The ISO Technical Committee 176 (ISO/TC 176) on Quality Management, the committee responsible for the ISO 9000 family of Quality Management System (QMS) standards, also publishes many supporting documents (called Guidance Documents) to supplement the implementation and improvement of effective quality management systems.
Most of these Guidance Documents have been revised within the past three years - time to get updated copies, perhaps.
Lead Auditors and others working for Certification Bodies will find them invaluable, as will those maintaining management systems. And they do not apply to ISO 9001 alone - they can also be applied to ISO 13485, ISO 14001, ISO 45001 and other Management System Standards.
ISO/TC 176 has published ISO/TS 9002:2016 Quality Management Systems - Guidelines for applying ISO 9001:2015. This document provides valuable guidance on the application of ISO 9001:2015 to service organizations and SMEs generally. There is also a companion for smaller organizations, namely, ISO 9001:2015 for Small Enterprises – What to do? published in 2016 by the ISO/TC 176.
Seventeen additional ISO 9001 guidance documents have been published on various topics related to ISO 9001 principles and practices. This is an ongoing series, with the latest guide having been published in 2022:
As the titles indicate, these are all for "guidance," not for "certification," in the same way, that ISO 9004 is used. Yes, that’s the twentieth and final guidance document we’ve identified:
As you can see from the publication dates, some of these documents have been around for a long time, but all are currently listed on the ISO website. They continue to be developed and can be very useful in difficult situations or when Quality Managers and Consultants need a reference document for backup to their recommendations.
NOTE: Table B.1 of Annex B to ISO 9001:2015 indicates the clause in the Standard where each guideline document would typically be applied.
So, if you're implementing ISO 9001, you could find some opportunities and/or an elegant solution to a QMS problem among them.
Please compare our full list of available ISO 9001 training and certification courses on the graphic below. Click on any course you are interested in to learn more about them.
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We have chosen ISO 21001 certification because, unlike IRCA and Exemplar badges (which, in our opinion, are commercially compromised), it is based on independent third-party assessment. It is a ‘university grade’ standard globally used by schools, colleges, and universities to demonstrate competence.