Definition of Non-Conformance Report
A non-conformance report is any kind of formatted text document or file that contains information related to a nonconformity.
There are many formats used, and often they are not even standardised within one company or location, so do not be surprised that there is not a standard format in use across all industries.
A list of NCR reports is usually kept as an NCR register.
Sometimes the nonconformance report is embedded within a software system, but as it is common to tailor these IT systems to the processes of the company buying the service, different companies using the same software vendor may NOT have reports that look the same.
This should not actually matter. What is important is that the format of the report makes sense to the people using it, and that it contains ALL the information that may be needed during the lifetime of the nonconformity. This might be a temporary situation, but it some circumstances it can be relevant throughout the operating life of a facility, which may be 50 years or more.
In some organisations the term Nonconformance Report (NCR) is only used for nonconformities that are discovered during construction.
A Deviation Request uses almost the same form, but is used when there is an intention in advance to not comply with a requirement.
In other organisations, the same NCR form is used for deviations and for post-realisation nonconformities, but they might use the term Non-Conformance Request (also NCR) instead of deviation.