ISO 9001:2015 Document, Record and Documented Information

ISO 9001 standard from the first issue onwards has been using the terms document and record. The difference between these has been confusing to some people.

Difference between document and record:

ISO 9000:2005 Definitions:

Document: information and its supporting medium

Record: document stating results achieved or providing evidence of activities performed

These are covered in two separate clauses in ISO 9001:2008.

• Clause 4.2.3 covers Control of Documents
• Clause 4.2.4 covers Control of Records

In recently released ISO 9001:2015 Committee Draft (CD) it is proposed to replace the term “document” and “record” by “documented information”.
Example:

• ISO 9001:2008
  • Clause 8.2.2 of ISO 9001:2008 requires organization to:
    • Establish a documented procedure to define the responsibilities and requirements for planning and conducting audits, establishing records and reporting results.
    • Records of the audits and their results shall be maintained.

•  ISO 9001:2015 Committee Draft (CD)
  • Clause 9.2 of ISO 9001:2015 Committee draft requires organizations to:
    • Retain documented information as evidence of the implementation of the audit program and the audit results.