Quality Policy Template

Support your organisation’s approach to quality management with our free, downloadable Quality Policy Template.  It can be used as a starting point for creating a policy aligned with the principles and structure of the ISO 9001 quality management system standard.

Enter and submit your email address below to download the template.

A Quality Policy is a documented statement that defines an organisation’s overall intentions, direction, and commitment to quality. It is established and authorised by top management and forms a core requirement of an effective Quality Management System (QMS).

Under ISO 9001, a Quality Policy must:

• Be appropriate to the organisation’s purpose and context
• Provide a framework for setting quality objectives
• Include a commitment to satisfy applicable requirements
• Include a commitment to continual improvement of the QMS

The Quality Policy should be documented, communicated, understood, and applied throughout the organisation.

A documented Quality Policy helps provides clarity and consistency across an organisation. It aims to ensure that employees, customers, and other interested parties understand your commitment to quality and how it supports business objectives.

Without a clearly defined Quality Policy, organisations may experience:

• Misalignment between strategic goals and day-to-day operations
• Inconsistent approaches to quality across departments or locations
• Increased risk of nonconformities during internal or external audits
• Reduced confidence from customers, suppliers, or regulators

A well-structured Quality Policy can help set expectations and can support effective quality planning and performance evaluation.

In practice, a good Quality Policy will clearly express what the organisation is committed to doing and provide a high-level framework for how quality is managed across the business. Rather than being generic, it should reflect the organisation’s priorities and link directly to how it meets customer needs, fulfils its obligations, improves performance, and ensures people can deliver quality outcomes.

A well-structured Quality Policy can often cover a small number of core commitments. These commitments can then be supported by specific processes, objectives, and controls within a quality management system.

The examples below illustrate how a Quality Policy might address common themes required by ISO 9001, and how these can potentially link to specific clauses of the standard.

Example 1: Meeting customer needs

A Quality Policy may explain that the organisation aims to understand customer needs and deliver products or services that meet agreed requirements.

ISO 9001 link:

• Clause 5.1.2: Customer focus
  Top management shall demonstrate leadership and commitment by ensuring customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements are determined, understood and consistently met.

Example 2: Following rules and requirements

A Quality Policy may state that the organisation is committed to meeting legal, regulatory and contractual requirements that apply to its activities.

ISO 9001 link:

• Clause 4.2: Understanding the needs and expectations of interested parties
  The organisation shall determine the requirements of relevant interested parties that are relevant to the quality management system.

Example 3: Improving how the business works

A Quality Policy may include a commitment to regularly review performance and make improvements to processes, products or services.

ISO 9001 link:

• Clause 10.3: Continual improvement
  The organisation shall continually improve the suitability, adequacy and effectiveness of the quality management system.

Example 4: Clear roles and capable people

A Quality Policy may explain that responsibilities are clearly defined and that staff are supported to develop the skills needed to do their work effectively.

ISO 9001 link:

• Clause 5.3: Organisational roles, responsibilities and authorities 
• Clause 7.2: Competence
  The organisation shall ensure that persons doing work under its control are competent.

ISO 9001:2015 requires organisations to establish, implement, and maintain a Quality Policy as part of their Quality Management System.

A compliant Quality Policy can demonstrate that your organisation:

• Is committed to meeting customer and applicable regulatory requirements
• Establishes a framework for setting and reviewing quality objectives
• Supports risk-based thinking and continual improvement
• Is led and authorised by top management

The Quality Policy also plays a key role in supporting alignment between your organisation’s strategic direction and its commitment to continual improvement.

If you’re in the early stages of building your Quality Management System, our ISO Readiness Tool can help you assess where you are and what steps may be needed to move forward with confidence.

A Quality Policy is a high-level statement that defines your organisation’s commitment and overall direction regarding quality. It is strategic in nature and applies across the organisation.

A Quality Plan, by contrast, is an operational document. It explains how quality objectives will be achieved in practice by outlining responsibilities, controls, processes, and monitoring activities.

Both documents play important roles within a Quality Management System and support alignment with ISO 9001 requirements when used together.

Our free Quality Policy Template is designed as a starting point for creating a policy to:

• Support the creation of documented information required under ISO 9001
• Clearly communicate quality commitments internally and externally
• Establish a strong foundation for quality objectives and continual improvement
• Support preparation for audits and enhance management system consistency

Enter and submit your email address below to download your free Quality Policy Template.