AQL

Stands for: Acceptable Quality Limit

The worst average defect rate a buyer will accept in a lot, used in sampling plans (ISO 2859-1) that tell an inspector how many pieces to check and how many defects are allowed.

Garment inspections usually use AQL 2.5 for major defects and 4.0 for minor defects, with zero tolerance for critical defects. For a 3,000-piece lot at General Level II, the inspector checks 125 pieces and the lot passes with up to 7 major defects.