The ISO 9001 standard required organizations to have an ISO 9001 Quality Manual, as per ISO 9001 Version 2000 and Version 2008. However, with the release of Version 2015, the standard no longer requires a quality manual.
The Quality Manual is the document that explains the reason for performing the processes within the quality management system it wishes to establish. It is one of the first things that need to be documented when establishing a quality management system.
Some major things included in the Quality Manual are the scope of the quality management system, the quality policies of your organization, exclusions from the quality management system, references that are used to describe all of the processes that make up the quality management system, a diagram representing the interaction of all of the processes in your business and quality management system, amongst other things.
It is a commonly asked question whether a Quality Manual is required to meet ISO 9001:2015 standards. The standard does not specify the requirement to have a quality manual. However, it is highly recommended to have a quality manual as it can satisfy the requirements to have documented information about the scope or your organization, Quality Policy, Quality Objective and other information that supports the process of your quality management system.
As part of our ISO 9001 consultation service, LMG prepares and guides you through the entire process of preparing all the necessary documents such as the Quality Manual to implement a quality management system that can get you ready for a successful ISO ISO Certification.
