Compliance with special characteristics

Answer:
Design and development is by the rule the most complex part of IATF and similar standards like ISO 9001. In requirement 8.3.3.3 standard is referring to special characteristics that can be defined by the customer or by the organization.
Most important part is that all special characteristics (product/process) must be thoroughly documented and marked on drawings (if required), risk analyses (FMEA), control plans and work instructions.
Also, the request is that a conversion table of internal definitions and symbols and symbols to the definitions and symbols defined by the customer must be submitted to the customer on request.
That basically means that all symbols and internal de finitions in conversion tables that organization is using must be submitted to the customer on their request. This is important for the mitigation of risk that an organization is using a different conversion table. It can be a case if, for example, OEM is from Europe and supplier is from the USA or vice versa.

If you would like to found out more about FMEA please see: What is FMEA, and how to apply it in IATF 16949 https://advisera.com/16949academy/blog/2017/09/06/what-is-fmea-and-how-to-apply-it-in-iatf-16949/

We would, also, like to suggest the following material Procedure for Design and Development: https://advisera.com/16949academy/documentation/procedure-for-design-and-development/