10 Dispute procedure
10.1 If it is not possible for the supplier and the recipient to reach agreement about the quality of the product on the basis of their existing results, then the procedures given in 10.2 to 10.5 shall be adopted.
10.2 Each laboratory shall reject its original results and obtain at least three other acceptable results on their own check sample to ensure that the work has been carried out under repeatability conditions. The average of the acceptable results in each laboratory shall then be computed, divergent results being discarded as indicated in 7.2.2. If the re-testing does not resolve the dispute, then continue as given below.
Let
XS be the average of the supplier;
XR be the average of recipient;
A1 be the upper limit of the specification;
A2 be the lower limit of the specification.
where
XS ≤ A1 < XR
XS ≥ A2 > XR
This means that XS and XR should be compared as follows with A1 and A2.
10.3 In case of dispute, the two laboratories shall contact each other and compare their operating procedures and apparatus. Following these investigations, a correlation test between the two laboratories shall be carried out on their check samples. The average of at least three acceptable results shall be computed, in each laboratory, and these averages compared as indicated in 10.2.
10.4 If the disagreement remains, a third laboratory (neutral, expert and accepted by the two parties) shall be invited to carry out the test using a third sample. Suppose XE is the average of the three or more acceptable results of the third laboratory. If the difference between the most divergent laboratory average and the average of the two other laboratory averages is less than or equal to R3(see 7.3.1) the following procedure shall be adopted:
10.5 If the difference between the most divergent laboratory average and the average, X, of the two other laboratory averages is more than R3, the following procedure shall be adopted:
If X ≤ A1 or ≥ A2, product meets specification.
If X > A1 or < A2, product fails specification.