How to Read an AS9102 First Article Inspection Report: A Field-by-Field Walkthrough

A finished AS9102 FAI package arrives as a multi-page PDF: Form 1, Form 2, Form 3, a ballooned drawing, material certs, process certifications — sometimes 40 pages for a single machined bracket. Knowing exactly what to look for in each section is what separates a quick approval from a two-week back-and-forth with the supplier.

This walkthrough takes the AS9102 Rev C standard and breaks down every field a quality engineer needs to verify, including what a rejection-worthy entry looks like.

Why Reading an FAI Report Correctly Matters

A first article inspection report is a legal quality record under most aerospace contracts. If the FAI is accepted with an error — a missing material certification or a measured value that does not tie to a balloon number — the problem surfaces during a DCMA audit or a customer source inspection, not at incoming inspection. At that point, the entire production lot may be quarantined pending re-inspection.

AS9102 Rev C also introduced stricter traceability requirements compared to Rev B. Every characteristic recorded in Form 3 must be traceable to a specific balloon on the drawing, a specific measurement tool, and a specific operator. A surface-level glance at "Pass/Fail" columns is not enough. For a detailed comparison of what changed between revisions, see the AS9102 Rev B vs Rev C breakdown.

The AS9102 First Article Inspection Report Format: Overview

The AS9102 first article inspection report format is built around three mandatory forms. Each has a distinct scope and feeds information into the next. Think of them as layers: Form 1 establishes what document is being inspected, Form 2 confirms the material and process inputs, and Form 3 proves the output conforms to every drawing requirement.

The ballooned drawing is not a numbered form in the standard, but it is a mandatory deliverable. AS9102 Rev C, Section 4.1, requires it to accompany the package so that every Form 3 row can be located on the drawing. Suppliers sometimes omit it or submit an un-ballooned print — that is an automatic rejection.

AS9102 FAI Report Walkthrough: Form by Form

Form 1 — Design Documentation

Form 1 is the cover sheet for the entire FAI package. It ties the inspection record to a specific part number, revision level and drawing. Verify every field against the purchase order and the actual engineering drawing you hold.

1. Part Number and Revision: Must match the drawing header exactly, including the dash number and revision letter. A part number of ABC-12345-001 Rev C submitted as ABC-12345 Rev C is a mismatch.
2. Part Name: Should match the title block. Minor naming differences (abbreviations) are usually acceptable if the part number and revision are correct, but flag them for clarification.
3. FAI Number / Supplier Code: The supplier's unique identifier for the FAI event. Confirm it appears on every subsequent page and on the ballooned drawing; inconsistency here breaks the audit trail.
4. Drawing Number and Revision: Record the drawing number, including the sheet count. If the drawing has five sheets, all five should be accounted for in the characteristic count.
5. Total Number of Design Characteristics: Count the ballooned items on the drawing and verify this number matches. A discrepancy of even one characteristic is a non-conformance under AS9102 Rev C because 100% accountability is required — no sampling.
6. Index of Documents: Form 1 lists every document used to define the design — drawing, specification, standard, model. Common entries include the drawing itself, ASME Y14.5-2018 for GD&T interpretation, material specifications such as AMS 2750 for pyrometry, and customer-specific requirements. Confirm each listed document is at the correct revision.
7. Baseline FAI / Delta FAI: AS9102 Rev C distinguishes between a complete baseline FAI and a delta FAI for design changes. The form should clearly state which type this is. If it is a delta FAI, verify that only the changed characteristics are in scope and clearly identified. For more on this distinction, see the delta FAI explainer.
8. Authorising Signatures: The FAI must be signed and dated by the supplier's authorised quality representative. An unsigned Form 1 is not a valid FAI record.

Form 2 — Product Accountability Record

Form 2 is where material and process traceability lives. A machined aluminium aerospace part might reference a specific AMS alloy specification, AMS 2750 for heat treat pyrometry, and a Nadcap approval for any anodise or chemical film process. Every one of those needs a traceable certification attached to the FAI package.

1. Raw Material: Confirm the material specification matches the drawing note exactly. Two AMS specifications for the same alloy family — for example, different temper or product form designations within the 7075 or 2024 series — are not interchangeable even when the base alloy is identical. The temper, product form (sheet, plate, extrusion) and applicable AMS number must match the drawing callout precisely. The material test report (MTR) must show the heat or lot number, chemistry, and mechanical properties. Check that tensile strength, yield strength and elongation meet or exceed the specification minimums.
2. Special Processes: List every special process applied — anodise, heat treat, weld, NDT, plating. Each must reference the applicable specification (e.g., MIL-A-8625 for anodising) and show the processor's Nadcap or customer-approved status. Verify the Nadcap certificate is current; expiry dates are a frequent oversight.
3. Sub-Tier Suppliers: If any raw material or special process is sourced from a sub-tier supplier, Form 2 must identify that supplier and confirm their approval status. A casting or forging house not on the approved supplier list is a serious non-conformance.
4. Functional Test Results: If the design documentation requires a functional test — for example, a hydraulic fitting proof pressure test — the results must be recorded here with the test date, operator and pass/fail outcome.

Form 3 — Characteristic Accountability and Verification Results

Form 3 is the body of the FAI and the section quality engineers spend the most time reviewing. Every row corresponds to one ballooned characteristic on the drawing. The columns follow a standard pattern across most AS9102-compliant formats.

The Ballooned Drawing — AS9102 Ballooned Drawing Requirements

AS9102 Rev C does not prescribe a specific balloon style, but industry practice and customer requirements typically demand that every inspected characteristic be enclosed in a circle (or ellipse) with a leader pointing to the feature and a sequential number inside. The number in the balloon must match the balloon number in Form 3 — one-to-one, no duplicates, no missing numbers.

Key things to check on a ballooned drawing:

• Every dimension, tolerance, GD&T frame, surface finish callout, note and material specification is ballooned. Notes such as "BREAK ALL SHARP EDGES 0.2–0.5" count as characteristics if they appear on the drawing.
• The drawing revision shown on the ballooned print matches Form 1. A balloon overlay applied to an older revision is a common and serious error.
• Balloons are clearly readable and leaders point unambiguously to the correct feature. Overlapping leaders that could apply to two different dimensions must be corrected before submission.
• The balloon count matches the total characteristic count declared in Form 1.

For a deeper look at ballooning methodology and the link between balloon numbers and inspection sheets, the ballooning a drawing guide covers the fundamentals.

Common Mistakes in AS9102 FAI Reports

The same errors appear repeatedly across AS9102 FAI reviews. Recognising them upfront speeds up the review cycle and reduces the rounds of supplier rework that follow an initial rejection.

1. Actual values recorded as qualitative text: "OK", "PASS", "within tolerance" — none of these are acceptable under AS9102 Rev C. Every characteristic must show a numeric measured value so that statistical analysis or process capability assessment can be performed if required.
2. Drawing revision mismatch: The ballooned drawing is at Rev B but the purchase order calls for Rev C. This is the single most common cause of FAI rejection on first-pass review.
3. Missing or expired Nadcap certifications: Nadcap approval for special processes is time-limited. A heat treat processor whose certificate expired before the FAI date renders all Form 2 entries for that process invalid.
4. Incomplete GD&T recording: A position tolerance of ⌀0.2 mm at MMC, datum A|B|C must be recorded with the actual measured deviation, the MMC bonus tolerance applied, and the resulting total tolerance — not just "0.18 mm". Omitting the modifier interpretation is a common gap; the bonus tolerance at MMC guide explains how to calculate this correctly.
5. Skipped characteristics: General notes on the drawing — finish callouts, general tolerances referencing ISO 2768, thread class callouts — are sometimes omitted because inspectors focus on machined dimensions. Under AS9102 Rev C, omission equals non-conformance.
6. No traceable reference to inspection equipment: "Vernier calliper" is not sufficient. The equipment ID and calibration certificate number must be recorded so the calibration record can be pulled. If it cannot, the measurement is unverifiable.
7. Delta FAI scope errors: A supplier re-runs the full inspection when only two characteristics changed on the drawing. This is wasteful, but the reverse — submitting a delta FAI when a baseline is required — is a non-conformance. The AS9102 Forms 1, 2 and 3 explainer sets out the triggers for each FAI type.

How CadNexa Helps with AS9102 FAI Reports

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the three forms in an AS9102 Rev C FAI report?

Form 1 covers Design Documentation — part number, revision, drawing index and design characteristics count. Form 2 covers the Product Accountability Record — material certifications, special processes and sub-tier supplier data. Form 3 is the Characteristic Accountability and Verification Results form, where every ballooned dimension and tolerance is listed with the actual measured value.

What does 'ballooned drawing' mean in an AS9102 FAI?

A ballooned drawing is a copy of the engineering drawing where every inspected dimension, tolerance and GD&T callout is circled with a numbered bubble (balloon). Each balloon number links directly to a row in Form 3, creating a traceable audit trail from drawing to measurement result.

How many characteristics must be inspected for a full AS9102 FAI?

AS9102 Rev C requires every design characteristic on the drawing to be inspected and recorded in Form 3 for a full FAI. There is no sampling allowance for design characteristics — 100% coverage is mandatory. A delta FAI may limit scope to only changed characteristics.

What is the difference between a design characteristic and a manufacturing process characteristic in AS9102?

A design characteristic is any dimension, tolerance, GD&T callout, material, finish or note that appears on the engineering drawing or design specification. A manufacturing process characteristic is defined by the engineering organisation to control the production process; it does not appear on the drawing but may be listed separately in Form 3.

Can an AS9102 FAI report be rejected if balloon numbers are missing from the drawing?

Yes. AS9102 Rev C requires the ballooned drawing to accompany Form 3 so that each characteristic can be traced back to its location on the drawing. Missing or inconsistent balloon numbers are a common cause of customer or DCMA audit rejection.

Conclusion

Reading an AS9102 first article inspection report is not a passive exercise. Form 1 confirms the correct part at the correct revision is under review. Form 2 confirms the inputs — material and process — are qualified. Form 3 and the ballooned drawing together prove every design characteristic was measured, is within tolerance, and is traceable to a calibrated instrument. Any gap in that chain is a legitimate rejection.

For a broader view of how FAI fits into your quality workflow, the FAI report in 10 minutes guide covers the end-to-end process and shows how ballooning and report generation connect in practice.

Also new: First Article Inspection Software Comparison for Aerospace: What Quality Engineers Actually Need.