When is a first article inspection required under AS9102?

A full FAI is required for the first production run of a new part or assembly. A partial FAI is required after changes that affect form, fit, or function — engineering changes, a change in manufacturing source, process, inspection method, location, tooling, or materials, a lapse in production of two years or more, or a natural or man-made event that adversely affects the manufacturing process.

What is the difference between AS9102 Form 1, Form 2, and Form 3?

Form 1 is Part Number Accountability — it identifies the part, the FAIR, and who verified and approved it. Form 2 is Product Accountability — it records materials, special processes, and functional testing with their specifications, suppliers, and certificate numbers. Form 3 is Characteristic Accountability — it lists every design characteristic with its requirement, the measured result, and the disposition of any nonconformance.

Does every characteristic on the drawing need to be on Form 3?

Yes. Every design characteristic — dimensions, tolerances, GD&T, notes, and specification callouts — must be accounted for on Form 3 with a unique characteristic number, the requirement, and a measured or verified result. This is why teams balloon the drawing: each balloon number ties a drawing callout to its Form 3 row.

What is a ballooned drawing?

A ballooned (or bubbled) drawing has a numbered balloon placed next to every characteristic — every dimension, tolerance, GD&T frame, and note. The balloon numbers match the characteristic numbers on Form 3, so an auditor can trace every requirement from the drawing to its inspection result.

Can AS9102 forms be completed digitally?

Yes. AS9102 defines the required data content, not the medium. Electronic forms and electronic signatures are acceptable as long as the required fields are captured, results are traceable, and the report is signed by the person who verified it. Customers may impose their own format requirements, so always check purchase-order and quality clauses.

AS9102 Rev C reference

AS9102 Forms 1, 2 & 3, explained field by field

Everything a quality team needs to complete a First Article Inspection Report: what each form is for, every field with its requirement level, a step-by-step FAI checklist, the mistakes that fail audits, and free templates you can use today.

What AS9102 requires, in one paragraph

AS9102 is the aerospace standard for First Article Inspection (FAI): a complete, documented physical and functional verification that your first production part matches every requirement of its engineering definition. The report has three forms — Form 1 (part number accountability), Form 2 (product accountability: materials, special processes, functional tests), and Form 3 (characteristic accountability: every dimension, tolerance, and note with its measured result). A full FAI covers the first run of a new part; a partial FAI covers what changed after an engineering change, a process/source/tooling/location change, or a production lapse of two years or more.

Form 1 — Part Number Accountability

Form 1 identifies what was inspected and who stands behind the report. Fields 1, 2, 4, and 10 anchor the report to a part and organization; fields 20–23 are the sign-offs auditors check first.

#	Field	Requirement
1	Part Number	Required
2	Part Name	Required
3	Serial Number	Conditionally required
4	FAIR Identifier	Required
5	Part Revision Level	Conditionally required
6	Drawing Number	Conditionally required
7	Drawing Revision Level	Conditionally required
8	Additional Changes	Conditionally required
9	Manufacturing Process Reference	Required
10	Organization Name	Required
11	Supplier Code	Optional
12	Purchase Order Number	Optional
13	Detail / Assembly FAI	Required
14	Full FAI / Partial FAI (with baseline part number for partials)	Required
15	Assembly Part Number	Conditionally required
16	Assembly Part Name	Conditionally required
17	Assembly Part Type	Conditionally required
18	Assembly FAIR Identifier	Conditionally required
19	Documented Nonconformance(s)	Required
20	FAIR Verified By	Required
21	FAIR Verified Date	Required
22	FAIR Reviewed / Approved By	Required
23	FAIR Reviewed / Approved Date	Required
24	Customer Approval	Conditionally required
25	Customer Approval Date	Conditionally required
26	Comments	Optional

Conditionally required means the field must be completed when it applies to the part. Example: field 3 (Serial Number) applies when the part is serialized; fields 15–18 apply when the FAI is for a detail part that belongs to an assembly-level FAI; a partial FAI must state the baseline part number in field 14.

Form 2 — Product Accountability

Form 2 proves the inputs were right: raw material, special processes (heat treat, anodize, passivation, NDT), and functional tests — each with its specification, the approved supplier that performed it, and the certificate that proves it.

#	Field	Requirement
1–4	Part Number, Part Name, Serial Number, FAIR Identifier (carried from Form 1)	Required
5	Material or Process Name	Conditionally required
6	Specification Number	Conditionally required
7	Code	Optional
8	Supplier (with special-process supplier code where applicable)	Conditionally required
9	Customer Approval Verification	Conditionally required
10	Certificate of Conformance Number	Conditionally required
11	Functional Test Procedure Number	Conditionally required
12	Acceptance Report Number (for functional tests)	Conditionally required
13	Comments	Optional

The most common Form 2 audit findings are a material or process row with no supplier (field 8) or no certificate number (field 10). If the drawing calls out 6061-T6 and anodize per MIL-A-8625, both rows need the supplier that provided them and the cert that proves it.

Form 3 — Characteristic Accountability

Form 3 is the heart of the FAIR — and the reason FAI paperwork takes days by hand. Every design characteristic on the drawing gets a numbered row: the balloon number, where it appears, what the requirement is, and the actual measured result.

#	Field	Requirement
1–4	Part Number, Part Name, Serial Number, FAIR Identifier (carried from Form 1)	Required
5	Characteristic Number (the balloon number)	Required
6	Reference Location (sheet / zone on the drawing)	Conditionally required
7	Characteristic Designator (key, critical, major…)	Conditionally required
8	Requirement (the dimension, tolerance, GD&T frame, or note)	Required
9	Results (the measured value or attribute verification)	Required
10	Designed / Qualified Tooling	Conditionally required
11	Nonconformance Number	Conditionally required
12	Additional Data / Comments	Optional

Field 9 must contain a real measured result for every variable characteristic — not “OK,” not “pending.” An out-of-tolerance result doesn’t disappear: it gets a nonconformance number in field 11 and a documented disposition before the FAIR is released.

Free AS9102 form templates

These CSV templates mirror the field structure above — open them in Excel or Google Sheets, or import them into your QMS. No email required.

Form 1 template (CSV) Part number accountability — all 26 fields with requirement levels Form 2 template (CSV) Product accountability — one row per material, process, or functional test Form 3 template (CSV) Characteristic accountability — one row per ballooned characteristic

The FAI process, step by step

Confirm the trigger and scope. New part → full FAI. Change to design, process, source, tooling, location, or a 2+ year lapse → partial FAI covering the affected characteristics.
Gather the engineering definition. Drawing at the correct revision, specifications, and any DPD/model data. The FAIR is only valid against the revision it names.
Balloon the drawing. Number every characteristic — dimensions, tolerances, GD&T frames, notes, and spec callouts. Balloon numbers become Form 3 characteristic numbers.
Build Form 3 from the balloons. One row per characteristic with the requirement exactly as the drawing states it.
Complete Form 2 from the drawing notes. Materials, special processes, and functional tests — with specification, supplier, and certificate numbers.
Inspect the first article and record results. Real measured values against every requirement, with the inspection method noted.
Disposition nonconformances. Out-of-tolerance results get an NC number, a disposition, and customer notification where required — before release, not after.
Sign and assemble the package. Verified-by and approved-by signatures with dates (Form 1 fields 20–23), the ballooned drawing, certificates, and test reports — one traceable package.

Common mistakes that fail FAI audits

Characteristics missing from Form 3. Notes, surface finish callouts, and title-block tolerances count as characteristics. If it's on the drawing, it needs a balloon and a row.
Results recorded as “OK” or left pending. Variable characteristics need measured values. A FAIR with blank results is not release-ready, no matter how many boxes are checked.
Form 2 rows without suppliers or certificate numbers. Material and special-process accountability is exactly what fields 8 and 10 exist to prove.
Missing signatures or dates. Fields 20–23 are unconditionally required. An unsigned FAIR is a draft.
Partial FAI without a baseline. A partial FAI must reference the part number/revision it's baselined against and cover every affected characteristic.
The package doesn't include the ballooned drawing. Auditors trace Form 3 rows back to balloons. No overlay, no traceability.

Frequently asked questions

When is a first article inspection required?

For the first production run of a new part, and again (partially) whenever a change could affect form, fit, or function: engineering changes, new or moved manufacturing processes or sources, new tooling, or a lapse in production of two years or more.

Who signs the FAIR?

The person who verified the first article signs field 20 with the date in 21; the reviewer/approver signs field 22 with the date in 23. Customer approval (fields 24–25) applies when the purchase order requires it.

Can the forms be electronic?

Yes — AS9102 defines required data, not format. Electronic forms and signatures are acceptable when the content is complete and traceable, though customers can impose format requirements in their quality clauses.

How long does an FAI take?

Hand-ballooning and transcribing a moderately complex drawing typically takes one to three days of quality-engineer time. Most of that is transcription, not judgment — which is the part software can do.

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