# Corrective and preventive action (CAPA)

> Corrective and preventive action (CAPA) is the quality process that investigates the root cause of a non-conformance or audit finding, implements actions to stop it recurring or occurring, and verifies that the actions worked.

- Source: https://amps.global/glossary/corrective-and-preventive-action/
- Type: Glossary
- Published: 2026-09-05
- Tags: accreditation, quality

## Key facts

- Corrective: reacts to an actual non-conformance; preventive: addresses a potential one identified through risk analysis or trends
- Root cause tools: 5 whys, fishbone (Ishikawa) diagram, fault tree
- Required by ISO 9001, ISO/IEC 17020 and 17025; assessors check the effectiveness verification, not just the action
- Typical NDT causes: missed calibration, expired certificates, procedure not followed, wrong template revision

Also known as: CAPA, corrective action, preventive action, root cause analysis.

## How it runs

Record the problem, contain it, find the root cause, plan actions with owners and dates, implement, then verify effectiveness after a period. The record trail from finding to verification is what an assessor reads.

## CAPA and AMPS

Several common root causes in NDT companies are date failures: a lapsed certificate or an overdue calibration. AMPS keeps personnel and equipment certificates on dedicated personnel and equipment pages, and its flag system warns one month before a certificate, calibration document or scheduled inspection falls due, so managers always know what is missing or expiring. The history feature provides the timeline evidence a CAPA investigation needs.

## Related pages

- [Non-conformance report (NCR)](https://amps.global/glossary/non-conformance-report/)
- [Internal audit](https://amps.global/glossary/internal-audit/)
- [Certification and calibration tracking](https://amps.global/solutions/certification-and-calibration-tracking/)

## Sources

- [Corrective and preventive action on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrective_and_preventive_action)
- [ISO 9001:2015 at iso.org](https://www.iso.org/standard/62085.html)