A Qualified Products List (QPL) is the government's list of products that have passed qualification testing to a military specification. For each specification it names the part numbers that are qualified and the manufacturers (and plants) qualified to make them. The lists are kept in the Qualified Products Database (QPD), run by the Defense Logistics Agency at qpldocs.dla.mil. The activity that owns the specification decides who is listed.
Many military and aerospace contracts require parts from a qualified source. A connector that carries a mil-spec part number but comes from a manufacturer that isn't listed for that number is not a qualified part.
Why a valid part number can have no qualified source
A military specification defines a numbering system. Every field of the part number (shell style, class or finish, shell size, insert arrangement, contact type, key position, and so on) has its own list of options, and the specification allows them to be combined. The combinations multiply into hundreds of thousands of part numbers.
Manufacturers qualify the combinations they intend to make and sell. Many combinations the specification allows have never been qualified by anyone. Such a part number is written correctly, every field is legal, and the specification describes the part, but no manufacturer is qualified to supply it, so it can't be bought as a qualified mil-spec part.
What the builder's warnings mean
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| No QPL next to an option in a list | With the choices you have already made, picking this option leads only to part numbers that QPD doesn't list with a qualified source. |
| No Qualified Part List Available above the part number | QPD doesn't list this part number (or, before the number is complete, any number your choices so far can lead to) with a qualified source. |
| No QPL next to a mating connector | That mate's part number isn't listed with a qualified source. |
| Confirm the part number with the manufacturer | The combination appears in QPD or in secondary sources but not in the specification documents the builder was built from (or the other way round). Check it before you use it. |
The builder still lets you choose these options and still writes the part number, because the specification allows it. The warning tells you that you will have trouble buying it as a qualified part.
What to do when a part number has no QPL
- Look for a listed alternative. Change one choice at a time and watch which options lose their "No QPL" tag: a different class, finish, key position or contact type often gets you to a qualified number.
- Check QPD yourself. Lists change as manufacturers qualify or drop parts. Search the specification's QPL at qpldocs.dla.mil for the exact number.
- Ask manufacturers. A manufacturer may build the part to the specification without being listed for it, or may be willing to qualify it. That part isn't a qualified product unless it's listed.
- Check your contract. If it requires qualified parts, an unlisted number may need your customer's approval, or a source-control drawing that names an approved source.
How the builder checks
The builder compares each part number against the QPLs downloaded from QPD (the date of the download is part of the data). It counts a number as listed only when QPD shows at least one qualified manufacturer for it, and it treats the same number written with different dashes or zero padding as the same part. It shows no manufacturer names; QPD has them.
For SAE-AS50151 (MIL-DTL-5015) connectors, the QPL's supplemental information sheet says every listed base part number is qualified in all contact styles and alternate insert positions, while QPD itself lists few of those variations. The builder follows the supplemental sheet: a 5015 part number counts as listed when its base number is.
The check covers the connector QPLs for MIL-DTL-38999, MIL-DTL-26482, MIL-DTL-83723 and SAE-AS50151 (MIL-DTL-5015), and the accessory QPLs for SAE-AS85049, plus the protective covers and accessories listed under those connector QPLs. Seal plugs to MS27488 have no QPL at all, so they always show the warning. The data is a snapshot: QPD is the authority, so confirm the status there before you order.