ISO 9001 support, resources, competence and documented information

ISO 9001:2015 clause 7 asks you to provide what the quality management system runs on: people, infrastructure, a suitable work environment, fit measuring equipment and organisational knowledge (7.1), competent and aware staff (7.2, 7.3), planned communication (7.4) and documented information that is created, approved and controlled (7.5).

The requirement in plain English

Resources (ISO 9001:2015 7.1). You decide what you can do in-house and what you buy in (7.1.1), then provide the people (7.1.2), the infrastructure such as buildings, equipment, software and transport (7.1.3), and a work environment, social and physical, in which processes run well (7.1.4).

Monitoring and measuring resources (ISO 9001:2015 7.1.5). Anything you use to check conformity must suit the job and be kept fit, with evidence that it is (7.1.5.1). Where measurement traceability is required, or you treat it as essential, instruments are calibrated or verified at set intervals against traceable standards, identified and protected. If one is found out of tolerance, you assess whether earlier results are still valid and act (7.1.5.2).

Organisational knowledge (ISO 9001:2015 7.1.6). You decide what knowledge your processes need, keep it and make it available, and plan how to gain what changing needs will require.

Competence and awareness (ISO 9001:2015 7.2 and 7.3). You define the competence each role affecting quality needs, make sure people have it through education, training or experience, act where they do not, check that the action worked, and keep evidence (7.2). People know the quality policy, the objectives that concern them, how they contribute and what happens when requirements are missed (7.3). The 2026 edition adds awareness of your quality culture and ethical behaviour (ISO 9001:2026 7.3).

Communication (ISO 9001:2015 7.4). You decide what to communicate about the system, when, to whom, how and by whom.

Documented information (ISO 9001:2015 7.5). You keep what the standard names and what your processes need (7.5.1), give it an identity, a suitable format and an approval (7.5.2), and control it: available where needed, protected, versioned, retained and disposed of as planned, including documents from outside such as customer drawings (7.5.3). Records kept as evidence are protected from unintended change.

This is guidance to help you understand the requirement, not legal advice.

What good looks like

A 30-person firm that makes bespoke stainless-steel catering units keeps a competence matrix for every role: welding qualifications for fabricators, CAD skills for designers, and installation sign-off for site fitters. A training needs analysis runs every January from the matrix, the objectives and the previous year’s nonconformities. New welders do a test piece before working on customer jobs; the test result, not the course certificate, is the competence evidence.

Torque wrenches, angle gauges and the coordinate measuring arm are on a calibration register with due dates, calibrated by a UKAS-accredited laboratory. When the arm was found out of tolerance, the quality manager checked every job measured since the last calibration and recorded the outcome.

The bending allowances once lived in one fabricator’s head. They are now a work instruction, and a second person is trained in them.

Procedures and work instructions sit in one controlled system, each with an owner, an approval and a review date. Customer drawings and the British Standards the firm works to are logged as external documents with their revision, so a superseded drawing cannot reach the workshop.

Evidence an auditor expects

Evidence of competence (required documented information, 7.2): the matrix and, for a sampled person, the evidence they meet it.
Evidence of fitness of measuring equipment (required, 7.1.5.1) and calibration records where traceability applies (7.1.5.2): due dates met, and action after an out-of-tolerance result.
Controlled documents (7.5.3): the auditor checks the version at the point of use matches the approved one.
External documents: customer specifications and standards identified and current.
Awareness: no record is required; the auditor asks staff about the policy and their objectives.
Infrastructure maintenance and knowledge: usual evidence such as maintenance logs and work instructions.

Common mistakes

Training attendance as competence

A spreadsheet of courses attended does not show anyone can do the job. Define the competence, then evidence the result with a test, an observation or a qualification.

Setting aside measuring equipment you rely on

A service firm declares 7.1.5 not applicable, yet signs off work using a test script or a survey tool. Clause 7.1.5.1 covers whatever you use to check conformity. Only traceable calibration in 7.1.5.2 depends on need.

No look back after a failed calibration

The gauge is recalibrated and returned to use, and nobody asks what it measured since the last check. Assess past results and record the decision.

Knowledge that walks out of the door

Critical know-how sits with one long-serving employee. Clause 7.1.6 wants it kept and available. Write it down, and train a second person.

Uncontrolled copies on the shop floor

A printed procedure from three versions ago is still pinned to the wall. Control what reaches the point of use, and mark printed copies as uncontrolled.

How Sted helps

For ISO 9001 clause 7 Sted’s knowledge base carries the Training Competence and Awareness Procedure (PRC-TCA) with its Training Record (REC-TR), Training Needs Analysis (REC-TNA, suggested annually) and Awareness Campaign Record (REC-AWC), the Document Control Procedure (PRC-DCT) with its Document Review Record (REC-DCR, suggested annually) and External Document Control Record (REC-EDCR), the Infrastructure and Work Environment Procedure (PRC-IWE) with three records, and the Control of Monitoring and Measuring Devices Procedure (PRC-CMMD) with its Calibration and Verification Record (REC-CVR), Monitoring and Measuring Device Record (REC-MMDR) and Monitoring and Measuring Devices Review Record (REC-MMDRR).
Records are part of the Full Management System plan.
Training is completed against a specific approved version; a new version asks people to train again.
Re-issuing training on an unchanged version is not available yet.
A completed training record cannot be changed or deleted.
An administrator, or a Policy and Process Owner who owns the document, approves a Draft or starts a new version of an Approved one, and only an administrator assigns a document’s owner; a document still awaiting review cannot be approved.
Administrators and a document’s owner can open superseded versions from History.
Approving sets an effective date and a review date, which starts at the effective date plus the document’s review frequency; a review task opens 30 days before the review date and turns overdue after it.

Sted controls versions and records that people read and understood each one. It does not assess competence or calibrate equipment; your checks and your calibration provider do.

Training and awareness guide: working out who needs what, delivering it and checking it worked.
Document control guide: approval, versions, review dates and external documents.
Documented information: the ISO term for documents and records, and the difference between maintaining and retaining.
Operation: the processes these resources support.
Training in Sted: how read-and-understood training works against each approved version.

Frequently asked questions

What documented information does ISO 9001 require?

More than 20 named items, from the scope, policy and objectives to evidence of competence, calibration, design, supplier evaluation, release, nonconforming output, monitoring, audits, management review and corrective action. Beyond those, you decide what your processes need, and a small, competent team can need less.

Is a training record enough to show competence under ISO 9001?

No. Clause 7.2 asks you to define the competence each role needs and keep evidence that people have it, and where you act to close a gap, to check that the action worked. Attendance or a read-and-understood record shows the action was taken; a test, a supervised job or a qualification shows the result.