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FAQs--> buying a standard

How to get the ISO 9001 Standard

Q: How & where do you get a copy of the Standard, and what does it cost?

A: The cheapest option is to buy an electronic version, not hardcopy. You get a single downloadable, *.pdf file, and can print it. You can only buy it from someone with a license to sell ISO publications, ie, you can't just get one from any bookshop.

Q: But is it the same price no matter where you buy it?

A: Because it's exactly the same Standard, you might think so. Because whether you buy it in Australia, the USA, Canada or the UK or another country, the content is exactly the same: the official text of the ISO standard, approved by the ISO (International Organization for Standardization).

But comparing prices is worthwhile.

Out of the UK, USA, Canada and Australia, the cheapest place when I last looked to buy was Australia. The UK cost the most.

Item to buy: “ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management Systems - Requirements”.
Prices shown in Australian dollars (AUD)

NB: This was written earlier than 2008. There is a later, revised version due out later this year (2008). Although the changes are small, it may be better to wait for that.

Buying in Australia

Standards Australia webstore
Price: $106 AUD (2007)

Buying in UK

British Standards Online webstore

Buying in Canada
Standards Council of Canada webstore
Not easy to find, even via search; try via 'Quality'.

Buying in the USA

American National Standards Institute (ANSI) webstore

How to buy a Standard online:

Find the website address of a country’s ISO member. If you don’t know it, use the list of Member Stores on the ISO website to find yours. If there's no website, use someone else.
On the country’s ISO member website, look for their shop. Not all countries have one, and there’s no consistency: look for words like ‘Standards shop’ or ‘Standards online’, 'webstore', 'eStore' etc. Often there's a Search facility, or a clickable button. If used in the UK, though, you'll pay another £21!
Find the right publication - in this case, the ISO 9001 standard. You want these key words in the title: “ISO 9001:2000 Requirements”. You can ignore any letters before ISO, as they identify the country (member organisation). Eg, in Britain, it’s listed as ‘BS EN ISO 9001:2000 Requirements’. In the USA it’s just listed as 'ISO 9001:2000 Requirements'‘
Check prices carefully. Sometimes there are prices for hardcopy (more expensive) and softcopy (cheaper). Also, some offer discounts to members (eg, in Australia). You are only a member of a Standards organisation if you pay them a subscription, and no, applying for certification doesn't count.
Follow their process to purchase. If you don't have Adobe Acrobat, download it free from their website.

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FAQs--> buying a standard

How to get the ISO 9001 Standard