There are a ton of misconceptions when it comes to where special characteristics come from. There are many different factors that go into what a special characteristic is. Furthermore, there is no agreed upon definition or symbology reference. 

Therefore, without any guidance, how do you know what a special characteristic should be? 

Special characteristics come from a variety of places. Most importantly and primarily, it comes from your customer specific requirements (CSRs), and when you take on a job from your customer they flow down the things that they consider to be special. 

Note: These do not need to be called “special characteristics” other nomenclature can be: key characteristics, critical characteristics, or regulatory characteristics. In the video above Jeremy references them as “special” or “important.” 

That is not the only place that they arrive.  

In addition, your organization defines its own special or important characteristics. When you talk about special characteristics, one of the things we want you to think about is: What are the important characteristics based on your commodity, your industry, and your company?  

Along with these two sources, you have your regulators. They also have a say in which characteristics become important. All of this to say you must look at a variety of sources. This includes: 

Special characteristics can come from… 

• Customer Specific Requirements (CSRs)
• Your Organization
• Regulatory Bodies 
• There can be other sources

To Review, there is no unified definition, no unified symbology, and no unified name or nomenclature. 

To learn more about special characteristics and how they can flow through process check out our other blog pages on our website, or contact us for a team approach to your own Special Characteristics.  

*Refers to Special, Critical, or Important Characteristics