What an assessor wants to see against ISO 9001:2015, and the mistake that gets firms bounced, for every criterion in the check above. Readiness only. The assessor makes the call, never us.
1
Context of the organisation
Have you written down what your quality management system covers, and the internal and external issues and customer needs that shape it?
What good looks like: A documented scope and boundaries, a short review of the issues that affect quality, a register of interested parties such as customers and regulators, and a map of your core processes.
Watch out: No documented scope, or a scope copied from another company that does not match the work you actually do.
2
Leadership
Do you have a quality policy signed by your most senior person, with roles and responsibilities for quality clearly assigned?
What good looks like: A signed, dated quality policy, visible engagement from the top, and a matrix showing who is responsible for what across the system.
Watch out: A policy not signed by top management, or quality roles left unassigned with no one clearly owning the system.
3
Planning
Have you identified the risks and opportunities to your quality, and set measurable quality objectives with plans to meet them?
What good looks like: A risk and opportunity register, measurable quality objectives, and plans with named owners to achieve them.
Watch out: No objectives at all, or objectives so vague they cannot be measured or are never reviewed.
4
Support
Do you control your documents and records with version control, and keep a record of the competence your people need?
What good looks like: A competence matrix, a procedure for controlling documents and records, and a plan for how quality matters are communicated.
Watch out: Documents with no version control or approval, or gaps where people lack the competence for their work.
5
Operation
Are the processes that deliver your product or service planned, controlled and recorded, including the suppliers you rely on?
What good looks like: Documented operational controls, checks on suppliers and subcontractors, and change control with records to show it is followed.
Watch out: Work that gets done but is not controlled or recorded, so there is no evidence the day-to-day runs to a standard.
6
Performance evaluation
Do you monitor and measure your quality performance, run internal audits, and hold a management review?
What good looks like: An internal audit programme with recorded results and minutes of a management review that acts on what it finds.
Watch out: An audit programme or management review named on paper that clearly never actually runs.
7
Improvement
Do you record things that go wrong, take corrective action with a look at the root cause, and show your quality improving over time?
What good looks like: A nonconformity log, corrective actions with root-cause analysis, and evidence that the system improves over time.
Watch out: Corrective actions raised but never closed out, or no record of nonconformities at all.