1. Purpose of the gate
Every change to a qualified step reopens part of its evidence. A new model version may be more accurate on average and worse on exactly the failure mode the review policy relies on catching. A settings change may alter repeatability. A move from one hosting arrangement to another may change where design data goes. A revised set of supplier terms may quietly allow training on customer designs. The Requalification approval gate is where such changes are allowed into the production flow, and only after the evidence they could affect has been rerun and judged against the original success criteria.
The gate approves the updated flow release, not the change in the abstract. Its central document is the change impact assessment, which says what changed, what evidence the change could affect, what was rerun and what was not and why. The requalification report then shows whether the rerun evidence still meets the success criteria for the affected scope. Security and terms reviews are included only where the change touches them, but the impact assessment must say explicitly whether it does.
The Update acceptance policy decision is frozen by this gate. It sets when new tool or model versions are taken: on the supplier's schedule after requalification, held on the pinned version until a planned window between projects, or security fixes taken promptly with a reduced requalification while other changes are held.
10 more sections for registered members.