Property belonging to customers or external providers
Plain-language summary
Other people's property in your care — tooling, material, designs, data — gets identified, verified, protected, and any loss or damage reported to the owner with records kept.
What the clause is really asking
Exercise care with customer/provider property while under your control: identify, verify on receipt, protect and safeguard. When lost, damaged or found unsuitable: report to the owner and retain documented information. Property includes intellectual property and personal data, not just steel.
What auditors look for
Auditors find the customer-owned tools and material on your floor: marked as customer property? Condition records? They also test the data side: customer drawings and personal information protected? Loss ever reported, and how?
Typical evidence
Customer property register; receipt verification records; identification marks; damage/loss notifications; data protection arrangements (POPIA).
How to comply — recommendations
One register for all third-party property — tools, returnable packaging, consignment stock, fixtures — with photos at receipt. Mark physical items 'Property of [customer]'. Treat customer data under your POPIA controls and say so in the register.
Common nonconformities
Customer tooling unmarked and unrecorded; consignment material mixed with own stock; damage repaired quietly without notifying the owner; customer drawings unprotected.
Related clauses
IATF 16949: applies unchanged (customer tooling marking also in 8.5.1.6); POPIA relevant for data
Qlause provides interpretive guidance only and is not a substitute for the standard. Refer to your licensed copy of ISO 9001 / IATF 16949 for the authoritative text.