This International Standard provides guidance on quality management in projects. It outlines quality management principles and practices, the implementation of which are important to, and have an impact on, the achievement of quality objectives in projects. It supplements the guidance given in ISO 9004.
These guidelines are intended for a wide audience. They are applicable to projects which can take many forms from the small to very large, from simple to complex, from being an individual project to being part of a programme or portfolio of projects. They are intended to be used by personnel who have experience in managing projects and need to ensure that their organization is applying the practices contained in the ISO 9000 family of standards, as well as those who have experience in quality management and are required to interact with project organizations in applying their knowledge and experience to the project. Inevitably, some groups will find that material presented in the guidelines is unnecessarily detailed for them, however other readers may be dependent on the detail.
It is recognized that there are two aspects to the application of quality management in projects; that of the project processes and that of the project’s product. A failure to meet either of these dual aspects may have significant effects on the project’s product, the project’s customer and other interested parties, and the project organization.
These aspects also emphasize that the achievement of quality objectives is a top management responsibility, requiring a commitment to the achievement of quality objectives to be instilled at all levels within the organizations involved in the project. However, each level should retain responsibility for their respective processes and products.
The creation and maintenance of process and product quality in a project requires a systematic approach. This approach should be aimed at ensuring that the stated and implied needs of the customer are understood and met, that other interested parties’ needs are understood and evaluated, and that the originating organization’s quality policy is taken into account for implementation in the management of the project.