ISO 9001:2008

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Please read this FAQ in conjunction with the ISO 9001:2000 FAQ and “Understanding ISO 9001”. 

What Is The ISO 9001: 2008 Standard?

The latest edition of the ISO 9001 standard ISO 9001: 2008, Quality Management Systems – Requirements, was officially published by (ISO) the International Organization for Standardization on November 14, 2008. It is the fourth edition of the ISO 9001 standard since it was first published in 1987. 

Who Is Responsible For Revising The standards?

The ISO Technical Committee no.176, Sub-committee no.2 (ISO/TC 176/SC 2) is responsible for the revision process in collaboration with consensus among quality and industry experts nominated by ISO Member bodies, and representing all interested parties. 

Does ISO 9001:2008 Have Additional Requirements Beyond ISO 9001:2000 ? 

This latest (4th) edition of ISO 9001 contains no new requirements compared to the (3rd) year 2000 edition, which it replaces. What it does is provide clarification to the existing requirements of ISO 9001:2000 based on eight years’ experience of worldwide implementing of the standard and introduces changes intended to improve consistency with the environmental management system standard, ISO 14001:2004. 

The clarifications and changes in ISO 9001:2008 represents fine-tuning, rather than a thorough overhaul. It focuses on changes that organizations might make to better comply with the spirit of the standard without adding, deleting, or altering its requirements. The changes are minor in nature and address such issues as the need to clarify, provide greater consistency, resolve perceived ambiguities, and improve compatibility with ISO 14001. The numbering system and the structure of the standard remain unchanged. As a result, the new standard looks much like the old standard.

ISO has grouped the changes incorporated in this ISO 9001:2008 edition into the following categories:
- No changes or minimum changes on user documents, including records
- No changes or minimum changes to existing QMS processes
- No additional training required or minimal training required
- No effects on current certifications 

In contrast, the 3rd edition, ISO 9001:2000 published in 2000, represented a major overhaul of the standard, including new requirements and a sharpened customer focus, reflecting developments in quality management and experience gained since the publication of the initial version.

Then Why Was It Necessary To Introduce This Revision?
All ISO standards – currently more than 17 400 – are periodically reviewed. To ensure that ISO standards are maintained at the state of the art, ISO has a rule requiring them to be periodically reviewed and a decision taken to confirm, withdraw or revise the documents. The review process must be initiated within 3 years of publication of a standard. The review considers several factors such as technological evolution, new methods and materials, new quality and safety requirements, or questions of interpretation and application.

The review of ISO 9001 resulting in the 2008 edition was carried out by subcommittee SC 2 of ISO/TC 176. This subcommittee, which is responsible for the ISO 9000 family, unites expertise from 80 participating countries and 19 international or regional organizations, plus other technical committees.

This review has a number of inputs that help it:

§   A global user questionnaire/survey  

§   A market Justification Study  

§   Suggestions arising from the ISO/TC 176 interpretation process  

§   Opportunities for increased compatibility with ISO 14001  

§   The need for greater clarity, ease of use, and improved translation 

§   Current trends - keeping up with recent developments in management system practices. 

How Does The New ISO 9001 Edition Affect Existing ISO 9001 QMS’s?

As organizations start looking at ISO 9001:2008, they will wonder to what extent the changes might affect them. To a large extent, the new standard will not result in significant change to existing quality management systems (QMS).

ISO/TC 176 was careful in not making change for change sake. In the case of editorial changes, this was especially true. This could have lead to a false impression that there was a change in requirements, carrying greater significance than was intended. In those instances, when the committee members couldn’t come to a consensus in determining if a change added or deleted a requirement, they opted to retain the existing text. They decided it was better to err on the side of caution rather than to contribute to any misunderstanding in the marketplace.

The changes that have been incorporated into this edition of the ISO 9001 standard include changes that should lead to a better understanding across a broader range of product types, including service organizations; use of deliberate wording to minimize the potential for incorrect user interpretation; and reflect nuances of similar concepts. Lastly, some of the changes to specific clauses were made based on the 2004 International User Feedback Survey. This survey was conducted after the publication of ISO 9001:2000 and had invited respondents to identify areas they most wanted to see improved.

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