April 9, 2026

What is a Quality Policy?

Kirjoittaja:

Ella Lindroos

What is a Quality Policy?

The ISO 9001 standard refers to a quality policy. Its purpose is to define what quality means for your organization.

Some describe it as the core principles that guide how the business operates and ensures continuity. For others, it is a set of operating principles.

Typically, a quality policy is a document found in both your quality management system and on your website.

What is a quality policy?

A quality policy is your organization’s statement of what quality means and the direction of your quality management.

It is usually defined by top management.

A quality policy is not a marketing message for customers. It is not a list of values on your intranet. It is an internal steering tool: a short and clear description of the principles your organization follows in terms of quality and what it aims to achieve.

Examples of quality policies

Below are a few examples from different organizations:

Arter’s quality policy can be found on this page
Kiwa – quality policy
University of Helsinki – quality policy

What makes a poor quality policy?

A weak quality policy typically results from three things:

It is written for the standard, not for your organization.
When the goal is simply to meet a requirement, the result is compliant text—not a guiding principle.
Management has not been genuinely involved.
A quality policy is a management commitment, not a document written by a quality manager and signed off by leadership. If management hasn’t shaped it, it won’t guide their decisions.
It is too generic.
Generic feels safe, but it does not guide action. A good quality policy takes a stance and is concrete. It clearly states what matters for your organization.

What makes a good quality policy?

A good quality policy is short, concrete, and reflects your organization. It answers three questions:

1. What does quality mean for us?
Quality can mean different things in different organizations—stakeholder satisfaction, customer experience, delivery reliability, safety, environmental responsibility, or process reliability. A good policy clearly defines what matters most to your organization.

2. What are we committed to?
Continuous improvement is a requirement in ISO 9001 and must be demonstrated. What does continuous improvement mean in your organization in practice? How is it visible in daily work? What other principles are you committed to?

3. What values and principles guide our actions?
A good quality policy guides decision-making. When choices need to be made, clearly defined principles help steer decisions in the right direction.

5 tips for defining a quality policy

1. Involve top management
A quality policy is a management commitment—it should not be written by the quality manager alone. The best approach is to facilitate a focused discussion with leadership about what quality means for the organization and what truly matters. You can then refine the wording, possibly with support from communication or marketing experts.

2. Ask before you write
Before opening a document, answer these questions:

Who are our key customer groups and what do they expect from us?
In what areas do we want to excel?
What does quality mean in our operations in concrete terms?

3. Keep it short and concrete
A good quality policy fits on one page—preferably half a page. A long list of good intentions does not guide anyone. 1–5 clear principles are enough.

4. Link it to your organization’s objectives
After writing, check: can this policy be translated into concrete, measurable objectives? If not, it is still too vague.

5. Review and update regularly
A quality policy is not a static document. As strategy evolves, the policy must evolve with it. It’s good practice to review it during management reviews to ensure it remains relevant and guiding.