ISO 9001 · the quality policy
The quality policy, written from ten answers
Clause 5.2 asks top management for one short quality policy, the document a certification auditor reads first and the objectives and the management review refer back to: fit for what the company delivers, framing the objectives, committed to the requirements that apply and to continual improvement, and written below from ten answers in plain words.
The policy
A short policy is a better one: an auditor reads it for the commitments and the accountability, not for length.
# Quality policy: [company] Owner: [the system owner] · Approved by: [top management] · Review: at least annually Written on with the free page on getstandardos.com against Clause 5.2 of ISO 9001:2015. The wording is StandardOS's own; it is a starting point to approve and communicate, not a final answer. ## Purpose This policy states what [company] means by quality in [the product or service] and what it commits to in order to deliver it. It is the top document of the quality management system and the one the quality objectives and the management review refer back to. ## Scope This policy applies to everything [company] delivers to customers and to everyone acting on its behalf, within the scope of the quality management system. ## Why it matters to us Our customers make demonstrated quality a condition of doing business with [company], and this management system is how we show them, and their auditors, that the condition is met. ## Commitments - We deliver what we agreed, and where we cannot, we say so before the deadline rather than after it. - We agree requirements in a form both sides can point at before the work starts, and we review them before we commit. - We define how our processes run to the extent needed for the result to be consistent, and we keep those definitions current. - We meet the statutory and regulatory requirements that apply to what we sell. - When something does not conform, we correct it, find out why, and check that the fix held. - We improve the system continually rather than only at audit time, from the data the objectives, the audits and the customers give us. ## Objectives This policy provides the framework for setting and reviewing the quality objectives. The current objectives, each measured and reported on at the management review, are: - Deliver what we agreed: the share of deliveries accepted without rework or concession, with a baseline in the first quarter and improvement on it. - Understand why things go wrong, not only that they did: every nonconformity with a recorded cause and a verified check that the fix held. - Know what customers actually think rather than assuming: their perception gathered at planned intervals and reviewed at the management review. ## Accountability [top management] owns this policy and approves it, and is accountable for the effectiveness of the quality management system and for keeping it focused on meeting customer requirements, an accountability the standard does not allow to be delegated to a quality function. [the system owner] runs the system day to day: the processes, the objectives, the internal audits, the nonconformities and the reporting to top management. ## Communication and availability This policy is published where every employee and contractor can read it, is explained on joining so that it is understood and applied, and is provided to customers, auditors and other interested parties on request. ## Review This policy is reviewed at least annually at the management review, and whenever the scope, the processes or the regulatory position change materially. Changes are versioned and approved through the document control of the management system. Approved by [top management] on [date]. This policy is written from the answers given. It is not legal or certification advice; the certification body assesses the policy at the audit, and the words on the certificate are its own.
StandardOS writes this policy and keeps the objectives it promises
The quality policy is the first document StandardOS writes for an ISO 9001 system from your answers, with the document control, internal audit and nonconformity procedures under it in the same words and versioned; the objectives it names are then measured lines, and the management review a date on the calendar.
What Clause 5.2 asks for, and a one-page exampleThe management review, as an agenda