ISO 10019:2005

Overview

ISO 10019:2005 - Guidelines for the selection of quality management system consultants and use of their services - provides practical guidance to organizations when engaging external consultants for Quality Management System (QMS) realization. It helps define the selection process, evaluate consultant competence, and manage the use of consulting services to ensure organizational needs and expectations are met. ISO 10019:2005 is advisory (not for certification) and can be adapted for other management systems.

Key topics and requirements

The standard focuses on evaluating and managing consultant services through clear guidance rather than prescriptive rules. Major topics include:

• Input to the selection process

  • Defining organizational needs, objectives and top-management involvement
  • Clarifying the intended role of the consultant in QMS realization

• Competence evaluation

  • Personal attributes (ethical behaviour, communication, facilitation, adaptability)
  • Education, knowledge and skills (generic scholastic ability and sector-specific understanding)
  • QMS-specific knowledge (familiarity with ISO 9000 family, ISO 9001, ISO 9004, ISO 19011 and related guidance)
  • Organizational context: understanding statutory/regulatory requirements, product/process characteristics and management practices
  • Work experience and demonstrable consulting capability (see Annex B for evaluation examples)

• Ethical considerations

  • Confidentiality, impartiality and avoidance of conflicts of interest

• Use of consultant services

  • Defining consultant services and expected deliverables
  • Contract considerations and useful practical guidance on engagement management
  • Typical consultant activities (described in Annex A) and evaluation approaches

Practical applications - who uses ISO 10019:2005

ISO 10019:2005 is useful for:

• Organizations preparing to implement or improve a QMS and seeking external expertise
• Procurement, quality, and top-management teams responsible for selecting consultants
• Quality management system consultants and consulting firms as a reference for expected competence and ethical behaviour
• Consulting organizations recruiting or assessing consultants for QMS projects

Benefits include more effective consultant selection, clearer scope and deliverables, reduced risk of poor consulting outcomes, and support for integrating QMS efforts with business objectives.

Related standards

Relevant ISO documents to consider alongside ISO 10019:2005:

• ISO 9000 (Fundamentals and vocabulary)
• ISO 9001 (Quality management systems - Requirements)
• ISO 9004 (Guidelines for performance improvements)
• ISO 19011 (Guidelines for auditing management systems)

Using ISO 10019:2005 together with these standards improves alignment between consultant services and recognized QMS practices.