ISO Revisions

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New and
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ISO Revisions

Moving from ISO 9001:2008

to ISO 9001:2015
Transition Guide

ISO 9001 - Quality Management System - Transition Guide

Successful businesses understand the value of an effective Quality

Management System that ensures the organization is focussed on
meeting customer requirements and they are satisfied with the products
and services that they receive.
This guide has been designed to help you meet the
requirements of the new international standard for
Quality Management Systems (QMS) ISO 9001 :2015,
which replaces ISO 9001:2008. It specifies the
requirements for establishing, implementing,
maintaining and continually improving a QMS for
any organization, regardless of size.

So why is it changing?
All ISO management system standards are subject
to a regular review under the rules by which they are
written. Following a substantial user survey the
committee decided that a review was appropriate
and created the following objectives to maintain its
relevance in todays market place:

Integrate with other management systems

Provide an integrated approach to organizational
management

Provide a consistent foundation for the next 10

years

Reflect the increasingly complex environments in

which organizations operate

Ensure the new standard reflects the needs of all

potential user groups

Enhance an organizations ability to satisfy its

customers
NB. This transition guide is designed to be read in conjunction with the
latest available version of ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems
Requirements with guidance for use. It does not contain the complete
content of the standard and should not be regarded as a primary source
of reference in place of the published standard itself.

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Whats in the new standard and what

are the benefits for organizations?
ISO 9001 is the worlds most recognized management system standard and is
used by over a million organizations across the world. The new version has been
written to maintain its relevance in todays marketplace and to continue to offer
organizations improved performance and business benefits.
With the 2015 version of ISO 9001 you can:

Introduce an integrated approach with other management

system standards

Bring quality and continual improvement into the heart of the

organization

Our customers tell us they get multiple benefits as a result of

implementing and adopting a system that meets the requirements of
ISO 9001. The new version of the standard will continue to do this and
provide additional value.
The new standard will:

Increase involvement of the leadership team

Help you become a more consistent competitor in the marketplace

Introduce risk and opportunity management

Provide better quality management that helps you to meet present

Its much less prescriptive than the 2008 version and can be used as a
more agile business improvement tool. This means that you can make
it relevant to the requirements of your own organization to gain
sustainable business improvements.
One of the major changes to ISO 9001 is that it brings quality
management and continual improvement into the heart of an
organization. This means that the new standard is an opportunity for
organizations to align their strategic direction with their quality
management system. The starting point of the new version of ISO
9001 is to identify internal and external parties who support the QMS.
This means that it can be used to help enhance and monitor the
performance of an organization.

and identify future customer needs

Increase efficiency that will save you time, money and resources
Improve operational performance that will cut errors and improve
profits

Motivate, engage and involve staff with more efficient internal

processes

Win more high value customers, and achieve improved customer

retention with better customer service

Broaden business opportunities by demonstrating compliance

Implementing ISO 9001

ISO 9001 is part of a family of quality management related standards. You may
find this section useful for further reference in addition to ISO 9001:
1 ISO 9000, Quality management systems - Fundamentals and
vocabulary

5 ISO 10004, Quality management - Customer satisfaction Guidelines for monitoring and measuring

2 ISO 9004, Managing for the sustained success of an organization

- A quality management approach

6 ISO 10014, Quality management - Guidelines for realizing

financial and economic benefits

3 ISO 10001, Quality management - Customer satisfaction Guidelines for codes of conduct for organizations

7 ISO 19011, Guidelines for auditing management systems

4 ISO 10002, Quality management - Customer satisfaction Guidelines for complaints handling in organizations
3

ISO 9001 - Quality Management System - Transition Guide

Comparing the latest version of ISO 9001

with ISO 9001:2008
ISO 9001:2015 is based on Annex SL
the new high level structure. This is a
common framework for all ISO
management systems. This helps to
keep consistency, align different
management system standards, offer
matching sub-clauses against the top
level structure and apply common
language across all standards. It will be
easier for organizations to incorporate
their QMS into core business processes
and get more involvement from senior
management.
The Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle can
be applied to all processes and to the
quality management system as a whole.
The diagram here (Figure 1) illustrates
how Clauses 4 to 10 can be grouped in
relation to PDCA.

New/updated concept

Q ua

Organization and
its context (4)

agement Sy
lity Man
stem

(4)

Support
& Operation
(7,8)

Plan

Customer
requirements

Planning
(6)

Do

Leadership
(5)

Act

Needs and expectations

of relevant interested
parties (4)

Figure 1

Customer
satisfaction

Results of
the QMS

Performance
evaluation
(9)

Check

Products
and services

Improvement
(10)

Comment

Context of the organization

Consider the combination of internal and external factors and conditions that can have an

effect on an organizations approach to its products, services, investments and interested
parties.
Issues

Issues can be internal or external, positive or negative and include conditions that either
affect or are affected by the organization.

Interested parties

Can be a person or organization that can affect, be affected by, or perceive themselves to be
affected by a decision or activity. Examples include suppliers, customers or competitors.

Leadership

Requirements specific to top management who are defined as a person or group of people
who directs and controls an organization at the highest level.

Risk associated with threats

and opportunities

Refined planning process replaces preventive action and is defined as the effect of
uncertainty on an expected result.

Communication
There are explicit and more detailed requirements for both internal and external
communications.
Documented information

Replaces documents and records.

Performance evaluation
The measurement of quality performance and the effectiveness of the QMS, covering the

methods for monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation, as applicable, to ensure valid
results.
Nonconformity and corrective
More detailed evaluation of both the nonconformities themselves and corrective actions
action required.
Management review

More detailed requirements relating to inputs and outputs of the review.

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The key requirements of ISO 9001:2015

Clause 1: Scope
Clause 1 details the scope of the standard and there has been very
little change to this clause from ISO 9001:2008.

Clause 2: Normative references

ISO 9000, Quality Management System - Fundamental and
vocabulary is referenced and provides valuable guidance.

Clause 3: Terms and definitions

All the terms and definitions are contained in ISO 9000:2015
Quality Management Fundamentals and vocabulary.

Clause 4: Context of the organization

This is a new clause that establishes the context of the QMS and how
the business strategy supports this. The context of the organization
is the clause that underpins the rest of the new standard. It gives an
organization the opportunity to identify and understand the factors
and parties in their environment that support the quality
management system.
Firstly, the organization will need to determine external and internal
issues that are relevant to its purpose, i.e. what are the relevant
issues, both inside and out, that have an impact on what the

organization does, or that would affect its ability to achieve the

intended outcome(s) of its management system.
It should be noted that the term issue covers not only problems
which would have been the subject of preventive action in previous
standards, but also important topics for the management system to
address, such as any market assurance and governance goals that
the organization might set.
Secondly an organization will also need to identify the interested
parties that are relevant to their QMS. These groups could include
shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, and even pressure
groups and regulatory bodies. Each organization will identify their
own unique set of interested parties and over time these may
change in line with the strategic direction of the organization.
Next the scope of the QMS must be determined. This could include
the whole of the organization or specific identified functions. Any
outsourced functions or processes will also need to be considered in
the organizations scope if they are relevant to the QMS.
The final requirement of Clause 4 is to establish, implement, maintain
and continually improve the QMS in accordance with the
requirements of the standard. This requires the adoption of a process
approach and although every organization will be different,
documented information such as process diagrams or written
procedures could be used to support this.

ISO 9001 - Quality Management System - Transition Guide

Clause 5: Leadership

Clause 6: Planning

This clause places requirements on top management which is the

person or group of people who directs and controls the organization
at the highest level. It is no longer the responsibility of an individual
or to have a Management Representative who is responsible for the
QMS. There is an increased emphasis on people owning the QMS
rather than one individual. The purpose of these requirements is to
demonstrate leadership and commitment by leading from the top.

Planning has always been a familiar element of ISO 9001, but now
there is an increased focus on ensuring that it is considered with
Clause 4.1 context of the organization and Clause 4.2 interested
parties.

Top management now have greater involvement in the management

system and must ensure that the requirements of it are integrated
into the organizations processes and that the policy and objectives
are compatible with the strategic direction of the organization. The
quality policy should be a living document, at the heart of the
organization. To ensure this, top management are accountable and
have a responsibility to ensure the QMS is made available,
communicated, maintained and understood by all parties.
There is also a greater focus on top management to enhance
customer satisfaction by identifying and addressing risks and
opportunities that could affect this. Top management need to
demonstrate consistent customer focus by showing how they meet
customer requirements, regulatory and statutory requirements, and
also how the organization maintains enhanced customer
satisfaction.
In the same context, they need to have a grasp of the organizations
internal strengths and weaknesses and how these could have an
impact to deliver products or services. This will strengthen the
concept of business process management. In addition, top
management need to demonstrate an understanding of the key risks
associated with each process and the approach taken to manage,
reduce or transfer the risk .
Finally, the clause places requirements on top management to
assign QMS relevant responsibilities and authorities , but must
remain accountable for the effectiveness of the QMS.

The first part of this clause concerns risk assessment whilst the
second part is concerned with risk treatment. When determining
actions to identify risks and opportunities these need to be
proportionate to the potential impact they may have on the
conformity of products and services. Opportunities could for
example include new product launches, geographical expansion, new
partnerships, or new technologies.
The organization will need to plan actions to address both risks and
opportunities, how to integrate and implement the actions into its
management system processes and evaluate the effectiveness of
these actions. Actions must be monitored, managed and
communicated across the organization.
Another key element of this clause is the need to establish
measurable quality objectives. This clause retains some of the
requirements contained in Clause 5.4 of the 2008 version but is
more specific. Quality objectives now need to be consistent with the
quality policy, relevant to the conformity of products and services as
well as enhancing customer satisfaction.
The last part of the clause considers planning of changes which
must be done in a planned and systemic manner. There is a need to
identify the potential consequences of changes, determine who is
involved, when changes are to take place, what resource needs to be
allocated.

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Clause 7: Support
Clause 7 ensures there are the right resources, people and
infrastructure to meet the organizational goals. It requires an
organization to determine and provide the necessary resources to
establish, implement, maintain and continually improve the QMS.
Simply expressed, this is a very powerful requirement covering all
QMS resource needs and now covers both internal and external
resources.
Clause 7.1 builds on Clauses 6.1, 6.2, 6.3 and 7.6 from 2008 and
splits into 5 sub-clauses. There are additional requirements to meet
applicable statutory and regulatory requirements. The sub-clauses
continues to cover requirements for infrastructure and environment
for the operation of processes. Monitoring and measuring has been
changed to include resources, such as personnel or training.
Organizational knowledge is a new requirement which deals with
with requirements for competence, awareness, and communication
of the QMS. Personnel must not only be aware of the quality policy,
but they must also understand how they contribute to it and what
the implications of not conforming are.
There is a key requirement to maintain the knowledge held by an
organization to ensure conformity of products and services. This
could include the knowledge held by an individual as well as for
example, the intellectual property of an organization. Organizations
are required to examine whether the current knowledge they have is
sufficient when planning changes and whether any additional
knowledge is required.
Finally there are the requirements for documented information. This
is a new term, which replaces the references in the 2008 standard
to documents and records. Organizations need to determine the
level of documented information necessary to control the QMS. This
will differ between organizations due to size and complexity. In line
with the increased importance of information security in
organizations, there is also greater emphasis on controlling access
to documented information such as use of passwords. Organizations
should also have systems in place to provide a back-up should IT
systems crash.

Clause 8: Operation
This clause deals with the execution of the plans and processes that
enable the organization to meet customer requirements and design
products and services. It includes much of what was previously referred
to in Clause 7 of the 2008 version, but there is greater emphasis on the
control of processes especially planned changes and review of the
consequences of unintended changes, and mitigating any adverse
effects as necessary.

The Clauses continue to cover Requirements for products and services

which remains largely unchanged from the 2008 version. However, it
now requires communication with regards to contingency actions
where required and also the treatment of customer property. A new
requirement for communicating with potential customers is also
included, useful for bringing new offerings or solutions to the market.
There are more explicit requirements in terms of the standards or codes
of practice that the organization has committed to implement; internal
and external resource needs for the design and development of
products and services and finally the potential consequences of failure
due to the nature of products and services.
There is also a new clause which covers post-delivery activities. This
could include activities such as maintenance programmes or work
carried out under warranty, and activities covering final disposal or
recycling of the product. When determining the extent of these activities
organizations must consider the risks associated with a product or
service, customer requirements, customer feedback, and any statutory
requirements.

Clause 9: Performance evaluation

Performance evaluation covers many of the areas previously featured in
Clause 8 of the 2008 version.
Requirements for monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation are
covered and you will need to consider what needs to be measured, methods
employed, when data should be analysed and reported on and at what
intervals. Documented information that provides evidence of this must be
retained.
There is now an emphasis on directly seeking out information that relates
to how customers view the organization. Organizations must actively seek
out information on customer perception. This can be achieved in a number
of ways including satisfaction surveys, analysis of market share, and through
complaints logged. There is now an explicit requirement that organizations
must show how the analysis and evaluation of this data is used, especially
with regards to the need for improvements to the QMS.
Internal audits must also be conducted and this is largely unchanged from
those in the 2008 version. There are additional requirements relating to
defining the audit criteria and ensuring the results of the audits are reported
to relevant management.
Management reviews are still required but there are additional requirements
including the consideration of changes in external and internal issues that
are relevant to the QMS. Documented information must be retained as
evidence ofmanagement reviews.

The revised version of the standard acknowledges the trend towards

greater use of subcontractors and outsourcing. This is demonstrated by
the requirement to establish criteria for monitoring the performance of
these parties in addition to keeping records used to establish selection
criteria.

ISO 9001 - Quality Management System - Transition Guide

Clause 10: Improvement

This clause starts with a new section that organizations should
determine and identify opportunities for improvement such as
improved processes to enhance customer satisfaction. There is also
a need to actively look for opportunities to improve processes,
products and services, and the QMS, especially with future customer
requirements in mind.
Due to the new way of handling preventive actions, there are no
preventive action requirements in this clause. However, there are
some new corrective action requirements. The first is to react to the
nonconformities and take action, as applicable, to control and
correct the nonconformities and deal with the consequences. The
second is to determine whether similar nonconformities exists or
could potentially occur.
The requirement for continual improvement has been extended to
cover the suitability and adequacy of the QMS as well as its
effectiveness, but it no longer specifies how an organization achieves
this.

Major differences in terminology between

ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 9001:2015
ISO 9001:2008

ISO 9001:2015

Products

Products and services

Exclusions
Not used see Clause A.5 for clarification of
applicability
Management representative Not used
Documentation, quality
manual, documented
procedures, records

Documented information

Work environment

Environment for the operation of processes

Monitoring and measuring Monitoring and measuring resources

equipment
Purchased product

Externally provided products and services

Supplier

External provider

The change has brought some changes to the terminology used as is

shown in the table opposite.

Documented information
As part of the alignment with other management system standards a
common clause on Documented Information has been adopted. The
terms documented procedure and record have both been replaced
throughout the requirements text by documented information.
Where ISO 9001:2008 would have referred to documented
procedures (e.g. to define, control or support a process) this is now
expressed as a requirement to maintain documented information.

Where ISO 9001:2008 would have referred to records this is now

expressed as a requirement to retain documented information.
Requirements to maintain documented information are detailed
throughout the standard and some examples are given. Please read
the standard carefully particularly Clause 7.5.

4.3

Scope of the QMS

8.3

Design and development

4.4

QMS and its processes

8.4

Control of externally provided products and services

5.2

QMS policy

8.5

Production and service provision

6.2

QMS objectives

8.6

Release of products and services

7.1 Resources

8.7

Control of non conforming processes

7.2

Evidence of competence

7.5

Documented information determined by the

organization as being necessary for the effectiveness
of the QMS

9.1

Control of monitoring, measurement, analysis and

evaluation

9.2

Evidence of the audit programme(s) and the audit results

9.3

Evidence of the results of management reviews

8.1

Operational planning and control

8.2

Determination of requirements for products and

services

10.1

Evidence of the nature of the nonconformities and any

subsequent actions taken

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Transition guidance
ISO 9001:2015 Transition Timeline
2015
September
2015
publication

2016

2017

Your transition journey

2018

September 2015 start of three year

transition period to September 2018

Transition is an opportunity
What do you need to do?

BSI has identified a step-by-step journey to help you through the

transition and realize the benefits of ISO 9001:2015. We have
mapped out a framework which guides you through the options and
support available from BSI to ensure you have the knowledge and
information you require.
Buy a copy of the International Standard. This will help you become
familiar with the new requirements, terminology and layout

Visit the BSI website to access the most up-to-date support and
transition material available at bsigroup.com/isorevisions including
whitepapers which can help you understand the changes

1. Take a completely fresh look at the QMS

2. Attend our suite of transition training courses
to understand the differences in more detail
3. Highlight the key changes as opportunity
for improvements
4. Make changes to your documentation to
reflect new structure (as necessary)
5. Implement new requirements on leadership,
risk and context of organization
6. Review effectiveness of current control set
7. Assume every control may have changed
8. Carry out an impact assessment

Look at the wide range of BSI transition training courses available to

make sure you fully understand the changes including introduction
and implementing courses as well as specific deep-dive modules
designed to help you understand core ISO Standard requirements

Download our Implementation Toolkit developed to help you

understand, implement and communicate the ISO 9001 revision
changes throughout your organization

Consider further services to help implement the changes. BSI has a

full range of services available including gap assessments and
business improvement tools to help you manage your systems and
transition. These can help you transition quickly and gain early
adopter advantage.

Compare the differences between

ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 9001:2015
Download our Mapping Guide which provides an overview
of the changes, deletions, new or enhanced requirements between
ISO 9001:2008 and the FDIS ISO 9001:2015
Visit bsigroup.com/iso9001revision

ISO 9001 - Quality Management System - Transition Guide

Transition training from BSI

Whatever the specific requirement, BSI has designed a series of
training courses that can meet your needs. Its worth noting that
all courses have been designed by experts in their fields who
have been directly involved in the development of the standards.
Our experienced tutors can help you get to grips with the
matters that concern you and your organization directly, whether
delivered in-house or as part of an open course where other
delegates can share their experience.

ISO 9001:2015 Implementing changes

2 day classroom based training course
Discover how to apply the key changes to ISO 9001:2015 and
formulate a transition action plan
Combines the one day transition course with an additional day
of implementation activities
Recommended for those responsible for transitioning an
existing system to ISO 9001:2015

The transition courses include:

ISO 9001:2015 Auditor transition
ISO 9001:2015 Senior management briefing
2 hour face-to-face session
Understand the purpose of ISO 9001:2015 and the leadership
responsibilities outlined in the standard
Important for top management of organizations transitioning
to ISO 9001:2015

2 day classroom based training course

Learn how to audit the key changes to ISO 9001:2015
Combines the one day transition course, with a supplementary
day of ISO 9001:2015 auditing activities
Ideal for existing internal and lead auditors who need to
convert to ISO 9001:2015

ISO 9001:2015 Transition

ISO 9001:2015 Deep dive

1 day classroom based training course

2 day classroom based training course

Learn about the new ISO high level structure and the
differences between ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 9001:2015

Gain a deeper insight into these important ISO 9001:2015

concepts: process approach, risk-based thinking, control of
external provision and auditing leadership.

Essential for anyone involved with an ISO 9001:2015

transition, from managers to implementers and auditors

10

Valuable for anyone involved with an ISO 9001:2015 transition,

from managers to implementers and auditors.

bsigroup.com

Additional resources
There are a variety of materials which can be accessed online at
www.bsigroup.com/iso-9001 and consists of:
The importance of leadership
The new standard has an entire clause devoted to Leadership
and is one of the most significant changes. This whitepaper
explains why management are now required to take a more
active role in the QMS to ensure it is implemented, embedded,
communicated and maintained.

ISO 9001 Whitepaper - The history and future of ISO 9001

With a revision for 2015 underway, this whitepaper looks at the
history of the standard, how it has developed over the years and
the changes companies can expect to see in ISO 9001:2015.
ISO 9001 Whitepaper: Managing risk in quality management
This whitepaper explains the background to the revision, how risk
is being incorporated into the revised standard and the benefits
for ISO 9001 clients.

REVISED: ISO 9001 Frequently Asked Questions

PLUS:

Here we aim to address those initial questions that you may have
as your begin your journey towards the new standard.

Old-to-new ISO 9001 Mapping Guide

Introducing Annex SL

Transition journey to the new ISO 9001:2015

Self-assessment checklist

The new generic framework with core text, common terms and
definitions and the blueprint for all management system
standards going forward understand more about the structure
in our whitepaper.

Additional services
We also have a wide range of services to help you to implement the changes and understand how well you are doing. These include:

Gap assessment

Business improvement tools

A transition gap assessment is a pre-assessment service

where we take a closer look at your transition plan and quality
management system comparing it with the requirements of
ISO 9001:2015. As a first step in your transition journey with
BSI, the gap assessment can help confirm the areas of your
system already compliant and any gaps in your system, saving

When you implement the revised standard its extremely

important to manage and maintain it in the most efficient
manner possible. Best practice organizations do this by
deploying business improvement tools such as BSI Action
Manager or Entropy software, as one of our clients told us, its
literally like having an extra member of the team. Clients have
experienced 50% reduction in the time to implement their
management system.

you time and money.

11

Why BSI?
BSI has been at the forefront of ISO 9001 since the start. And it was originally
based on BS 5750 which was developed by BSI. Since 1994 BSI has held the
Secretariat of the International Committee developing and evolving ISO 9001
to where it is today. Thats why were best placed to help you understand and
transition to the new standard.
At BSI we create excellence by driving the success of our clients through
standards. We enable others to perform better, manage risk and achieve
sustainable growth.
For over a century our experts have been challenging mediocrity and
complacency to help embed excellence into the way people and products
work. We make excellence a habit

Our products and services

We provide a unique combination of complementary products and services, managed
through our three business streams; Knowledge, Assurance and Compliance.
Knowledge

Compliance

BSI works with business experts, government bodies, trade

associations and consumer groups to capture best practice
and structure the knowledge all organizations need to succeed.
The majority of the widely used and implemented international
standards were originally shaped by BSI, for example ISO
14001, Environmental Management and ISO/IEC 27001 for
Information Security.

To experience real, long-term benefits, our clients need to

ensure ongoing compliance to a standard so that it becomes an
embedded habit. We train our clients to understand standards
and how to implement them, as well as provide added value
and differentiated management tools to facilitate the process of
ongoing compliance.

Assurance

To find out more

visit: bsigroup.com

BSI Group 2015 BSI/UK/611/SC/0715/en/BLD

Independent assessment of the conformity of a process or

product to a particular standard ensures that our clients perform
to a high level of excellence. We help our clients understand how
they are performing, thereby identifying areas of improvement
from within

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