AQAP 2110 compliance for defence suppliers who want to win and keep NATO contracts.

What it is

What is AQAP 2110 and what is it used for?

AQAP 2110 is a NATO standard with the title "NATO Quality Assurance Requirements for Design, Development and Production". It belongs to the Allied Quality Assurance Publications, which NATO nations and agencies use to state in one common language what they expect from suppliers. A ministry of defence or a NATO agency writes it into a contract, and the supplier runs its quality system to satisfy it.

You do not choose AQAP 2110; a contract chooses it for you. Its value is that one set of requirements is recognised across allied nations, so a supplier organised around it can answer defence tenders in several countries without rebuilding its system. The Bundeswehr, for example, publishes the AQAP requirements as part of its contract-award guidance for suppliers, and NATO's own procurement agency attaches AQAP 2110 guidance to its requests for proposal.

Current edition. Edition D, Version 1 is the edition in circulation, and NATO's accompanying guidance on its use refers to Edition D. You are held to the edition your contract names, which we confirm, with any supplementary publications, at the start of the work.

Who it is for

Who needs AQAP 2110 compliance?

Any organisation whose defence contract or purchase order names AQAP 2110 needs to comply with it for that work. In practice the requirement reaches suppliers through four routes:

• A defence customer has named it in a contract. A ministry of defence, a NATO agency or a prime contractor has written AQAP 2110 into the terms, and government quality assurance will follow.
• A tender asks you to demonstrate it. The bid documents require evidence that your quality system can meet AQAP 2110 before award, so the work has to start before the contract does.
• A prime contractor flows it down. You make components, assemblies or software for a larger defence company, and its purchase order passes the requirement on to you.
• Group companies want one approach. Sister companies already supply NATO customers, and the group wants every site working to the same quality assurance model instead of reinventing it contract by contract.

The contract defines which products, activities and sites the requirement covers, and that scope decides where the effort goes.

Requirements

What are the main AQAP 2110 requirements?

What you must do comes from two places read together: the contract, which calls up the publication and sets the scope, and the text of the edition it names. Most suppliers build on a quality management system they already operate, often to ISO 9001 or AS9100, and add what the NATO publications ask for. At title level, the areas a supplier has to cover are these; the detailed mapping is done against the edition in your contract during the gap assessment.

• The contract and the edition it calls up: the clause naming AQAP 2110, its edition, the products, activities and sites in scope, and any supplementary publications.
• A quality system for design, development and production: the management of the work the standard's title names, operating across the full product life within your scope.
• Quality plans: where the contract requires one, a plan prepared to AQAP 2105, the NATO publication on requirements for quality plans.
• Government quality assurance: readiness for the acquirer's quality assurance authority, or the authority acting for it under reciprocal arrangements between nations, to assess your processes and products.
• Guidance on use: NATO's supporting guidance on the application of Edition D, which your team should use to interpret the requirements consistently.
• Evidence and improvement: records, internal audits and corrective action that show the system works on the contracted products, not only on paper.

Compliance route

How do you achieve AQAP 2110 compliance?

There is no certificate at the end of the default route. Compliance is shown to the acquirer and to its government quality assurance representatives, contract by contract. Sterling prepares your system and your people; the acquirer and its quality assurance authority form their own view.

1. 01
   Read the contract and confirm the scope.Identify the edition, the supplementary publications, the products and sites covered and any quality plan obligation.
2. 02
   Gap analysis: compare your system with the NATO requirements.Keep what already works from your ISO 9001 or AS9100 system, and list the additions with owners, dates and resources.
3. 03
   Build the NATO layer and the quality plan.Add the missing controls, prepare the quality plan where required, train the people involved and start producing records on live work.
4. 04
   Audit internally and rehearse the government visit.An internal audit against the contracted edition, a product-trail rehearsal and corrective actions closed with evidence.
5. 05
   Support government quality assurance through the contract.Respond to requests and findings from the quality assurance representative and keep the system current as further contracts arrive.

Check the route before you sign. AQAP 2110 is judged by the acquirer, not bought as a certificate. In some countries accredited certification bodies also offer AQAP 2110 certification; the Danish accreditation body, for example, lists such schemes. A certificate of that kind may help a bid, but it does not replace the contract requirement or government quality assurance, so ask the contracting authority what it will accept, and check any certification body's accreditation directly with the accreditation body. The certification buyer's checklist

Cost

How much does AQAP 2110 compliance cost?

Cost depends mainly on the distance between the quality system you run today and what your contract demands; a mature AS9100 supplier with one product line needs far less than a newcomer to defence. Every component of the Sterling proposal is visible, and nothing is added later.

Timeline

How long does AQAP 2110 compliance take?

With a working quality management system already in place, preparing for AQAP 2110 typically takes four to nine months; treat that as an estimate until the gap analysis is done. Starting without a system, or with design work across several sites, takes longer, because controls must run on real contract work before a representative can see them.

If a bid deadline or a first delivery date is already fixed, tell us on the first call. We will say plainly what can be ready by then and which decisions need to be taken early.

Your engagement

What your AQAP 2110 engagement includes

Sterling does not certify, and does not judge compliance on the acquirer's behalf; the acquirer and its government quality assurance authority do that. Your engagement follows Sterling OS™. The gap analysis and plan come first. For the build you choose one of two support levels: Design™, where we guide and your team does the work, or Drive™, where we manage the work for you. After the first contracted delivery, Sustain™ keeps the system current as new contracts, editions and customers arrive, and Automate™ is Effivity, the software the system runs on.

• Contract reading and gap analysis

  The AQAP clause, the edition and the scope confirmed, with a costed plan and owners.

• The NATO layer on your system

  Additions built into your existing ISO 9001 or AS9100 processes, not a parallel manual.

• Effivity ISO & GRC software

  The system runs in Effivity, included with the engagement at no additional cost.

• Training for everyone

  Internal auditor training for your audit team, as applicable to your standard, and preferential Sterling Academy access, including complimentary awareness training for your people as part of the engagement.

• Quality plans and internal audit

  Plans prepared with your engineers where contracts require them, and an internal audit against the contracted edition.

• Government visit preparation

  A product-trail rehearsal and support in responding to the quality assurance representative's findings.

Compliance decisions remain with the acquirer and its government quality assurance authority.

Often combined with

Standards organisations pair with AQAP 2110

• AIAG core toolsAutomotive core tools implementation and training: APQP, Control Plan, PPAP, FMEA, MSA and SPC applied on your live parts.
• AS9100AS9100 certification consulting for aerospace and defence suppliers: ISO 9001 plus product safety, configuration and FAI, ready for an IAQG scheme audit.
• AS9110AS9110 certification for aviation maintenance organisations: the 9110 requirements, the IAQG audit route, cost and timeline factors, and Sterling's support.
• AS9120AS9120 certification for aerospace distributors and stockists: requirements, the IAQG audit route, OASIS listing, cost and timeline factors, with Sterling.
• CMMC 2.0CMMC 2.0 certification consulting for defence contractors handling FCI and CUI: controls, SPRS score and evidence ready for self or C3PAO assessment.
• EASA Part 145 / Part 21EASA Part 145 approval and Part 21 POA and DOA readiness: gap assessment, manuals, safety management, training and mock audits.