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ISO 9000 - Quality management

The ISO 9000 family addresses various aspects of quality management and contains some of ISOs best known standards. The standards provide guidance and tools for companies and organizations who want to ensure that their products and services consistently meet customers requirements, and that quality is consistently improved. There are many standards in the ISO 9000 family, including: ISO 9001:2008 - sets out the requirements of a quality management system ISO 9000:2005 - covers the basic concepts and language ISO 9004:2009 - focuses on how to make a quality management system more efficient and effective ISO 19011:2011 - sets out guidance on internal and external audits of quality management systems.

ISO 9001:2008
ISO 9001:2008 sets out the criteria for a quality management system and is the only standard in the family that can be certified to (although this is not a requirement). It can be used by any organization, large or small, regardless of its field of activity. In fact ISO 9001:2008 is implemented by over one million companies and organizations in over 170 countries.

Quality Management Principles

The standard is based on a number of quality management principles including a strong customer focus, the motivation and implication of top management, the process approach and continual improvement. These principles are explained in more detail in the pdf Quality Management Principles. Using ISO 9001:2008 helps ensure that customers get consistent, good quality products and services, which in turn brings many business benefits.

Audits
Checking that the system works is a vital part of ISO 9001:2008. An organization must perform internal audits to check how its quality management system is working. An organization may decide to invite an independent certification body to verify that it is in conformity to the standard, but there is no requirement for this. Alternatively, it might invite its clients to audit the quality system for themselves. Read more about certification to management system standards.

Preview ISO 9001:2008

You can preview the freely available sections of ISO 9001:2008 on ISO's Online Browsing Platform. To purchase this standard please visit the ISO Store.

ISO 9001 Revision

ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems is under review and an updated version is expected by the end of 2015. All ISO standards are reviewed every 5 years to make sure they remain as helpful and relevant. Learn more about the ISO 9001 revision

ISO Store
ISO 19011:2011 Guidelines for auditing management systems ISO 9001:2008 Quality management systems -- Requirements ISO 9004:2009 Managing for the sustained success of an organization -- A quality management approach

Visit the ISO Store to buy more standards

Online collection: Quality management

Make sure your products and services meet customers' needs with this online collection. More information

ISO 9001 - What does it mean in the supply chain

Brochure with details of how to use ISO 9001 in the supply chain Download pdf

Useful publications
Selection and use of the ISO 9000 family of standards
Overview of the standards in the family and how they form a basis for continual improvement.

Download pdf

ISO 9001 for Small Businesses. What to do

Written by a group of ISO/TC 176 experts, this handbook has been updated to take account of ISO 9001:2008, which gives the requirements for quality management systems.

The integrated use of management system standards

This book provides organizations with guidance on how to integrate requirements of multiple ISO or non-ISO management system standards with their organization's management system.

Support for implementing ISO 9001:2008

ISO 9001:2008 is published by ISO technical committee (TC) ISO/TC 176, sub-committee 2. When the standard was revised and updated in 2008 the TC prepared some guidance documents to help organizations and companies implement the revised version of the standard. Guidance on some of the frequently used words found in the ISO 9000 family of standards - Download pdf Guidance on the concept and use of the process approach for management systems - Download pdf Implementation guidance for ISO 9001:2008 - Download pdf Guidance on ISO 9001:2008 - Sub-clause 1.2 Application' - Download pdf Guidance on the documentation requirements of ISO 9001:2008 - Download pdf Guidance on 'Outsourced processes' - Download pdf

More information can also be found on the website run by ISO TC/176/SC2. Please note that this is an external link.

Auditing ISO 9001

Support on auditing quality management systems can be found on the website of the ISO 9001 Auditing Practices Group. This is an informal group of quality management system experts, auditors and practitioners from ISO/TC 176 and the International Accreditation Forum.

News
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ISO 9001 draft available to buy

The Committee Draft of the revision of ISO 9001 is now available to buy from the ISO webstore for 38 Swiss francs.
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ISO 9001 revision reaches Committee Draft stage

ISO 9001, Quality Management Systems - Requirements, has reached the Committee Draft stage of the revision process. Like all ISO standards, ISO 9001 undergoes a revision every five years to ensure it remains a useful tool.
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Stop food waste with ISO standards on World Environment Day!

Each year, 1.3 billion tonnes of food are wasted. This is equivalent to the total production of subSaharan Africa. Think. Eat. Save., the theme of this years World Environment Day (5 June), aims to combat food waste and loss, and encourage all of us to reduce our "foodprint". ISO standards can help us achieve this goal.
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Automotive quality - Japanese brake maker slows claims and speeds business thanks to ISO/TS 16949
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Getting the best out of people - ISO 10018 aids ISO 9001 implementation
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ISO 9000: Views from the users

FAQs (frequently asked questions)

Can I find out if a particular company has been certified? Not from ISO directly: ISO does not issue certificates. Certificates are issued independently of ISO by certification bodies and there is no central database of all these certifications. If you know which certification body delivered the certification you can contact them directly. The ISO member for your country may also be able to help you. I want to be an ISO 9000 auditor: where can I get training? Contact the ISO member for your country, which may be able to point you in the direction of a relevant training scheme. Any certification or registration bodies operating in your country should also be able to advise you.