What has changed in ISO 9001:2008?

Here's a summary of the changes to ISO 9001 in 2008.

1. There are no new requirements in this version. This is significant, because a 'requirement' is something you must do.
2. All the changes are minor. They consist of changes of wording: clarifications and modifications to words or phrases and a few extra notes or examples (see below). Most are small additions or changes, with a few deletions.
   The intent is to make the meaning of a requirement clearer, to improve compatibility with ISO 14001 and/or assist translation to other languages.
3. The new version was published in mid-November 2008.
4. From that date, for a new certification you can choose certification to the 2000 or 2008 version.
5. After one year (from Nov 2008) all recertifications/new certifications will be to the 2008 version. Two years later, certifications to the 2000 version will no longer be valid.

Some examples of the changes, with clause numbers are:

4.2.1: modified to clarify that a single document can cover requirements for one or more procedures (eg, combine requirements for corrective action & preventive action into 1 procedure, or cover 'nonconformity' within another procedure rather than having a separate one)

6.4 Now clarifies what 'work environment' includes, and gives examples such as noise, temperature, humidity

8.2.1 Note added with some ideas on how customer satisfaction can be measured.

General advice: Get a copy of the new version, study the changes, and think about how (or if) the changes affect your system. Note, for example, the advice that you can address multiple requirements in a single procedure (we already have). Notice how the Standard has made it very clear that if you subcontract any part of your service or product out, this doesn't in any way remove or alter your responsibility to meet your customers' requirements.