The Nadcap Management Council (NMC) and the Performance Review Institute (PRI) updated their response to the COVID-19 pandemic to include Risk Assessment Surveys and Virtual Verification Audits. This update follows Nadcap’s initial response in the spring of 2020.

Auditees that are or will be at risk of expiring accreditation can request an extension. Extensions are granted in a three-month period, not exceeding a total of 12 months, and must be approved by the PRI staff engineer.

With the new response, a completed Risk Assessment Survey form (i.e., t-frm-1114) is required for each auditee extension after the first three-month extension. The PRI staff engineer will review each completed form and determine whether an extension is granted or if either a virtual risk assessment or task group decision is required based on the risk criteria developed by the NMC.

In addition, after 12 months of cumulative three-month extensions, a Virtual Verification Audit is now required to continue extending an expiring Nadcap accreditation if an onsite audit has not been possible. The Virtual Verification Audit comprises a one day “add scope audit,” which adds additional criteria to existing accreditation for a special process, and results in another three month accreditation adjustment.

The NMC is currently suspending or withdrawing Nadcap accreditations when the Quality systems are expired due to the impact of COVID-19 (i.e., 91XX certification or ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation).

Important note: Nadcap does not have the authority to grant deviations to specification requirements; therefore, Nadcap recommends subscribers review their specification requirements and processes for granting deviations.

Finally, Nadcap has two face-to-face technical meetings scheduled for 2021 and 2022, with a virtual meeting to be scheduled in place of a third. The PRI will continue to monitor closely all activities associated with Nadcap.

Registered Nadcap users can find additional information at https://www.eauditnet.com/eauditnet/ean/documents/manage.htm. For more information on the recent responses, see the stakeholder letter and the Nadcap response. Questions can be directed to Alejandra Constante Perez, materials engineer, Millennium Engineering & Integration Co., or Jeannette Plante, Quality program executive, NASA Office of Safety and Mission Assurance.