Disposal of obsolete documents - Mandatory in ISO9001:2000 to keep previous versions?

[pnopoes]

Hi all,

First of all, thanks to you all for your advices on the past threads, there is always something useful to pickup.

Now onto my question:
Is it mandatory (in ISO9001:2000) to keep previous versions (and therefore obsolete) of a document. I can't find any reference to it in the ISO, and I certainly can't think of a good reason to keep them apart from contractual documents to settle a dispute.

Scrapping old documents would certainly save space and avoid possible confusion (since there would be only the latest version available).

Any reason/requirements we should keep the old versions ?

Thanks in advance for your advices.

 

[CarolX]

Hi pnopoes and Welcome to the Cove!

I treat old revisions as a "record" of the Quality Program, and then control it as I would records. Keeping previous revisions can also show a customer a "mature" quality system.

JMHO, as always.

 

[gard2372]

Hi pnopoes and Welcome to the Cove!

I treat old revisions as a "record" of the Quality Program, and then control it as I would records. Keeping previous revisions can also show a customer a "mature" quality system.

JMHO, as always.

pnopoes, Welcome to the Cove!

I agree with Carol on this one, while I can't see any reason for a mandatory requirement to save the documents, perhaps you could scan them into electronic documents (if not already done) into pdf. files to show a mature quality systems from all the revisions, and it also will satisfy a portion of the the continuous improvement section of the standard.

 

[Ettore]

Look at this thread for my and other opinions about obsolete documents
http://elsmar.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=13558&page=2
By

 

[Claes Gefvenberg]

Welcome among the posters

Is it mandatory (in ISO9001:2000) to keep previous versions (and therefore obsolete) of a document. I can't find any reference to it in the ISO, and I certainly can't think of a good reason to keep them apart from contractual documents to settle a dispute.

No, you are right, it is not mandatory.

A documented procedure shall be established to define the controls needed
...
g) to prevent the unintended use of obsolete documents, and to apply suitable identification to them if they are retained for any purpose.

It is in other words up to you to decide whether you need to retain them or not. It often makes good sense to keep them though. This morning I was glad that we do, when I was asked about the grounds for certain decisions made a few years back.

Scrapping old documents would certainly save space and avoid possible confusion (since there would be only the latest version available).

Yes. If you really don't need them, there is as you say little point in having them around.

/Claes

 

[kei_ko]

documents? note the definition of documents in 4.2.3 includes Records are a special type of document and shall be controlled according to the requirements given in 4.2.4.

therefore, remember that document control depends on your clasifications of your QMS documents and the retention requirement in 4.2.4 may apply

 

[Wes Bucey]

Retention policy

In my opinion, this is a retention policy question. The point being Every document is different from Every other document and may require a special decision on whether to retain it or not. (Some might call it the "common sense retention policy")

In the world of documents that pass through the hands of organizations, some are so important they must be kept for the life of the organization. Others are essentially "read and shred."

For the sake of this discussion, we are only concerned with documents which get modified, NOT records which are never modified (you can't rewrite history.)

If the document in question is an engineering drawing of a product, it might be worthwhile to keep obsolete versions in an archive for reference each time a new revision is proposed to determine whether the proposed revision matches something tried in an earlier version. Contracts or regulations may require retention for extended periods.

Documents such as work instructions or process maps might have a "history" page attached to the modified document which gives a brief history of the changes to each previous version. In such case, retention of previous versions can be as short as zero days.

A search of the internet or a good library will show many filing schemes to handle documents at various stages of retention.

Original documents
these usually follow this progression:

1. active file for instant retrieval and reference
2. archive file (on site) for infrequent reference
3. archive storage (off site) - referral to these documents normally only happens on retention review date or in case of legal action.

(any time after creation, original files may be transferred to electronic or microfilm format to save physical storage space - physical copies only need to be retained for regulatory or contract purposes.)

 

[pnopoes]

Thank you all for your insight.

We will define a retention period for each type of document. For some of them it will be 0 days.

Thanks again.

Regards,