ISO 9001 definition

ISO 9001 is concerned with the requirements organisations must meet in order to comply with the ISO 9000 family of standards. In October 2010, there were over one million companies worldwide certified to ISO9001 standards, according to the International Organization for Standardization.

ISO 9001 certification certificates are awarded by third-party certification bodies for a set period of time and must be subsequently renewed. These organisations conduct a company audit – if there are no areas of nonconformity an ISO 9001 certificate will be issued. If there, the company must present a list of improvements to be made and then make them – once the certification body is happy with the changes, they will issue a certificate.

Companies, particularly multinationals and global buyers, are increasingly expecting their suppliers to hold ISO 9001 certification.

Compare with ISO 9000.