Editorial

Citation

Finch, E. (2001), "Editorial", Facilities, Vol. 19 No. 7/8. https://doi.org/10.1108/f.2001.06919gaa.001

Editorial

The recent appearance of the final draft of the revised ISO 9000 family of standards is likely to be a key development for practitioners of facilities management. The International Standards Organisation has formulated this revision, known as ISO 9000 revision 2000, to reflect changing attitudes towards quality management.

For those organizations already accredited under the previous 1994 revision there is a three-year transition period, during which time these organizations will need to upgrade their quality assurance system to reflect the framework of the revised system. Upgrading should not involve complete rewriting of the quality management system being used by organizations provided that the existing system satisfies the needs and objectives of the organization. What will require attention are the new requirements identified in ISO 9000:2000.

The main changes that have been introduced include:

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  a new process oriented structure using a more logical structure;

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  a continual improvement process to enhance the quality management system;

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  an increase in emphasis on top management commitment;

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  a requirement for organizations to monitor information on customer satisfaction;

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  increased compatibility with environmental management system standards; and

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  consideration of the needs and benefits of all interested parties.

Taken together, the ISO 9000 standards represent a complete change in philosophy towards quality management. The quality management system was previously criticized for being only relevant to the manufacturing sector. The revised standard is now particularly relevant to the service sector. The concept of "application" of the standard (in clause 2.1) provides a way of coping with a wide spectrum of organizations within the same standard.

The central pillar in the ISO family is the ISO 9001:2000 standard, which is a requirements standard. The accompanying ISO 9004:2000 guidance standard will emphasise the financial resources needed for the implementation and improvement of a quality management system.

So what does this all mean for the facilities management practitioner? In many ways it will push facilities management to centre stage, as organizations consider how the various resources and facilities contribute to overall quality. The emphasis on customer satisfaction and methods of evaluating this will provide a welcome reorientation of the quality management standards towards the service sector.

Given all these changes, I look forward to seeing a crop of publications looking at the implementation of the revised standard and how it is affecting the attitudes and approaches of organizations towards quality management.

Edward Finch