New Edition of ISO 9001 Expected in October-November 2008
July 1, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS
| |
| Tools for Engineers |
IHS sells flexible standards collections and software to maximize your workflow.
To learn more, and for a free quote, please complete the form below. |
|
| |
A new edition of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001 quality management system (QMS) standard is being submitted for voting as a Final Draft International Standard.
Subject to formal approval by ISO membership, publication of the revised version should occur in the October-November 2008 time frame.
According to ISO, the proposed ISO 9001:2008 does not introduce additional requirements compared with the last edition in 2000, and it does not change the intent of ISO 9001:2000.
ISO 9001 provides the requirements for a QMS, which is a framework for an organization to control its processes in order to achieve objectives including customer satisfaction, regulatory compliance and continual improvement.
Organizations that implement the standard can choose to have their QMS independently certified as conforming to the requirements of ISO 9001, as means of increasing the confidence of their business partners, customers and regulators in their products and services, ISO said.
Although certification is not compulsory, it is estimated that more than one million ISO 9001 certificates have been issued to organizations in private and public sectors, in manufacturing and services and in 170 countries. The new edition, however, will not require any specific reassessment for certification, ISO said.
ISO 9001:2008 will be the fourth edition of the standard. The third edition, published in 2000, included new requirements and a sharpened customer focus, reflecting developments in quality management and experience gained since the publication of the initial version.
Compared with the 2000 revision, ISO 9001:2008 represents fine-tuning, rather than a thorough overhaul, ISO said.
The revision introduces clarifications to the requirements existing in ISO 9001:2000, based on user experience over the last eight years, and changes that are intended to improve further compatibility with the ISO 14001:2004 standard for environmental management systems.
To accompany the publication of the new version, ISO said it is working on implementation guidance for ISO 9001:2008, a reference table comparing and contrasting ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 9001:2008 and answers to frequently asked questions.
ISO also is collaborating with the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) concerning accredited certification.
Source: International Organization for Standardization (ISO).