Unsatisfactory Condition Report/Complaints

Unsatisfactory Condition Report/Complaints is a post-delivery quality-assurance activity in Canadian federal defence supply. It involves reviewing failure reports where a complaint is associated with quality defects, analysing the causes of those defects, and seeking corrective action from the contractor or through Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC).

The wording appears in the PWGSC Supply Manual and in the CanadaBuys description of responsibilities for agreements with the Department of National Defence (DND). It applies to materiel and services acquired to military specifications. It is not a bid-protest process. It concerns defects that surface after goods or services have been delivered.

Where the activity sits in the Supply Manual

The PWGSC Supply Manual lists Unsatisfactory Condition Report/Complaints under Product Quality Assurance and, within that, Post-delivery Appraisal. The placement tells a supplier when the activity happens: after delivery, once the Crown has the product or service in use and a problem has been reported. The earlier Supply Manual text is available in the PWGSC Supply Manual.

The same manual assigns the pursuit of corrective action to the contractor or to PWGSC acting on the Crown's behalf. The activity is therefore built around fixing the defect at its source rather than simply recording the complaint.

The four activities it covers

The sources describe a short chain of work:

• Reviewing failure reports when a complaint is linked to quality defects.
• Analysing and identifying the causes of those defects.
• Seeking corrective action from the contractor or through PWGSC.
• Notifying PWGSC immediately when corrective action is required.

The first three steps run from complaint to cause to remedy. The fourth is a communication duty that keeps the contracting authority informed so it can act on the contract.

How DND and PSPC share responsibility

The CanadaBuys page on agreements with the Department of National Defence sets out how quality-assurance responsibilities are divided between PSPC (formerly PWGSC) and DND for materiel and services bought to military specifications. Unsatisfactory Condition Report/Complaints is one of the listed sub-activities.

DND is responsible for the sub-activity, and PWGSC normally participates. DND must immediately notify PWGSC in any instance requiring corrective action. In practice, the department that uses the product is the one that identifies and reports the problem, and the procurement authority is brought in to act on the contract.

What it means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

A supplier holding a defence contract built on military specifications should expect that quality complaints do not end at delivery. If a failure report is tied to a quality defect, the cause will be analysed and the contractor can be asked for corrective action, either directly or through PWGSC.

Bid teams can prepare in three ways:

• Price and plan for post-delivery quality support, including the staff time needed to investigate a reported defect and respond.
• Keep production, inspection and test records that allow a defect to be traced to its cause.
• Treat any corrective-action request as a contract obligation and respond through the contracting authority named in the agreement.

Suppliers new to federal work can find general guidance on selling to government at Canada.ca: Doing business with the Government of Canada. Read the quality-assurance clauses of each defence solicitation closely, since they set the specific requirements that apply to your contract.