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FAQ:  How do we get a copy of ISO 9001? 

FAQs--> buying a standard

Q:  How & where do you get a copy of the Standard? 

A:  You can only buy it from someone with a license to sell ISO publications, ie, you can't just get it from any bookshop. 

The cheapest option is to buy an electronic file, not hardcopy. You get a single downloadable and printable *.pdf file.

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

A:  No.  Because it's exactly the same Standard no matter where you buy it, 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).  Each country/member organisation has the right to publish with its own country information on the cover, etc, but it's still the same content: the standard.

You may still be able to buy it cheaper if you hunt around on the web.  For example, you used to be able to buy it in Singapore for less than 1/2 the price, but when I checked recently, that no longer seems to be possible. 

If you do buy online, check out the conditions of sale first, to make sure you can abide by them. For example, if you buy the PDF copy from the Standards Online shop, it is for single use only, and has restrictions placed on its use - for example, you can't put it on your network and make it available to anyone in the company.

Finally, another reminder: if you are buying ISO 9004, be careful to get the current version.  You want the one that matches ISO 9001:2008; it's subtitled 'Managing for the Sustained Success of an Organisation' and dated either 2009 or 2010 because different countries released their version at slightly different times. 

Avoid the previous version (which matched ISO 9001:2000).  That was subtitled Guidelines for Performance Improvement) and is now superseded, but confusingly, was still listed on some online sites last time I checked (early 2011).  

How to buy a Standard or related document online:

1. 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.
    
2. 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.
    
3. Find the right publication - in this case, the ISO 9001 standard. You want these key words in the title: “ISO 9001:2009 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 9001:2009 Requirements’. In the USA it’s just listed as 'ISO 9001:2009 Requirements'‘.
    
4. Check prices carefully. Sometimes there are prices for hardcopy (more expensive) and softcopy (cheaper). Also, some offer discounts to members such as Australia. You are only a member of a Standards organisation if you pay them a subscription, and no, I'm afraid that applying for certification doesn't count.
    
5. Follow their process to purchase. If you don't have Adobe Acrobat, download it free from the Adobe website.

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