Annex A
(informative)
Clarification of new structure, terminology and concepts
A.1 Structure and terminology
The clause structure (i.e. clause sequence) and some of the terminology of this edition of this
International Standard, in comparison with the previous edition (ISO 9001:2008), have been changed
to improve alignment with other management systems standards.
There is no requirement in this International Standard for its structure and terminology to be applied
to the documented information of an organization’s quality management system.
The structure of clauses is intended to provide a coherent presentation of requirements, rather than a
model for documenting an organization’s policies, objectives and processes. The structure and content
of documented information related to a quality management system can often be more relevant to its
users if it relates to both the processes operated by the organization and information maintained for
other purposes.
There is no requirement for the terms used by an organization to be replaced by the terms used in this
International Standard to specify quality management system requirements. Organizations can choose
to use terms which suit their operations (e.g. using “records”, “documentation” or “protocols” rather
than “documented information”; or “supplier”, “partner” or “vendor” rather than “external provider”).
Table A.1 shows the major differences in terminology between this edition of this International
Standard and the previous edition.