Quality manual

A quality manual is the top-tier document of a quality management system, describing the QMS scope, the documented procedures, and the interaction of processes. Under the 1994 and 2008 editions of ISO 9001 it was a mandatory deliverable; ISO 9001:2015 dropped the explicit requirement for a named quality manual and instead requires documented information that the organization determines is necessary. Most ship managers keep one anyway, integrated with the ISM Code safety management manual into a single management system manual that cross-references the SMS, the compliance manual, and the procedures controlling shipboard and shore operations.