The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) on Friday published ISO 9001:2008, the latest edition of the international standard used by companies in 175 countries worldwide as the framework for their quality management systems. IAPMO R&T has spent a great deal of time in the preceding months preparing for this announcement and assures all ISO 9001 clients their concerns have already been addressed.
“We’ve already worked out all the potential wrinkles on behalf of our clients and are committed to making this transition not only seamless, but a positive experience once they’re entirely up to speed,” said Shirley Dewi, Management System Registration Services manager for IAPMO R&T. “All of the necessary paperwork and other transition procedures are already in the process of completion and each client will be contacted personally to explain what must be done on their end.”
ISO 9001:2008 does not contain any new requirements different from the 2000 edition it is replacing. It only introduces clarifications to the existing requirements of ISO 9001:2000 based on eight years of experience implementing the standard worldwide, with about one million certificates issued to date. It also introduces changes intended to improve consistency with the environmental management system standard, ISO 14001:2004.
Users of the 2000 edition will want to thoroughly consider whether these new clarifications impact their current interpretation of ISO 9001:2000. IAPMO R&T can assist in this process.
Like all of ISO’s more than 17,000 standards, ISO 9001 is periodically reviewed to ensure that it is maintained as state of the art. ISO Technical Committee 176/SC 2, which is responsible for the ISO 9000 family of standards, has prepared an introduction and support package of documents explaining the differences between ISO 9001:2008 and the year 2000 version, why and what they mean for users.
These documents can be found on the ISO Website.
IAPMO R&T will gladly walk any client through these documents to ensure full understanding of the changes and how they may affect each individual business.
Certification of conformity to ISO 9001:2008 shall only be issued following a routine surveillance or recertification audit against ISO 9001:2008. One year after publication of ISO 9001:2008, all accredited certifications issued shall be to ISO 9001:2008.
For more information or guidance, please contact Management System Registration Services at 1-877-4-MY-ISO-1 or send an e-mail to isoinfo@iapmort.org.
Last modified: November 14, 2008