The Quality Manual of an organization is a document that specifies the mission and vision of a company with respect to quality as well as the quality policy and the objectives that aim to comply with said policy.

The Quality Manual also sets out the structure of the Quality Management System and is a public document, if the company so wishes, which is not the case with procedure or instruction manuals.

It is a "Master" document in which the Organization (company) establishes how to comply with the points established by the Standard (for example, ISO 9001:2008) and from it are derived Instructions for the use of equipment, Procedures, Formats. etc

The Quality Manual, understood as such, is only mandatory in the implementation of the ISO 9001 standard in its 2008 version, which will be obsolete starting next year (replaced by ISO 9001:2015), which includes the management of the company, its commitment to quality, the management of human resources, materials... It must be a public document for clients and suppliers, with an extension preferably not exceeding 20 pages. and it is usually written at the end of the implementation once the procedures required by the standard have been documented.

Regarding other standards such as those developed by the ICTE; The Q standard of the tourism sector does not require the creation of a Quality Manual, although it does help with its implementation.

The same thing happens with the EFQM, which is the European model of excellence, which is currently being implemented quite successfully in Spain. It is a model that does not require the development of a Quality Manual understood as such.

The Quality Manual is a document that clearly mentions what the organization does to achieve quality through the adoption of the corresponding Quality Management system.

The Quality Manual must provide information about the QMS of the

organization and must specify:

Additionally, it may also include:

The Quality Manual can be used to provide an overview or “QMS map”. Its format and structure are the decision of the organization and will depend on its size, culture and complexity. Additionally, some organizations may choose to use it for other purposes (for example, commercial purposes). In short, it should be a true working document.

Each chapter of the Manual must include, at a minimum:.