Quality Act
PUBLIC LAW 101-592-NOV.
16, 1990 104 STAT. 2943
Public Law 101-592
101st Congress
(As amended by P.L.104-113 and P.L.
105-234 and P.L. 106-34)
An Act
To require that certain fasteners
sold in commerce conform to the
specifications to which theyare
represented to be manufactured, to
provide for accreditation of
laboratories engaged infastener
testing, to require inspection,
testing, and certification, in
accordance with standardized
methods, of fasteners used in
critical applications to increase
fastener quality and reduce the
danger of fastener failure, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and
House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress
assembled.
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the
"Fastener Quality Act."
SECTION 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that-
(1) the United States fastener
industry is a significant
contributor to the global economy,
employing thousands of workers in
hundreds of communities;
(2) the American economy uses
billions of fasteners each year;
(3) state-of-the-art manufacturing
and improved quality assurance
systems have dramatically improved
fastener quality, so virtually all
fasteners sold in commerce meet or
exceed the consensus standards for
the uses to which they are applied;
(4) a small number of mismarked,
misrepresented, and counterfeit
fasteners do enter commerce
in the United States; and
(5) multiple criteria for the
identification of fasteners exist,
including grade identification
markings and manufacturer's
insignia, to enable purchasers and
users of fasteners to accurately
evaluate the characteristics of
individual fasteners.
SECTION 3. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act, the term-
(1) "accredited laboratory" means a
fastener testing facility used to
perform end-of-line testing required
by a consensus standard or standards
to verify that a lot of fasteners
conforms to the grade identification
marking called for in the consensus
standard or standards to which the
lot of fasteners has been
manufactured, and which--
(A) meets the requirements of
ISO/IEC Guide 25 (or another
document approved by the Director
under section 10(c)), including
revisions from time to time; and
(B) has been accredited by a
laboratory accreditation body that
meets the requirements of ISO/IEC
Guide 58 (or another document
approved by the Director under
section 10(d)),
including revisions from time to
time;
(2) "consensus standard" means the
provisions of a document that
describes fastener characteristics
published by a consensus standards
organization or a Federal agency,
and does not include a proprietary
standard;
(3) "consensus standards
organization" means the American
Society for Testing and Materials,
the American National Standards
Institute, the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers, the Society of
Automotive Engineers, the
International Organization for
Standardization, any other
organization identified as a United
States consensus standards
organization or a foreign and
international consensus standards
organization in the Federal Register
at 61 Fed. Reg. 50582-83 (September
26, 1996), and any successor
organizations thereto;
(4) "Director" means the Director of
the National Institute of Standards
and Technology;
(5) "distributor" means a person who
purchases fasteners for the purpose
of reselling them at wholesale to
unaffiliated persons within the
United States (an original equipment
manufacturer and its dealers shall
be considered affiliated entities
for purposes of this Act);
(6) "fastener" means a metallic
screw, nut, bolt, or stud having
internal or external threads, with a
nominal diameter of 6 millimeters or
greater, in the case of such items
described in metric terms, or 1/4
inch or greater, in the case of such
items described in terms of the
English system of measurement, or a
load-indicating washer, that is
through-hardened or represented as
meeting a consensus standard that
calls for through-hardening, and
that is grade identification marked
or represented as meeting a
consensus standard that requires
grade identification marking, except
that such term does not include any
screw, nut, bolt, stud, or
load-indicating washer that is--
(A) part of an assembly;
(B) a part that is ordered for use
as a spare, substitute, service, or
replacement part, unless that part
is in a package containing more than
75 of any such part at the time of
sale, or that is a part contained in
an assembly kit;
(C) produced and marked as ASTM A
307 Grade A, or a successor standard
thereto;
(D) produced in accordance with ASTM
F 432, or a successor standard
thereto;
(E) specifically manufactured for
use on an aircraft if the quality
and suitability of those fasteners
for that use has been approved--
(i) by the Federal Aviation
Administration; or
(ii) by a foreign airworthiness
authority as described in part
21.29, 21.500, 21.502, or 21.617 of
title 14 of the Code of Federal
Regulations;
(F) manufactured in accordance with
a fastener quality assurance system;
or
(G) manufactured to a proprietary
standard, whether or not such
proprietary standard directly or
indirectly references a consensus
standard or any portion thereof;
(7) "fastener quality assurance
system" means--
(A) a system that meets the
requirements, including revisions
from time to time of--
(i) International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) Standard 9000,
9001, 9002, or TS16949;
(ii) Quality System (QS) 9000
Standard;
(iii) Verband der Automobilindustrie
e. V. (VDA) 6.1 Standard; or
(iv) Aerospace Basic Quality System
AS9000; or
(B) any fastener manufacturing
system -
(i) that has as a stated goal the
prevention of defects through
continuous improvement;
(ii) that seeks to attain the goal
stated in clause (i) by
incorporating--
(I) advance quality planning;
(II) monitoring and control of the
manufacturing process;
(III) product verification embodied
in a comprehensive written control
plan for product and process
characteristics, and process
controls (including process
influence factors and statistical
process control), tests, and
measurement systems to be used in
production; and
(IV) the creation, maintenance, and
retention of electronic,
photographic, or paper records
required by the control plan
regarding the inspections, tests,
and measurements performed pursuant
to the control plan; and
(iii) that--
(I) is subject to certification in
accordance with the requirements of
ISO/IEC Guide 62 (or another
document approved by the Director
under section 10(a)), including
revisions from time-to-time, by a
third party who is accredited by an
accreditation body in accordance
with the requirements of ISO/IEC
Guide 61 (or another document
approved by the Director under
section 10(b)), including revisions
from time-to-time; or
(II) undergoes regular or random
evaluation and assessment by the end
user or end users of the screws,
nuts, bolts, studs, or
load-indicating washers produced
under such fastener manufacturing
system to ensure that such system
meets the requirements of clauses
(i) and (ii);
(8) "grade identification marking"
means any grade-mark or property
class symbol appearing on a fastener
purporting to indicate that the lot
of fasteners conforms to a specific
consensus standard, but such term
does not include a manufacturer's
insignia or part number;
(9) "importer" means a distributor
located within the United States who
contracts for the initial purchase
of fasteners manufactured outside
the United States;
(10) "lot" means a quantity of
fasteners of one part number
fabricated by the same production
process from the same coil or heat
number of metal as provided by the
metal manufacturer;
(11) "manufacturer" means a person
who fabricates fasteners for sale in
commerce;
(12) "proprietary standard" means
the provisions of a document that
describes characteristics of a
screw, nut, bolt, stud, or
load-indicating washer and is issued
by a person who--
(A) uses screws, nuts, bolts, studs,
or load-indicating washers in the
manufacture, assembly, or servicing
of its products; and
(B) with respect to such screws,
nuts, bolts, studs, or washers, is a
developer and issuer of descriptions
that have characteristics similar to
consensus standards and that bear
such user's identification;
(13) "record of conformance" means a
record or records designated for
each lot of fasteners sold or
offered for sale that contains--
(A) the name and address of the
manufacturer;
(B) a description of the type of
fastener;
(C) the lot number;
(D) the nominal dimensions of the
fastener (including diameter and
length of bolts or screws), thread
form, and class of fit;
(E) the consensus standard or
specifications to which the lot of
fasteners has been manufactured,
including the date, number,
revision, and other information
sufficient to identify the
particular consensus standard or
specifications being referenced;
(F) the chemistry and grade of
material;
(G) the coating material and
characteristics and the applicable
consensus standard or specifications
for such coating; and
(H) the results or a summary of
results of any tests performed for
the purpose of verifying that a lot
of fasteners conforms to its grade
identification marking or to the
grade identification marking the lot
of fasteners is represented to meet;
(14) "represent" means to describe
one or more of a fastener's
purported characteristics in a
document or statement that is
transmitted to a purchaser through
any medium;
(15) "Secretary" means the Secretary
of Commerce;
(16) "specifications" means the
required characteristics identified
in the contractual agreement with
the manufacturer or to which a
fastener is otherwise produced,
except that the term does not
include proprietary standards; and
(17) "through-harden" means heating
above the transformation temperature
followed by quenching and tempering
for the purpose of achieving a
uniform hardness.
SECTION 4. SALE OF FASTENERS
(a) GENERAL RULE- It shall be
unlawful for a manufacturer or
distributor, in conjunction with the
sale or offer for sale of fasteners
from a single lot, to knowingly
misrepresent or falsify--
(1) the record of conformance for
the lot of fasteners;
(2) the identification,
characteristics, properties,
mechanical or performance marks,
chemistry, or strength of the lot of
fasteners; or
(3) the manufacturer's insignia.
(b) REPRESENTATIONS- A direct or
indirect reference to a consensus
standard to represent that a
fastener conforms to particular
requirements of the consensus
standard shall not be construed as a
representation that the fastener
meets all the requirements of the
consensus standard.
(c) SPECIFICATIONS- A direct or
indirect contractual reference to a
consensus standard for the purpose
of identifying particular
requirements of the consensus
standard that serve as
specifications shall not be
construed to require that the
fastener meet all the requirements
of the consensus standard.
(d) USE OF ACCREDITED LABORATORIES-
In the case of fasteners
manufactured solely to a consensus
standard or standards, end-of-line
testing required by the consensus
standard or standards, if any, for
the purpose of verifying that a lot
of fasteners conforms with the grade
identification marking called for in
the consensus standard or standards
to which the lot of fasteners has
been manufactured shall be conducted
by an accredited laboratory.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE- Subsection (d)
of section 4 of the Fastener Quality
Act, as added by subsection (a) of
this section, shall take effect 2
years after the date of enactment of
this Act.
SECTION 5. MANUFACTURERS' INSIGNIAS.
(a) GENERAL RULE- Unless the
specifications provide otherwise,
fasteners that are required by the
applicable consensus standard or
standards to bear an insignia
identifying their manufacturer shall
not be offered for sale or sold in
commerce unless--
(1) the fasteners bear such
insignia; and
(2) the manufacturer has complied
with the insignia recordation
requirements established under
subsection (b);
(b) RECORDATION. - The Secretary
shall establish, by regulation, a
program to provide for the
recordation of the insignias of
manufacturers described in
subsection (a).
SECTION 6. REMEDIES AND PENALTIES.
(a) CIVIL REMEDIES. - (1) The
Attorney General may bring an action
in an appropriate United States
district court for appropriate
declaratory and injunctive relief
against any person who violates this
Act or any regulation under this
Act.
(2) An action under paragraph (1)
may not be brought more than 10
years after the date on which the
cause of action accrues.
(b) CIVIL PENALTIES.- (1) Any person
who is determined by the Secretary,
after notice and an opportunity for
a hearing, to have violated this Act
or any regulation under this Act
shall be liable to the United States
for a civil penalty of not more than
$25,000 for each violation.
(2) The amount of the penalty shall
be assessed by the Secretary by
written notice. In determining the
amount of the penalty, the Secretary
shall consider the nature,
circumstances, and gravity of the
violation and, with respect to the
person found to have committed the
violation, the degree of
culpability, any history of prior
violations, the effect on ability to
continue to do business, any good
faith attempt to achieve compliance,
ability to pay the penalty, and such
other matters as justice may
require.
(3) Any person against whom a civil
penalty is assessed under paragraph
(2) of this subsection may obtain
review thereof in the appropriate
court of the United States by filing
a notice of appeal in such court
within 30 days from the date of such
order and by simultaneously sending
a copy of such notice by certified
mail to the Secretary. The findings
and order of the Secretary shall be
set aside by such court if they are
found to be unsupported by
substantial evidence, as provided in
section 706(2) of title 5, United
States Code.
(4) The Secretary may arbitrate,
compromise, modify, or remit, with
or without conditions, any civil
penalty which is subject to
imposition or which has been imposed
under this section prior to referral
to the Attorney General under
paragraph (5).
(5) A civil penalty assessed under
this subsection may be recovered in
an action brought by the Attorney
General on behalf of the United
States in the appropriate district
court of the United States. In such
action, the validity and
appropriateness of the final order
imposing the civil penalty shall not
be subject to review.
(6) For the purpose of conducting
any hearing under this section, the
Secretary may issue subpoenas for
the attendance and testimony of
witnesses and the production of
relevant papers, books, and
documents, and may administer oaths.
Witnesses summoned shall be paid the
same fees and mileage that are paid
to witnesses in the courts of the
United States. In case of contempt
or refusal to obey a subpoena served
upon any person pursuant to this
paragraph, the district court of the
United States for any district in
which such person is found, resides,
or transacts business, upon
application by the United States and
after notice to such person, shall
have jurisdiction to issue an order
requiring such person to appear and
give testimony before the Secretary
or to appear and produce documents
before the Secretary, or both, and
any failure to obey such order of
the court may be punished by such
court as a contempt thereof.
(c) CRIMINAL PENALTIES. - (1)
Whoever knowingly certifies, marks,
offers for sale, or sells a fastener
in violation of this Act or a
regulation under this Act shall be
fined under title 18, United States
Code, or imprisoned not more than 5
years, or both.
(2) Whoever intentionally fails to
maintain records relating to a
fastener in violation of this Act or
a regulation under this Act shall be
fined under title 18, United States
Code, or imprisoned not more than 5
years, or both.
(3) Whoever negligently fails to
maintain records relating to a
fastener in violation of this Act or
a regulation under this Act shall be
fined under title 18, United States
Code, or imprisoned not more than 2
years, or both.
(d) ENFORCEMENT.- (1) The Secretary
may designate officers or employees
of the Departmentof Commerce to
conduct investigations pursuant to
this Act. In conducting such
investigations, those officers or
employees may, to the extent
necessary or appropriate to the
enforcement of this Act, exercise
such authorities as are conferred
upon them by other laws of the
United States, subject to policies
and procedures approved by the
Attorney General.
(2) The Secretary shall establish
and maintain a hotline system to
facilitate the reporting of alleged
violations of this Act, and the
Secretary shall evaluate allegations
reported through that system and
report any credible allegations to
the Attorney General.
SECTION 7. RECORDKEEPING
REQUIREMENTS.
Manufacturers and importers shall
retain the record of conformance for
fasteners for 5 years, on paper or
in photographic or electronic format
in a manner that allows for
verification of authenticity. Upon
request of a distributor who has
purchased a fastener, or a person
who has purchased a fastener for use
in the production of a commercial
product, the manufacturer or
importer of the fastener shall make
available information in the record
of conformance to the requester.
SECTION 8. RELATIONSHIP TO STATE
LAWS.
Nothing in this Act shall be
construed to preempt any rights or
causes of action that any buyer may
have with respect to any seller of
fasteners under the law of any
State, except to the extent that the
provisions of this Act are in
conflict with such State law.
SECTION 9. CONSTRUCTION.
Nothing in this Act shall be
construed to limit or otherwise
affect the authority of any
consensus standards organization to
establish, modify, or withdraw any
standards and specifications under
any other law or authority.
SECTION 10. CERTIFICATION AND
ACCREDITATION.
(a) CERTIFICATION- A person
publishing a document setting forth
guidance or requirements for the
certification of manufacturing
systems as fastener quality
assurance systems by an accredited
third party may petition the
Director to approve such document
for use as described in section
3(7)(B)(iii)(I). The Director shall
act upon a petition within 180 days
after its filing, and shall approve
such petition if this document
provides equal or greater rigor and
reliability as
compared to ISO/IEC Guide 62.
(b) ACCREDITATION- A person
publishing a document setting forth
guidance or requirements for the
approval of accreditation bodies to
accredit third parties described in
subsection (a) may petition the
Director to approve such document
for use as described in section
3(7)(B)(iii)(I). The Director shall
act upon a petition within 180 days
after its filing, and shall approve
such petition if the document
provides equal or greater rigor and
reliability as
compared to ISO/IEC Guide 61.
(c) LABORATORY ACCREDITATION- A
person publishing a document setting
forth guidance or requirements for
the accreditation of laboratories
may petition the Director to approve
such document for use a described in
section 3(1)(A). The Director shall
act upon a petition within 180 days
after its filing, and shall approve
such petition if the document
provides equal or greater rigor and
reliability as compared to ISO/IEC
Guide 25.
(d) APPROVAL OF ACCREDITATION
BODIES- A person publishing a
document setting forth guidance or
requirements for the approval of
accreditation bodies to accredit
laboratories may petition the
Director to approve such document
for use a described in section
3(1)(B). The Director shall act upon
a petition within 180 days after its
filing, and shall approve such
petition if the document provides
equal or greater rigor and
reliability as compared to ISO/IEC
Guide 58.
In addition to any other voluntary
laboratory accreditation programs
that may be established by private
sector persons, the Director shall
establish a National Voluntary
Laboratory Accreditation Program,
for the accreditation of
laboratories as described in section
3(1)(B), that meets the requirements
of ISO/IEC Guide 58 (or another
document approved by the Director
under this subsection), including
revisions from time-to-time.
(e) AFFIRMATION- (1) An
accreditation body accrediting third
parties who certify manufacturing
systems as fastener quality
assurance systems as described in
section 3(7)(B)(iii)(I) shall affirm
to the Director that it meets the
requirements of ISO/IEC Guide 61 (or
another document approved by the
Director under subsection (b)),
including revisions from
time-to-time.
(2) An accreditation body
accrediting laboratories as
described in section 3(1)(B) shall
affirm to the Director that it meets
the requirements of ISO/IEC Guide 58
(or another document approved by the
Director under subsection (d)),
including revisions from
time-to-time.
(3) An affirmation required under
paragraph (1) or (2) shall take the
form of a self-declaration that the
accreditation body meets the
requirements of the applicable
Guide, signed by an authorized
representative of the accreditation
body, without requirement for
accompanying documentation. Any such
affirmation shall be considered to
be a continuous affirmation that the
accreditation body meets the
requirements of the applicable
Guide, unless and until the
affirmation is withdrawn by the
accreditation body.
SECTION 11. APPLICABILITY.
The requirements of this Act shall
be applicable only to fasteners
fabricated 180 days or more after
the date of the enactment of the
Fastener Quality Act Amendments Act
of 1999, except that if a
manufacturer or distributor of
fasteners fabricated before that
date prepares a record of
conformance for such fasteners,
representations about such fasteners
shall be subject to the requirements
of this Act.
SECTION 12. COMPTROLLER GENERAL
REPORT.
Not later than 2 years after the
date of the enactment of this Act,
the Comptroller General shall
transmit to the Congress a report
describing any changes in industry
practice resulting from or
apparently resulting from the
enactment of section 3(6)(B) of the
Fastener Quality Act, as addedby
section 3 of this Act.