By: Mark Kaganov
A guideline for Developing Quality Manuals, ISO 10013 Standard, suggests a documentation structure for ISO 9001 QMS. This model in the standard proposes use of a three-level arrangement. Most companies I worked with utilize four-level structures instead to include records, A typical four-level documentation structure consists of:
Quality Manual - level 1
Procedures - level 2
Instructions - level 3
Records - level 4
Actually, the documentation structure starts from the policy. The policy defines, among others, commitments with what standard a company intends to comply with. If you choose to use this approach, your quality management system will have five levels, similar to the structure below:
Quality Policy - level 1
Quality Manual - level 2
Procedures - level 3
Instructions...