. Your obligation is to establish and operate a QMS suited to the contract, carry out the required inspections and tests, keep the evidence, and cooperate with government QA activities. That includes giving the QAR access to your facility and your subcontractors' facilities. Check whether the solicitation asks for ISO 9001:2015 compliance only or for something more, since the clauses reviewed do not necessarily require registration.