Special characteristics (IATF only)
Plain-language summary
Identify special characteristics through a defined process — from risk analysis, customer designations and your own knowledge — and carry them visibly through every document: drawings, FMEA, control plan, work instructions.
What the clause is really asking
A documented process must establish special characteristics (customer-designated plus those from your own risk analysis), include them in the control plan and FMEA with the appropriate markings, and apply customer-specified definitions and symbols where they exist.
What auditors look for
Auditors run the correlation check: special characteristics consistent across drawing, PFMEA, control plan and instructions, with the right symbols, and controls genuinely tighter at those steps (capability studies, error-proofing, increased frequency).
Typical evidence
Special characteristics identification procedure; correlation matrix; FMEA/control plan markings; capability evidence on SCs.
How to comply — recommendations
Maintain one SC correlation matrix per part and make it a PPAP document. Any document change touching an SC triggers a matrix check — one rule that prevents the most common automotive audit finding.
Common nonconformities
SC marked in FMEA but not control plan (or vice versa); no process for self-identified SCs; SCs treated identically to standard characteristics in practice.
Related clauses
Builds on ISO 9001 8.3.3; links IATF 8.2.3.1.2
In the book
Chapter 8 — Operation — Where the Product Is Won or Lost treats this clause family in full: what it is really asking, what auditors look for, the evidence that satisfies, how to make it work on a real floor, and where companies stumble. This IATF requirement is covered in the Automotive Edition, in the same six blocks as the ISO clause around it.
Get the free ISO 9001:2026 Readiness Scorecard
Free, instant download. We'll only email you the occasional practical quality update — no spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Qlause provides interpretive guidance only and is not a substitute for the standard. Refer to your licensed copy of the relevant standard for the authoritative text.