GQAS - We have a customer asking for certification - What is it?

[Bulksupplier]

We have a customer asking for certification to GQAS, which was thought to be a Quality Standard called "General Quality & Approval Standard". I looked for this but the nearest thing I can find is a defence standard called "Government Quality Assurance at Source".
The customer is a Chinese cable manufacturer, so I guess a defence standard could apply.
Can anybody help identify which standard they mean?

 

[Wes Bucey]

We have a customer asking for certification to GQAS, which was thought to be a Quality Standard called "General Quality & Approval Standard". I looked for this but the nearest thing I can find is a defence standard called "Government Quality Assurance at Source".
The customer is a Chinese cable manufacturer, so I guess a defence standard could apply.
Can anybody help identify which standard they mean?

Is "GQAS" listed as a requirement on a purchase order or on a request for quotation? It makes a difference in how you approach the "psychology" of dealing with the customer.

The easiest thing is to say to the customer or prospect:
"We are not familiar with the acronym "GQAS." What does it stand for? Do you have a source where we can obtain a copy for review?"

In a quotation, you can simply state, "Our price is _________, subject to revision upon review of an unknown Standard, "GQAS."

If this is a Purchase Order, part of Contract Review is to ensure you completely understand customer requirements. This means a phone call or email to the customer which says,
"We are not familiar with the acronym "GQAS." What does it stand for? Do you have a source where we can obtain a copy for review?"

the acronym "GQAS" is not listed at my favorite acronym finder site https://www.acronymfinder.com which at last count had over 300,000 definitions of acronyms and abbreviations.

 

[Howard Atkins]

I found this if it of any good
Government Quality Assurance Surveillance (GQAS) & Government Quality Assurance Representative (GQAR) Organizations

https://www.ams.mod.uk/ams/content/docs/quality/pages/gqas.htm

 

[Bulksupplier]

Thanks guys,
Our sales manager is trying to get more information from the customer about what precisely they mean. I'll keep you updated in case someone else gets a similar request!

 

[glade]

I know this is a long dead thread, but it still ranks highly in Google, so I thought I would share my findings.

GQAS Specification could be "General Quality Assurance Specification" for the Nuclear industry which is referenced in a lot of nuclear supplychain guides.

For example in EDF supplier documentation for Hinkley Point C, available on their website from https://namrc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/HPC_Supplier_Booklet.pdf , GQAS is described as

"General Quality Assurance Specification" (GQAS), Reference ECUK100053. This specification is based on ISO 9001:2008, and includes additional requirements placed on the contractor to meet the needs of the nuclear industry.

I cant find a link online for ECUK100053 (there are a lot of reports/documentation that cites this as a reference also), but if this is a critical requirement from your customer they should be able to provide this specification, because it will form one of their requirements from their customer during contract review.​