Form 3 fields

Characteristic Designator: AS9102 glossary definition

A characteristic designator is the Form 3 field used when a drawing or customer requirement assigns a special classification, key characteristic flag, or similar designator to a characteristic.

Updated July 3, 2026

What Characteristic Designator means

A characteristic designator is the Form 3 field used when a drawing or customer requirement assigns a special classification, key characteristic flag, or similar designator to a characteristic.

The field helps reviewers see that a characteristic has a special status beyond its measured value. It should reflect the controlled source, not an informal shop-floor label.

Use this term as a review cue: it should help connect a drawing requirement, specification, certificate, result, or approval field to the evidence a customer will inspect. If the purchase order or customer portal uses stricter wording, follow that controlled source instead of this glossary entry.

Where it appears in AS9102

AS9102 Form 3 field 7 is conditionally required. Use it when the drawing, specification, customer document, or other flowed requirement provides a designator that belongs with the characteristic.

In an Articul review, this term is treated as part of the traceability path from source drawing or flowed requirement to form field, evidence, validation issue, and final approval. Use the AS9102 standard text as the controlled source, and use this glossary to clarify reviewer-facing meaning before export. When the term is ambiguous, keep the reviewer note close to the row or field it affects.

Review notes

Check the drawing notes, symbol legend, customer quality clauses, and feature classifications before leaving the field blank or marking it not applicable.
Do not invent a designator to make a row look complete. If no controlled source assigns one, the review note should make that clear.
Keep wording, units, identifiers, and attachment names consistent across the drawing, Forms 1-3, evidence files, and any customer portal submission.

AS9102 Forms 1-3 guideField-by-field hub for the complete FAIR package How to fill out Form 3Characteristic requirement, result, and nonconformance review AS9102 Form 3 templateCharacteristic accountability workbook and completed example AS9102 Rev B vs Rev CField-level changes and review caveats

AS9102 Form 3AS9102 Form 3 is the characteristic accountability form that lists each drawing characteristic, requirement, inspection result, tooling note when applicable, and nonconformance reference when needed.RequirementA requirement is the design or flowed condition that a Form 3 row must verify, such as a dimension, tolerance, note, GD&T control, finish, material callout, or specification reference.GD&T True PositionGD&T true position is a geometric control that defines the allowed location variation of a feature relative to specified datums and tolerance conditions.

FAQ

What does Characteristic Designator mean in an AS9102 FAIR?

A characteristic designator is the Form 3 field used when a drawing or customer requirement assigns a special classification, key characteristic flag, or similar designator to a characteristic. Check the drawing notes, symbol legend, customer quality clauses, and feature classifications before leaving the field blank or marking it not applicable.

Source notes

This Articul glossary entry is based on the public AS9102 field matrix used in product validation and on the internal review patterns linked from the related guides. It is not a replacement for purchased AS9102 text, customer requirements, or purchase order flowdowns.

Changelog

July 3, 2026: Published the first Characteristic Designator glossary entry with DefinedTerm, FAQPage, and BreadcrumbList schema plus links to related AS9102 guides and terms.

Keep the FAIR review tied to the print

Articul pre-fills Forms 1-3 from the print and routes anything uncertain to you, including drawing notes and title-block fields, while preserving source traceability for review.

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