Minimum QA documentation for civilian procurement of dive systems

Procurement of dive systems by government agencies is, like all their buying, fairly rigidly guided by procurement regulations. Civilian firms, however, have no such uniform set of guides to assist them in like procurements. The present paper is an attempt to ease the situation by referencing the most-needed information for the benefit of civilian firms who may be procuring dive systems. The paper begins with discussing the benefits to be gained and pitfalls that can be avoided by documenting certain information. The needed types of such information are then outlined so that the user can select the type and level of information that best fits his specific needs. Example formats are then presented which the user can adapt for his use or use as guides in developing his own formats. Emphasis is placed on the fact that much of the "procurement" documentation is equally valuable to the user in achieving safe, efficient, operation and maintenance of the system after it is delivered.