ISO 9001:2015 with Amendment 1:2024
ISO 9001: Quality management
ISO 9001 is the most widely held management system standard. It shows clients that you plan your work, control it, check it and fix problems so they do not recur. Main contractors and public buyers often ask for it at prequalification.
ISO 9001 is being revised, with the new edition due around 2026. Check with your certification body which edition you will be audited against. Certificates to the 2015 edition stay valid through a transition period.
Who needs it
- Contractors bidding for main contractor, housing association or public sector work
- Firms whose clients ask for it in tenders or supplier questionnaires
- Any business that wants fewer call-backs and less rework
How long it takes
3–6 months for a small business, from first gap analysis to certification
Check your readinessWhat each clause requires
Clause numbers follow the standard. Summaries are our own plain-English explanation; buy the standard itself from BSI or ISO for the exact wording.
Clause 4: Context of the organisation
4.1 Understanding the organisation and its context
Identify the internal and external issues that affect your quality performance, including whether climate change is relevant to you.
4.2 Needs and expectations of interested parties
List the people and organisations that care about your quality performance (clients, regulators, workers, neighbours) and what they require of you.
4.3 Scope of the management system
Write down which sites, activities and services the QMS covers, and justify anything left out.
4.4 Quality management system and its processes
Map your main processes (quoting, planning, delivery, handover, invoicing), their inputs, outputs, owners and how they connect.
Clause 5: Leadership
5.1 Leadership and commitment
Top management must own the QMS: provide resources, integrate it into day-to-day work and be accountable for its results.
5.2 Quality policy
A signed quality policy that suits your business, commits to meeting requirements and to improvement, and is communicated to staff.
5.3 Roles, responsibilities and authorities
Assign who is responsible for the QMS and for reporting on its performance.
5.1.2 Customer focus
Leaders make sure customer requirements are understood and met, and that customer satisfaction is tracked.
Clause 6: Planning
6.1 Actions to address risks and opportunities
Identify the risks and opportunities that could affect your quality, and plan actions for them.
6.2 Quality objectives
Set measurable quality objectives, with owners, resources and deadlines.
6.3 Planning of changes
Plan changes to the management system rather than making them ad hoc.
Clause 7: Support
7.1 Resources
Provide the people, equipment and premises the QMS needs.
7.1.5 Monitoring and measuring resources
Instruments you use to check work (meters, testers, levels) are fit for purpose and calibrated where needed.
7.2 Competence
Decide what competence each role needs, make sure people have it, and keep records.
7.3 Awareness
Staff know the quality policy, how they contribute and what happens if they do not follow the system.
7.4 Communication
Decide what you communicate about quality, when, to whom and how.
7.5 Documented information
Control your documents and records: version, approve, store, protect and retire them properly.
Clause 8: Operation
8.1 Operational planning and control
Plan each job: what is required, what resources it needs and how you will check it was done right.
8.2 Requirements for products and services
Confirm you understand and can meet what the customer wants before you accept the work, and manage changes to it.
8.3 Design and development
If you design, plan and verify the design. If you only build to others' designs you may justify excluding this.
8.4 Control of externally provided processes, products and services
Choose, monitor and re-evaluate suppliers and subcontractors against criteria.
8.5 Production and service provision
Do the work under controlled conditions, with traceability and care for customer property.
8.6 Release of products and services
Check work is right before handover and keep a record of who signed it off.
8.7 Control of nonconforming outputs
Identify and deal with work that is not right so it does not reach the customer by mistake.
Clause 9: Performance evaluation
9.1 Monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation
Decide what quality performance you measure, how often, and how you analyse the results.
9.1.2 Customer satisfaction
Find out what customers think of your work and act on it.
9.2 Internal audit
Audit your own QMS at planned intervals against the standard and your own procedures.
9.3 Management review
Top management reviews the QMS at planned intervals, covering the inputs the standard lists, and records decisions.
Clause 10: Improvement
10.2 Nonconformity and corrective action
When something goes wrong, contain it, find the root cause, fix it so it does not recur, and check the fix worked.
10.3 Continual improvement
Show that the QMS gets better over time.
Keep all of this evidence in one place
The Certwell Evidence Vault links every record to the requirement it proves, reminds you before anything expires, and gives your auditor a read-only link.
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