In the credentials section of inspection companies, two standards appear most often: ISO/IEC 17020 and ISO 9001. Though both names are tied to "quality," their functions are entirely different — and not knowing the difference can be misleading when choosing an inspection body.
What Is ISO 9001?
ISO 9001 is the international standard for a quality management system (QMS). It applies to any type of organization — from a manufacturing plant to a service company — and shows that the organization has documented, traceable, and continuously improvable processes for managing the quality of its products or services.
What Is ISO/IEC 17020?
ISO/IEC 17020 is a more specialized standard that defines the technical competence and impartiality requirements for bodies performing inspection. It specifies how an inspection body must manage its organizational structure, personnel competence, impartiality, confidentiality, and technical methods so that its inspection results can be relied upon.
The Key Difference
| ISO 9001 | ISO/IEC 17020 | |
|---|---|---|
| What's assessed | The organization's quality management system | The technical competence and impartiality of the inspection body |
| Applies to | Any type of organization | Specifically, bodies performing inspection |
| Core focus | Internal processes and continuous improvement | Technical competence, impartiality, independent judgment |
Why This Matters to You
When you're looking for an inspection company, holding an ISO 9001 certificate alone doesn't demonstrate technical competence to perform inspections — it only shows that its internal processes are managed. What actually guarantees the credibility of an inspection is conformity with ISO/IEC 17020, since this standard specifically measures the impartiality and technical competence needed to issue a credible inspection report.
A professional inspection body typically holds both standards at once: ISO 9001 for managing internal process quality, and ISO/IEC 17020 as the specialized standard for inspection competence.