ASFP’S ISO 9001

We identified all the business processes. 1

2

We documented all our key processes and procedures.

We created a quality manual and other quality system documents. 3

ASFP Compliance and Quality Assurance

Manager Tariq Malik describes the ASFP’s approach to gaining ISO 9001 certification

With our commitment to improving the passive fire protection industry, the ASFP has always been keen to practice what it preaches. With this in mind, we began our ISO 9001 certification journey in late-2022.

The first step was to plan how we would achieve our goal. Following the Plan, Do, Check, Act cycle mentioned in ISO 9001, we initially considered what the Association was looking to achieve and what type of quality management system (QMS) we thought would best meet our members’ and our customers’ needs.

We soon discovered there is a good reason that ISO 9001 has whole sections dedicated to planning, it really does pay to do your homework!

After creating a project plan, we then set out all the tasks we needed to achieve. We soon found that what we had thought were simple activities, actually involved a lot more tasks and actions than we had initially considered. All of these tasks were just as important in achieving our goal.

We researched ISO 9001 certification providers and selected an independent certification body (LRQA).

Our next challenge was to start putting together the bones of our QMS and the documentation – the ‘Do’ part of the ISO 9001 cycle. Simplicity was the goal since the more things you include in a system, the more things can go wrong. With that in mind, we set out to minimise the number of documents produced and, where we could, consolidate them as much as possible.

Those familiar with the current version of ISO 9001 will know that, unlike in previous versions of the standard, it is not now mandatory to have everything documented, or even to have a quality manual. However, after much consideration, we opted to have a