ISO/TC 176, the Technical Committee responsible for the flagship quality management standard ISO 9001, among several others, has recently approved a request for interpretation regarding ISO 9001:2015, clause 8.2.3.1.

The clause refers to the organization’s requirement to review requirements of products and services prior to committing to supply said products and services to a customer, including things such as requirements specified by the customer, requirements not stated by the customer but necessary for specified use, requirements specified by the organization, statutory and regulatory requirements, and contract requirements.

The question posed in the Request for Interpretation, RFI 138, is: “According to 8.2.3.1 e), is it necessary to check any differences regarding the offer and order?”

The question is given this context: “Thus, both product and service relevant differences (specification, delivery time, price, etc.) as well as any differences in terms of commercial-legal conditions (eg warranty, disclaimers, legal status, etc.), which are not directly related to the product / service and their characteristics, but have a clear connection to the objective of the order and in the event of a malfunction come into play?”

ISO/TC 176 has answered in the affirmative, stating, “According to 8.2.3.1(e), it is necessary to check the differences between the requirements that have been expressed and defined. This includes any differences in terms of expressed and defined conditions that are not directly related to the product/service, but that are related to the requirements.”

You can read the release from ISO/TC 176 HERE, and you can also download a full list of the ISO 9001 interpretations HERE.