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| Back to the Quality Assurance Basics with ISO 9000 by Ed Caldeira, NAHB Research Center Quality assurance systems—nearly all successful businesses, from the very smallest to the very largest, have quality assurance systems in place. But what exactly is a quality assurance system in the home building industry, and are there standards that define such a system? The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in Geneva, Switzerland first published ISO 9000 quality system standards in 1987. Almost all countries, including the USA, have adopted it as their national quality standard. ISO 9000 is primarily concerned with a quality assurance process that applies universally to all industries. ISO 9000 defines the key principles for quality assurance and standards for rigorous conformance to specifications. In it’s application to homebuilding, ISO 9000 ensures strict conformance to the proper use of building materials in conformance to building codes, engineered designs, and manufacturer’s specifications. |
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| Quality Assurance Preventing quality problems Quality assurance, in its broadest sense, is any action taken to prevent quality problems from occurring. In practice, this means devising systems for carrying out tasks which directly affect product quality. A simple example of quality assurance is a cooking recipe. A recipe is a system for preparing a particular dish. It describes the ingredients and utensils necessary to prepare the food, the method of cooking it, how to test when it is ready, how to store it, and how to serve it. Cooking to a recipe produces better and more consistent results. And the same applies to using systems in other situations. To implement systems for an organisation, you need to carry out three basic steps: first develop the system; second, document it (this takes the form of policies, procedures, and reference information); and third, inform, instruct, and train staff to use it. |
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| PATH ISO 9000 Framing Project Promotes Quality Home Construction PATH, the Wood Truss Council of America, and NAHB Research Center are sponsoring a pilot project to integrate within the framing industry ISO 9000 practices for quality assurance in design, development production and servicing. Builders, manufacturers, framers, code officials, architects and engineers will participate in the 10-month process of development, demonstration and deployment. ISO 9000 is a set of five universal standards for a Quality Assurance system that is accepted around the world. Currently 90 countries have adopted ISO 9000 as national standards. When a person purchase a product or service from a company that is registered to the appropriate ISO 9000 standard, he or she has important assurances that the quality will be as expected. Framing currently accounts for 15 to 20 percent of the total cost of the house. It is one of the most critical construction factors -- affecting cost, cycle time, quality and durability. Implementation of an ISO 9000 based quality management procedure for framing will lead significant improvements. |
ISO 9000 QUALITY SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT
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| Are Companies Earning Return on Their Investment in ISO 9000 Registration? A Review of the Empirical Evidence Chris FitzGibbon Orion Canada Inc. - Quality System Consultants Many benefits have been attributed to ISO 9001 registration. However, the existing body of anecdotal literature on the application of ISO 9001 to software organizations lacks systematic measurement and multi-organization comparisons. It provides very little empirical evidence to support the claim that ISO 9001 registered quality systems result in better software project outcomes. This article provides a review of the empirical research on the effects of ISO 9001 registration. The studies are divided into two parts: 1) research specifically pertaining to software organizations and 2) research on non-software organizations. |
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Sources of Standards Documents
Worldwide ISO Membership- A list of all the Global Members of ISO |
Your Country's RepresentativeContact information for purchasing all ISO Standards including ISO 9000. |
REGISTRARS ON THE WEB | International ISO 9000 Database |
Guidance on interpretation and implementation
| Implementing BS ISO 9000 A guide for small firms BS EN 9000 is the new title for the quality system standards that, in the UK, used to be called BS 5750. The new title reflects the European (EN) and wider international (ISO) recognition for this series, which was originally developed in Britain.This report introduces small firms to the standard, the steps needed to implement it and some of the other quality options that are available.The quality of your firm is an essential part of your competitive edge. Firms must deliver consistent quality to customers if they want to prosper. In managing quality the small firm often has the advantage of a working manager. In direct daily contact with most of the staff. To some firms, this way of working makes them believe they don't need a formal quality system, but even among smaller firms the importance of BS EN ISO 9000 is growing. In some firms this is because customers demand it, while in others it is because manager realise that an effective quality system is foundation for better performance. |
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| Applying ISO 9000 Standards to Clinical Labs: The Quest for Excellence By Allan Seidenfeld, MD, FRCP(C); Christine Glidden, MLT; Darlene Henrickson, MLT Quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA) have always been important components of laboratory medicine. In the past, laboratorians focused on the analysis part of the testing procedure, including calibration, intra-run controls, inter-run controls, internal QC, and external QC. Today, however, lab consolidation and the demands of managed care have forced laboratory managers to look at other models of quality assurance in an effort to reduce costs. Total quality management (TQM), continuous quality improvement (CQI), and other QA management paradigms track the entire testing process, and they have been found to be quite effective in controlling laboratory costs. It is therefore no surprise that these strategies have become the mantra of the modern lab manager. |
USEFUL DOWNLOADS
Transition Planning Guidance for ISO/DIS 9001:2000 (doc) from ISO/TC 176/SC 2 |
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