What this is
What is a first article inspection?
What is a first article inspection?
A complete, independent and documented verification that a production process is capable of producing conforming product, performed by inspecting a part produced by that process against every design characteristic and recording the result for each.
When is a first article inspection required?
Under AS9102, for a new part or assembly, a change to design, materials, process, manufacturing source or location, a change in numerical control programme or method, a natural or man-made event affecting the process, and where two years have passed since the last delivery from that process.
Scope
When is a first article inspection required?
This verifies a production process through a produced part. It is not routine inspection.
Use this template when
- New parts and assemblies before production release
- Design, material, process, tooling, source or location changes
- Change to a numerical control programme or manufacturing method
- After a lapse in production, with two years as the AS9102 trigger
- Following an event affecting the manufacturing process, including relocation or equipment replacement
Do not use it for
- Routine in-process and final inspection, which samples against the control plan
- Process capability studies, which assess variation over many parts
- Production part approval processes used in automotive, which have their own structure and submission levels
- Material certification and test reports, which are referenced rather than replaced
- Gage R&R and measurement system analysis, which qualify the measurement used
Compliance mapping
Which AS9102 requirements does this satisfy?
First article inspection is defined in an aerospace standard and applied more widely as good practice.
| Clause | Requirement | Where it lands |
|---|---|---|
| AS9102 | First article inspection requirement, forms and triggers, including the two-year lapse | Header |
| AS9102 Form 1 | Part number accountability, including assembly structure and sub-assembly first article status | Product identity |
| AS9102 Form 2 | Product accountability: materials, special processes, and functional testing | Setup context |
| AS9102 Form 3 | Characteristic accountability, verification and compatibility evaluation, with unique numbering | Characteristics checked |
| AS9100 cl.8.5.1.3 | Production process verification, of which first article inspection is the mechanism | Result |
| ISO 9001 cl.8.5.1 | Controlled production including validation of processes where output cannot be verified | Header |
| ISO 9001 cl.8.6 | Release of products and services only when planned arrangements are satisfactorily completed | Result |
| AS9100 cl.8.5.1.1 | Control of equipment, tools and software programs used in production | Setup context |
What it does not cover
- Routine in-process and final inspection, sampling against the control plan.
- Process capability studies, assessing variation across many parts over time.
- Production part approval processes used in automotive, with their own structure and submission levels.
- Material certifications and test reports, referenced within the record rather than replaced by it.
- Measurement system analysis, qualifying the measurements the inspection relies on.
How to complete it
How to complete a first article inspection, step by step
Produce it properly, account for every characteristic, and treat any finding as a process finding.
Which machine, which tooling, which programme revision, which fixture, which operator and which material lot. The inspection is evidence about a process, and without the context it is evidence about a part. This section is what makes the record meaningful when the same part is produced again in two years.
Uniquely number every design characteristic on the drawing and specification, and record a result against each. Every characteristic must be accounted for, including those verified by material certification, special process certification or supplier documentation. Unaccounted characteristics are the most common AS9102 finding.
Where a change triggers a partial first article inspection, record which characteristics were affected and why the others were excluded. That reasoning is the substance of a partial submission, and a partial inspection without it cannot be distinguished from an incomplete full one.
A characteristic out of tolerance at first article means the process as documented does not produce conforming product. Dispositioning that part and proceeding addresses the part alone. The finding belongs to the setup, tooling, programme or method, and the inspection exists to catch that fault before a thousand parts inherit it.
What auditors find
Most common first article inspection findings
First article findings concentrate on how the part was made and on characteristic accountability.
| Finding | Clause | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| Part produced outside the production process or by non-representative personnel. | AS9102 | Use production tooling, programme and people; the process is what is being verified. |
| Characteristics not uniquely numbered or not fully accounted for. | AS9102 Form 3 | Every characteristic requires a number and a result, including those verified by certification. |
| Partial inspection without stated scope and exclusion reasoning. | AS9102 | Record which characteristics the change affected and why the rest were excluded. |
| Production context not recorded. | AS9100 cl.8.5.1.1 | Machine, tooling, programme revision and material lot are what make the record meaningful later. |
| Two-year lapse trigger not applied. | AS9102 | A gap since last production is itself a trigger; process knowledge and tooling both degrade. |
| Non-conformance dispositioned without process correction. | AS9100 cl.8.5.1.3 | A first article failure is a process finding; the part is a symptom. |
| Special processes and material certifications not accounted for. | AS9102 Form 2 | These are part of product accountability and must be evidenced, not assumed. |
| Measurement system not qualified for the characteristics being verified. | ISO 9001 cl.7.1.5 | An unqualified measurement makes the verification result unreliable. |
| Sub-assembly first article status not reflected in the assembly record. | AS9102 Form 1 | Assembly accountability includes the status of its constituent parts. |
| Change to numerical control programme not treated as a trigger. | AS9102 | Programme and method changes are explicit triggers regardless of design being unchanged. |
Case in point
Case in point: the part made by the best machinist
A supplier under schedule pressure needed a first article approved before a production release. The production cell was committed and the setup would not be available for several days, so the part was produced on a different machine by the most experienced machinist available, with additional finishing passes.
Every characteristic conformed. The first article inspection was submitted, approved and closed. Production began the following week on the intended cell with the intended programme.
Two characteristics on the production parts fell outside tolerance consistently, because the fixture on the production cell located the part differently from the one used for the first article. The inspection had verified a part and had said nothing about the process, which is what it existed to do.
The template
The template, field by field
The form exactly as it installs. Every field, option, score and conditional rule is editable, and the links to other templates come with it.
5 sections
- Reference
- QUA-012
- Archetype
- Inspection
- Record ID
- INSP-2026-000
- Scoring
- Pass or fail per characteristic
- Direction
- High is good
- Singleton
- No
- Basis
- AS9102, ISO 9001 cl.8.5.1
- Links
- Links Asset, Job
- Tags
- Quality, Inspection
- Sections
- 5
- Fields
- 50
- Follow up fields
- 4
- Repeating sections
- 1
- Links out
- 5
Header
15 fieldsInspection ID*
Auto sequence. Format INSP-2026-00000.
The record's own ID. Other templates point at this value.
Status*
Drives who this goes to next.
- Planned2 pts
- In progress2 pts
- Complete3 pts
- Deferred0 pts
- Open0 pts
- Closed3 pts
- Overdue0 pts
Date and Time*
Raised By*
Site*
Site ID*
Format SITE-000.
Links to FDN-001 Site ID
Line*
Shift*
Line Lead
Batch Number*
Numeric key joining to your ERP batch record.
Links to External system reference
Product*
Production Date*
Asset
Asset ID
Format AST-0000.
Links to FDN-002 Asset ID
Before The Run, Not During
First article confirms the setup is right before you make three thousand of them wrong. Hold the line until this passes.
Setup context
3 fieldsReason For First Article*
New product, changeover, tooling change, after maintenance or new operator.
Previous Product
Setup Approval ID
Links to QUA-060 Setup ID
Characteristics checked
Repeats7 fieldsCharacteristic*
Specification*
Measured Value*
Measurement Method*
Test Equipment ID
Links to QUA-064 Equipment ID
Within Specification*
- Yes3 pts
- Borderline1 pt
- No0 pts
Deviation Detail
Product identity
10 fieldsCorrect Product Running*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Correct Packaging Loaded*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Correct Label Loaded*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Date Code Correct*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Allergen Declaration Matches Product*
- Pass2 pts
- Partial1 pt
- Fail0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Batch Code Applied*
- Pass2 pts
- Partial1 pt
- Fail0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Sample Retained*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Photograph
Line Released To Run*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Time Released
Result
15 fieldsItems Assessed*
Excludes anything marked N/A.
Items Failed*
Score Percent*
Calculated on submission. High is good. N/A items leave the denominator.
Result Band*
- Pass3 pts
- Caution1 pt
- Fail0 pts
Completeness Percent*
How much of the template was actually answered. A high score on a half completed form is not a high score.
Decision*
Comments
Action Required*
Raise the action record, then enter its reference here.
- No2 pts
- Yes0 pts
Priority
- High0 pts
- Medium1 pt
- Low3 pts
CAPA ID
Format CAPA-2026-00000.
Links to FDN-014 CAPA ID
Action Owner
Inspector*
Signature*
Line Lead*
Second Signature*
QUA-012 · record IDs look like INSP-2026-000 · Links Asset, Job
Open in KnowellaRun it with agents
From a document you fill in to a programme that runs itself
The inspection verifies a process through a part. What fails is the part made outside the process and the characteristic nobody accounted for.
Holds characteristic accountability with unique numbering, records production context, and applies the AS9102 triggers including the two-year lapse.
Links tooling, fixtures and programme revisions to the record, since these are the process elements the inspection actually verifies.
Flags changes to source, location, method or programme as triggers, which are easy to make without anyone treating them as quality events.
Connects material lot traceability to the record, since material accountability forms part of the submission.
This template lives in KnowQuality — quality and food safety. HACCP, nonconformance, traceability, laboratory and customer complaints.
Meet KnowQuality→Glossary
First Article Inspection definitions and key terms
- First article
- A representative part produced by the production process, used to verify that the process produces conforming product.
- Characteristic accountability
- Uniquely numbering every design characteristic and recording a result against each, with none omitted.
- Partial first article inspection
- Verification limited to characteristics affected by a change, requiring the scope and exclusions to be recorded.
- Production representative
- Made using production tooling, programme, process and personnel, which is what makes the inspection meaningful.
- Special process
- A process whose output cannot be fully verified by subsequent inspection, such as heat treatment or coating, requiring accountability.
- Delta FAI
- An inspection covering only changed characteristics, referencing the previous full inspection.
- Two-year lapse
- An AS9102 trigger requiring a new inspection where that period has passed since the last production delivery.
- Compatibility evaluation
- Assessment recorded on Form 3 confirming the characteristic is acceptable against the design requirement.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about first article inspection
What is a first article inspection actually verifying?+
The production process. The part is the evidence, not the subject. This is why the part must be produced using production tooling, programme, process and representative personnel, and why a part made carefully outside the process, however conforming, verifies nothing about what the process will produce.
When is one required?+
Under AS9102: a new part or assembly, a change to design, materials, process, manufacturing source or location, a change to a numerical control programme or method, an event affecting the process, and where two years have passed since the last delivery from that process. The two-year lapse trigger is the one most often overlooked.
Can characteristics be sampled?+
No. Every design characteristic must be uniquely numbered and accounted for, including those verified through material certification, special process certification or supplier documentation. Unaccounted characteristics are among the most common findings against AS9102, and sampling is what routine inspection does rather than what this does.
What is a partial or delta inspection?+
Verification limited to the characteristics affected by a change, referencing the previous full inspection for the rest. The scope and the reasoning for exclusions are the substance of it. Without them a partial submission is indistinguishable from an incomplete full one, and the reasoning is what an assessor examines.
What should happen if a characteristic fails?+
Treat it as a process finding. A characteristic out of tolerance at first article means the process as set up does not produce conforming product, and the correction belongs in the setup, tooling, programme or method. Dispositioning the individual part and proceeding addresses the symptom and leaves the next thousand parts exposed to the same condition.
Keep going
Related templates and programmes
Industries this is written for
Programmes this belongs to
Used together in Nonconformance and Complaints
Root Cause Analysis
Finds out why something happened rather than who was involved
Corrective and Preventive Action
The single action record used everywhere
Product Nonconformance Report
Records product that does not meet specification
Process Deviation Report
Records a process that ran outside its set limits, even where the product still passed
Hold and Release Record
Places suspect product on hold and records the decision to release, rework or scrap it
Rework Authorization
Authorises rework on nonconforming product and sets out exactly what will be done
More in Quality Inspections
Incoming Material Inspection
Checks material against specification before it is accepted into stock
In Process Inspection
Checks product at set points during production, against the control plan
Final Product Inspection
Checks finished product before it is released to the customer
Packaging Inspection
Checks packaging integrity, labelling, coding and seal quality
Label Verification Check
Confirms the label on the line matches the product being run, including allergens, weight and date code
Weight and Fill Check
Checks net weight or fill volume against declared quantity
Written and reviewed by
Siddarth Singh
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Knowella
Certified Safety Professional and industrial and systems engineer with more than a decade inside food supply chain, freight and manufacturing operations. This page was written against the current text of the standards it cites, not against secondary summaries of them.
- Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Board of Certified Safety Professionals
- MBA, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
- MS and BS, The Ohio State University, Industrial and Systems Engineering
- Six Sigma Black Belt
Sources and last review. Reviewed 16 August 2026 against:
- AS9102, aerospace first article inspection requirement
- AS9100 clauses 8.5.1.1 and 8.5.1.3, production process verification
- ISO 9001:2015 clauses 8.5.1 and 8.6
- AIAG Production Part Approval Process, for comparison in automotive
- ISO 9001:2015 clause 7.1.5, monitoring and measuring resources
This page is general guidance, not legal advice. Confirm requirements with your jurisdiction’s regulator.