Customer Complaints, Control of NCR & Corrective Action

ISO 9001:2015 Clause 10.2 · ISO 14001:2015 Clause 10.2 · ISO 45001:2018 Clause 10.2 — Nonconformity and corrective action; complaint handling

Procedure overview

A M Water Services treats every non-conformance — whether raised by a customer complaint, an internal observation, an audit finding, an inspection, an incident or a regulatory contact — through one consistent procedure that allocates a unique NCR number, investigates root cause, agrees corrective action with a named owner and target date, tracks completion to closure, verifies effectiveness, and feeds analysis into the wider improvement cycle. The HSQE Consultant maintains the Non Conformance Log as the single source of truth. Customer complaints route to the Directors for substantiation; substantiated complaints become NCRs and follow the same flow as any internally-raised non-conformance. Trends are reported at Management Review (SOP 6.4) and feed Continual Improvement (SOP 7.2). Records are retained per SOP 4.7.

Customer Complaints, NCR & Corrective Action — Process Flow

NCR Raiser / Customer

Customer · Operative
Auditor · Inspector

Report & Log

Report non-conformance (inspection/test failure, process/compliance failure, service fault) or customer complaint

Inform Site Supervisor of NCR / customer complaint raised

Forward NCR details to HSQE Consultant; allocate next sequential NCR number

Non Conformance Log

Directors & HSQE Consultant

Aaron Mason (MD)
Leanne Mason (Director)
Sean Ashton

Investigate & Allocate

Investigate incident, NCR or customer complaint

NCR / customer complaint substantiated?

Close on log with rationale; communicate outcome to raiser

Yes

Identify root cause and corrective action; agree completion timescale

Communicate the NCR / complaint and corrective action to the action owner

Where required, raise a request for change to the management system to the HSQE Consultant

Action Owner & HSQE Consultant

Site Supervisor / named owner
Sean Ashton

Implement & Close

Implement corrective action

Update NCR Log with root cause, corrective action(s) taken and close-out date

Follow up on corrective action

Action complete and customer satisfied?

Chase up with action owner; agree extended timescale or further action

Yes

Close NCR; record effectiveness

Review & update MS where relevant; communicate changes (per SOP 2.2)

Inform Directors of any direct costs incurred from corrective action

Analyse NCR data and corrective action effectiveness; report trends at Management Review

SOP 6.4 Management Review

Process / Activity

Decision Point

Document / Cross-reference

Close / Conform

Investigate / Re-action

NCR close-out timescales by category

Target close-out timescales from raise to verified-effective close on the NCR Log: Safety-critical (RIDDOR-reportable, near-miss with potential for serious harm, regulator finding) — immediate containment, full close-out target 7 working days, MD-monitored. Quality / customer complaint — acknowledgement to customer within 3 working days, full close-out target 30 calendar days. Process / minor non-conformance (audit finding, internal observation) — close-out target 30 calendar days; extension permitted with documented rationale on the log. Long-term improvement (systemic) — tracked under SOP 7.2 with the action plan timescale recorded on the log alongside the NCR. Any NCR open beyond target without recorded extension is escalated to the Directors at the next weekly compliance call.

Customer Complaints, Control of NCR & Corrective Action

Customer Complaints, NCR & Corrective Action — Process Flow

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