ISO 9000 is a specific family of standards which is referred to under this generic title for convenience. This family consists of standards and guidelines relating to quality management systems, and related supporting standards on terminology and specific tools, such as auditing (the process of checking that the management system conforms to the standard). It has been written in general terms, i.e. it may be applied within manufacturing industries or service organizations in any sector.

ISO 9000 concerns the way an organization goes about its work, and not directly the result of this work. In other words, it concerns processes, and not products – at least, not directly. Nevertheless, the way in which the organization manages its processes is obviously going to affect its final product. In the case of ISO 9000, it is going to affect whether or not everything has been done to ensure that the product meets the customer’s requirements.

We would like to clarify that ISO does not itself issue certificates of conformity to ISO 9000. This is carried out independently by certification bodies in different countries. Therefore, there is no "official" central database of ISO 9000 certificates.

For more information we would suggest that you tour our Web site, particularly the section ISO 9000 / ISO 14000, where you can find a considerable amount of information about ISO 9000 series of standards. Moreover, you will find a whole set of supporting documents which provide guidance with respect to the terminology used and ways of implementation.

Your national ISO member body can provide you with further information about the ISO 9000 standards and their implementation in your country.