Section 46.202-4 - Higher-level contract quality requirements(a) Agencies shall establish procedures for determining when higher-level contract quality requirements are necessary, for determining the risk (both the likelihood and the impact) of nonconformance, and for advising the contracting officer about which higher-level standards should be applied and included in the solicitation and contract. Requiring compliance with higher-level quality standards is necessary in solicitations and contracts for complex or critical items (see 46.203) or when the technical requirements of the contract require- (1) Control of such things as design, work operations, in-process controls, testing, and inspection; or(2) Attention to such factors as organization, planning, work instructions, documentation control, and advanced metrology.(b) Examples of higher-level quality standards include overarching quality management system standards such as ISO 9001, ASQ/ANSI E4, ASME NQA-1, SAE AS9100, SAE AS9003, and ISO/TS 16949, and product or process specific quality standards such as SAE AS5553. 79 FR 70347 , Nov. 25, 2014, as amended at 80 FR 4994 , Jan. 29, 2015