What this is
What is a material rejection report?
What is a material rejection report?
A material rejection report is the record raised when incoming material fails inspection at goods receipt and is refused before it enters production. It captures what was received, why it was rejected, whether the failure has food safety or allergen implications, and what happens to the material and supplier relationship afterwards.
How does this differ from a general nonconformance report?
This is scoped to incoming material at the goods-receipt gate, before anything has been used. A product nonconformance report covers material or product that failed after it entered the process. A rejection is a supplier decision; a nonconformance is a process or product decision.
Who completes a material rejection report?
The receiving inspector who identifies the failure at intake, with quality countersigning disposition and supplier response. It is completed at the point of rejection, not reconstructed later, because temperature, packaging condition and any documentation gap are only observable at that moment.
Scope
When is a material rejection report required?
This record sits at the goods-receipt gate. It is the wrong instrument once material has been accepted into stock, and the wrong one for a supplier-side investigation that goes beyond a single delivery.
Use this template when
- Incoming material fails inspection against specification, certificate of analysis, temperature, packaging or documentation at goods receipt
- A delivery arrives with a discrepancy serious enough that receiving will not stock it
- The rejection needs linking to the supplier record so the rate counts against that supplier
- A rejection reason recurs and needs to trigger a supplier corrective action request
- Material already moved into production needs tracing back to confirm none was used before rejection
Do not use it for
- Product Nonconformance Report, for material that failed after entering the process, not at goods receipt.
- Incoming Material Inspection, the inspection activity itself; this record is the outcome when it fails.
- Hold and Release Record, for suspect stock already in the warehouse, rather than material refused at the door.
- Supplier Corrective Request, which investigates and corrects the supplier's cause; this record only raises the flag.
- Foreign Material Report, where the sole issue is a foreign body needing contamination-source detail this form lacks.
Compliance mapping
Which ISO 9001 cl.8.4 requirements does this satisfy?
ISO 9001 addresses this record from two directions: control over externally provided material, and control of the nonconforming output once it has failed. Food safety schemes add specific receiving checks the general standard does not name.
| Clause | Requirement | Where it lands |
|---|---|---|
| ISO 9001 cl.8.4.1 | Externally provided processes, products and services are controlled and verified against defined criteria before use | Reason for rejection |
| ISO 9001 cl.8.4.2 | Type and extent of control applied to an external provider reflects the potential impact on the organisation's ability to meet requirements | Material |
| ISO 9001 cl.8.4.3 | Requirements are communicated to the external provider, including for verification and for corrective action | Supplier response |
| ISO 9001 cl.8.7.1 | Outputs not conforming to requirements are identified and controlled to prevent unintended use | Food safety and traceability |
| ISO 9001 cl.8.5.2 | Outputs are identified as necessary to ensure traceability throughout production and service provision | Material |
| ISO 9001 cl.9.1.3 | Data on external provider performance is analysed and evaluated as part of monitoring conformity | Related records |
What it does not cover
- Product Nonconformance Report, which covers material already accepted and used that later fails to meet specification.
- Process Deviation Report, which records a process running outside set parameters, whether or not the product is affected.
- Supplier Corrective Request, which investigates root cause at the supplier and tracks corrective action to closure.
- Hold and Release Record, which manages the decision on suspect material already in the warehouse, distinct from refusal at the door.
- Foreign Material Report, which carries the detail a contamination investigation needs beyond a rejection flag.
Global
Material Rejection Report requirements by country
The duty to control incoming material sits inside general quality management everywhere, but food and perishable supply chains carry named receiving requirements this record has to satisfy in substance, if not in name.
FSMA Preventive Controls for Human Food, 21 CFR Part 117
Receiving controls are a named preventive control where a raw material hazard requires one, with verification activities specified.
A rejection record lacking the temperature, certificate of analysis or specification check behind the decision cannot show the preventive control was applied.
Food Safety Act 1990 and retailer certification (BRCGS Food Safety)
General due-diligence duty in law, with goods-in inspection and rejection made specific and auditable under BRCGS clause 3.5.
Most UK manufacturers are driven by the certification scheme's checklist rather than the statute, and an auditor will expect this record to match it.
ISO 9001 cl.8.4 and Codex Alimentarius General Principles of Food Hygiene
Control of externally provided product is a certifiable requirement; Codex frames receiving as the first control point in the food chain.
Certification audits look for evidence rejection criteria were defined in advance and applied consistently, not decided case by case at the dock.
How to complete it
How to complete a material rejection report, step by step
The form captures a rejection decision correctly most of the time. What it depends on is judgement the fields alone do not enforce.
A late delivery note and an undeclared allergen are both rejection reasons, but not the same category of risk. The food safety and allergen fields exist to force that separation, and marking them None reflexively because the reason box already explains things skips the check they exist to make.
A rejection is only real if the material stays out of production. Where the affected-product field triggers, follow it to the hold record and a physical location; a rejection that stops at the paperwork while the pallet sits unmarked on the dock has controlled nothing.
Not every rejection is the supplier's fault: a carrier that broke the cold chain, or a receiving miscount, should not count against the supplier the way a wrong specification does. Decide attribution before the scorecard checkbox is ticked, since a scorecard cannot distinguish a bad supplier from a bad carrier.
A single rejection rarely justifies a corrective action request; a repeated reason usually does. The judgement needs the supplier's recent rejection history, not just this delivery assessed in isolation.
What auditors find
Most common material rejection report findings
Because the form exists to stop material at the door, findings concentrate on what happened to it, and to the supplier relationship, after the rejection was recorded.
| Finding | Clause | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| Chilled or frozen intake temperature not recorded, or recorded after the material was already moved into storage. | FSMA 21 CFR 117.80 | Record arrival temperature at the vehicle before unloading; make it required for temperature-controlled categories. |
| Food safety risk marked None or Low on a rejection whose stated reason is foreign material or allergen. | ISO 9001 cl.8.7.1 | Cross-check the food safety and allergen fields against the stated rejection reason before closing. |
| Rejected material had already been drawn into production before the report was raised. | ISO 9001 cl.8.5.2 | Trace the batch through issue records the moment a rejection is logged, and escalate to hold and release if used. |
| Repeated rejection reason from the same supplier with no corrective action request raised. | ISO 9001 cl.8.4.3 | Review the supplier's rejection history when raising each new record, and route a corrective request on a pattern. |
| Sample not retained on a rejection later needed for a supplier or regulatory query. | ISO 9001 cl.8.4.1 | Retain a sample by default on any rejection tied to specification, food safety or documentation. |
| Material marked returned or destroyed with no evidence the disposition actually happened. | ISO 9001 cl.8.7.1 | Require a date and confirming signature against disposition before the credit-expected status closes. |
Case in point
Case in point: the rejection that stayed on paper
A dairy processor rejected cultured milk base after intake temperature read four degrees above range. The report was completed correctly and the pallet marked held, but no physical hold tag was applied, and supplier notification was left open because the usual quality manager was off site.
Two days later the pallet was found partly used on the floor: a relief supervisor, working from the delivery note rather than the rejection record, had released it because nothing was visible on the pallet itself. The resulting batch was destroyed in full, the excursion unable to be ruled out as a food safety risk after the fact. The report had been accurate; what failed was the gap between the record and physical control.
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.
6 sections
- Reference
- QUA-007
- Archetype
- Record
- Record ID
- CASE-2026-000
- Scoring
- Defect rate
- Direction
- High is bad
- Singleton
- No
- Basis
- ISO 9001 cl.8.4
- Links
- Links Vendor; feeds Supplier Scorecard
- Tags
- Quality, Supplier
- Sections
- 6
- Fields
- 44
- Follow up fields
- 4
- Repeating sections
- 0
- Links out
- 7
Header
8 fieldsCase ID*
Auto sequence. Format CASE-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
Supplier*
Vendor ID*
Format VEN-0000.
Links to FDN-005 Vendor ID
Material
8 fieldsMaterial Description*
Supplier Batch Or Lot*
Delivery Note Number
Purchase Order Number
Links to External system reference
Quantity Received*
Quantity Rejected*
Date Received*
Date Rejected*
Reason for rejection
8 fieldsRejection Reason*
Reason Detail*
Specification Reference
Links to QUA-043 Spec ID
Inspection ID
Links to QUA-011 Inspection ID
Photograph
Sample Retained*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Certificate Of Analysis Issue
- None3 pts
- Missing0 pts
- Values out of specification0 pts
Temperature On Arrival
Chilled and frozen intake temperature is the most common rejection reason.
Food safety and traceability
8 fieldsFood Safety Risk*
- None4 pts
- Low3 pts
- Medium1 pt
- High0 pts
Allergen Issue*
Undeclared allergen in raw material is a serious event, not a rejection.
- No3 pts
- Yes0 pts
Foreign Material Found*
- No3 pts
- Yes0 pts
Any Already Used In Production*
- No3 pts
- Yes0 pts
Product Affected By The Rejection*
- No3 pts
- Yes0 pts
Quantity Affected
Hold ID
Raise the hold record, then enter its reference.
Links to QUA-003 Hold ID
Product Location
Where the affected product physically is right now.
Related records
1 fieldSupplier Scorecard ID
The scorecard this rejection counts against.
Links to QUA-041 Scorecard ID
Supplier response
11 fieldsSupplier Notified*
- Yes3 pts
- Not applicable3 pts
- No0 pts
Notification Date
Supplier Corrective Request Raised*
SCAR ID
Links to QUA-042 SCAR ID
Material Returned Or Destroyed*
Credit Expected
Feeds Supplier Scorecard*
Receiving Inspector*
Signature*
Quality*
Second Signature*
QUA-007 · record IDs look like CASE-2026-000 · Links Vendor; feeds Supplier Scorecard
Open in KnowellaRun it with agents
From a document you fill in to a programme that runs itself
The rejection decision is usually made correctly. What slips is the material's physical control afterwards and whether the supplier ever learns the pattern exists.
Holds the rejection against the supplier's record and the batch, and flags when a rejection reason repeats without a corrective request following.
Tracks the physical location and disposition of rejected material from dock through to return, destruction or retention, closing the record-to-pallet gap.
Watches for rejections left open past a defined interval, prompts supplier notification, and surfaces attribution before a record feeds the scorecard.
This template lives in KnowQuality — quality and food safety. HACCP, nonconformance, traceability, laboratory and customer complaints.
Meet KnowQuality→Glossary
Material Rejection Report definitions and key terms
- Goods receipt
- The point at which incoming material is checked and accepted or rejected before it is stocked or used, and the moment this record is raised.
- Certificate of analysis
- The supplier's document stating a batch's measured properties against agreed specification; missing or out-of-specification values are a rejection reason in their own right.
- Cold chain
- The unbroken sequence of correct temperature control from supplier through transport to receipt; a break anywhere can invalidate the material regardless of arrival temperature.
- Supplier corrective action request
- The instrument that investigates the supplier's root cause and tracks their corrective action, raised when a rejection or pattern warrants it.
- Hold
- The status and physical control applied to material whose disposition is not yet decided, distinct from a rejection already decided.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about material rejection report
Does every rejection need a supplier corrective action request?+
No. A single rejection is often resolved by itself: the material goes back or is destroyed, and the supplier is notified. A corrective request is warranted when the reason repeats, when the failure carries food safety consequence, or when volume affected is significant.
Should we rate risk before or after existing controls are considered?+
The food safety and allergen fields should reflect the material as received, not as it would have been had the check not caught it. Rating the caught risk as though it had failed overstates what happened and understates the inspection's value.
What happens if the delivery is only partly defective?+
Reject the affected quantity, not the whole delivery, recording quantity rejected separately from quantity received. Rejecting a whole delivery over a partial defect creates a supply problem the failure did not require, and understates supplier performance.
Who decides whether the material is returned, destroyed or retained?+
Quality, based on the rejection reason and any food safety implication, recorded against the material returned or destroyed field. Retained pending decision should be genuinely temporary, not a place records sit while ownership is unclear.
Does a rejection always count against the supplier scorecard?+
Only where the fault is attributable to the supplier. A rejection caused by carrier mishandling or receiving error should be recorded but excluded from the feed, or the scorecard measures transport performance rather than the supplier's own.
Why retain a sample if the material is being returned to the supplier?+
Because a dispute over the credit, or a supplier's counter-claim the material was compliant when it left them, is easier to resolve with a retained sample than a description after the fact.
Keep going
Related templates and programmes
Industries this is written for
Programmes this belongs to
Used together in Supplier Quality Assurance
Modern Slavery and Labour Standards Assessment
Assesses the site and its labour supply chain for forced labour, debt bondage, withheld documents and unlawful deductions
Transport Provider Assessment
Assesses a haulier for licensing, driver management, vehicle standards, temperature capability and load security
Supplier Environmental Assessment
Assesses a supplier's environmental performance and certifications
Vendor and Contractor Register
Holds every supplier, contractor and service provider you work with, including their status and approval level
Supplier Approval Record
Records the decision to approve a new supplier, with the evidence behind it
Supplier Questionnaire
Collects information about a supplier's systems, certifications and controls
More in Nonconformance
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
Scrap Record
Records product written off, with quantity, reason and cost
Concession Request
Requests permission to use or ship product that does not fully meet specification
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:
- ISO 9001:2015 clauses 8.4, 8.5.2, 8.7.1 and 9.1.3
- FSMA Preventive Controls for Human Food, 21 CFR Part 117
- BRCGS Global Standard for Food Safety, Issue 9, clause 3.5
This page is general guidance, not legal advice. Confirm requirements with your jurisdiction’s regulator.