Should non-conformance be hyphenated?

In regulated manufacturing and quality management contexts, the safest approach is to treat this as a style and consistency question, not a compliance question.

In common usage:

• “Nonconformity” (one word, no hyphen) is the term used in many standards (for example, ISO 9001 uses “nonconformity”).
• “Non-conformance” (hyphenated) is widely used in industry documents, QMS procedures, and NC/CAPA systems.
• “Non conformance” (with a space and no hyphen) is rarely preferred and is usually treated as inconsistent or informal.

For your QMS and operational documentation, the key point is consistency:

• Pick a primary term (for example, “nonconformity” to align with ISO language, or “non-conformance” if that is already used in your NC forms and MES/MRP fields).
• Document the choice in your controlled style guide or document control procedure.
• Apply it consistently across SOPs, work instructions, forms, and electronic system fields to avoid confusion in audits, investigations, and data analysis.

If your systems already mix terms (for example, legacy MES uses “Non-Conformance” and newer QMS uses “Nonconformity”), change control and validation requirements may make it impractical to force a full cleanup. In that case, define a clear mapping in your procedures so it is obvious to auditors and users that these labels refer to the same underlying concept.

So, “non-conformance” may be hyphenated, but it does not have to be. Choose one convention, align it with the main standards you follow where practical, and keep it consistent across your documentation and systems.