A set of international standard s for both quality management and quality assurance that has been adopted by over 90 countries worldwide. The ISO 9000 standards apply to all types of organisations, large and small, and in many industries.
The standards require: standard language for documenting quality processes; system to manage evidence that these practices are instituted throughout an organisation; and third-party auditing to review, certify, and maintain certification of organisations. The ISO 9000 series classifies products into generic product categories: hardware, software, processed materials, and services.
Documentation is at the core of ISO 9000 conformance. In fact, the standards have been paraphrased as:
"Say what you do. Do what you say. Write it down."
In Britain it is associated with BS5750 which may become obsolete.
["The ISO 9000 Guide," c. 1993 Interleaf, Inc].
(1995-01-30)