ISO 9000 and 1S0 14001

The ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 families are among ISO's most widely known standards ever. ISO 9000 has become an international reference for quality requirements in business to business dealings, and ISO 14000 looks set to achieve at least as much, if not more, in helping organizations to meet their environmental challenges.

The vast majority of ISO standards are highly specific to a particular product, material, or process. However, the standards that have earned the ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 families a worldwide reputation are known as "generic management system standards". "Generic" means that the same standards can be applied to any organization, large or small, whatever its product - including whether its "product" is actually a service - in any sector of activity, and whether it is a business enterprise, a public administration, or a government department.

"Management system" refers to what the organization does to manage its processes, or activities. "Generic" also signifies that no matter what the organization is or does, if it wants to establish a quality management system or an environmental management system, then such a system has a number of essential features which are spelled out in the relevant standards of the ISO 9000 or ISO 14000 families.

ISO 9000 is concerned with "quality management". This means what the organization does to enhance customer satisfaction by meeting customer and applicable regulatory requirements and continually to improve its performance in this regard. ISO 14000 is primarily concerned with "environmental management". This means what the organization does to minimize harmful effects on the environment caused by its activities, and continually to improve its environmental performance. See our home page on our company ISO 14001, 18001 AND 9001 certification

What makes conformity assessment so important?

At its simplest, "conformity assessment” means checking that products, materials, services, systems or people measure up to the specifications of a relevant standard. Today, many products require testing for conformance with specifications or compliance with safety, or other regulations before they can be put on many markets. Even simpler products may require supporting technical documentation that includes test data. With so much trade taking place across borders, conformity assessment has become an important component of the world economy. Over the years, ISO has developed many of the standards against which products are assessed for conformity, as well as the standardized test methods that allow the meaningful comparison of test results so necessary for international trade. ISO itself does not carry out conformity assessment. However, in partnership with IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission), ISO develops ISO/IEC guides and standards to be used by organizations which carry out conformity assessment activities. The voluntary criteria contained in these guides and standards represent an international consensus on what constitutes best practice. Their use contributes to the consistency and coherence of conformity assessment worldwide and so facilitates trade across borders. See our services page for more information.

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