Interpret findings

Every finding Specwarden produces has a severity level, a check ID, a standard reference, and a recommendation. This page explains what each field means.

Severity levels

Major

A high-priority issue that must be resolved before the DFMEA is ready for sign-off. Major findings indicate a conformance gap against AIAG-VDA or AIAG-RPN requirements that reviewers and customer SQEs are likely to raise.

Minor

A should-fix issue that represents a meaningful quality gap but is unlikely to block sign-off on its own. Accumulation of minor findings weakens the DFMEA quality argument.

OFI

An Opportunity for Improvement. The DFMEA meets minimum requirements, but the flagged area could be strengthened. OFI findings are informational and do not require a response.

Finding card anatomy

Each finding card in the report contains five fields:

Finding IDA unique identifier in the format F-NNN, e.g., F-001. Use this to reference specific findings in design review meetings or corrective action logs.

Check IDThe rule or AI check that produced the finding, e.g., U-001. Check IDs are stable across Specwarden versions — safe to record in action trackers.

Standard referenceThe AIAG handbook section or rule ID that the finding is based on, e.g., AIAG-VDA §2.5.10. Use this to locate the normative requirement.

Why it mattersA plain-language explanation of the risk or quality gap the finding represents.

RecommendationA specific, actionable suggestion for resolving the finding in your DFMEA.

Key check IDs

Check ID	Name	What it flags
U-001	Empty Prevention Control	A row has a Detection rating but no Prevention Control populated. AIAG-VDA requires at least one Prevention Control for every Failure Cause.
U-004	Vague descriptor	A Function, Failure Mode, or Failure Effect contains a vague term such as "adequate," "proper," or "good" without measurable criteria.
U-007	Numeric text in S/O/D	A Severity, Occurrence, or Detection cell contains a numeric string stored as text rather than an integer, which breaks RPN arithmetic.
U-009	Missing rationale	A Severity or Occurrence rating is present but no rationale or basis for the rating is recorded in the DFMEA.
D-001b	Supplier-blame cause	A Failure Cause blames the upstream supplier's execution rather than naming a design-specification gap that the engineering team controls.
D-004	Post-action check	Expanded to three cases: the target completion date has passed but revised ratings are not populated; revised values are empty after an action is marked complete; or the action description is too vague to assess effectiveness.
D-005	Implausible risk reduction	An action claims an RPN reduction greater than 70% with no change to Severity or Occurrence, which is implausible under AIAG-VDA §2.6.3.
M-002 / M-003	Brainstorm depth	A Function has fewer Failure Modes than expected for its complexity (M-002), or a Failure Mode has only one Failure Cause (M-003), suggesting incomplete brainstorming.

Free tier finding limit

Free tier accounts see the first 5 findings per review. The complete list is available on Pro and Pro Plus plans. Upgrading does not re-run the AI — all findings are computed once and the paywall is lifted in the report renderer.

Next step: Export reports — download PDF and Word reports from your review.