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First article inspection (FAI) report template

A two-page FAI report for checking the first parts from a new or changed process against the drawing, plus a filled example (characteristics and a finding) from a fictional new press tool. Free, no card.

Get the free FAI report template

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What is in the template

  • Part and reason: Part number, revision, drawing, supplier or line, and why this FAI is done: new part, new tool, a design change, a new site or a long production stop.
  • Materials and outside processes: Material and lot with its certificate, and each outside process such as heat treatment or plating with who did it and the record.
  • Characteristics: One line per drawing characteristic: the requirement and tolerance, the measured value, the gauge used and OK or NOK.
  • Functional tests: Any test the drawing or your plan asks for, with the method, the result and the record.
  • Findings: Each NOK line with what was done about it and the re-check result.
  • Decision: Accepted, Accepted with a recorded deviation (agreed with the customer where required), or Not accepted (re-run FAI), with name, role and date.

This is our own generic layout, not a customer or industry form. If your customer or your sector prescribes an FAI form or a submission format, use theirs.

The filled example (characteristics and a finding)

Pages 1–2 are the blank form. Page 3 is a fictional report, FAI-EX-05, for housing HA-2210 after a new press tool, T-07, was put into use. Six characteristics are checked; one is NOK: the bushing position measures 0.14 mm against a 0.10 mm maximum. The tool is corrected, the parts are measured again on the next working day, the line is OK and the report closes as Accepted. The dates run from Wednesday 2026-10-07 to Friday 2026-10-09. All companies, people and data are invented.

FAI, PPAP or control plan?

An FAI report answers one question: do the first parts from this process match the drawing? A PPAP is a wider package a customer may ask for, and the dimensional results are one part of it; see the PPAP submission checklist. A control plan says how the process is checked during series production after that.

Quick checks before you sign an FAI report

  • Every characteristic on the drawing has a line, including notes and general tolerances you decided to check.
  • The drawing revision on the report is the one the parts were made to.
  • Each measured value has the gauge written next to it, and the gauge was within its calibration date.
  • Every NOK line has an action and a re-check result, or the decision says why it was accepted with a recorded deviation.
  • If a NOK can come back, an NCR or a corrective action number is written on the report.

Related

Advisory template, in English. Not a customer decision.