What the clause requires
Clause 7.4 asks the company to determine the internal and external communications relevant to the quality management system, defining what it will communicate, when, with whom, how and who communicates. It is a short requirement, but it cuts across the whole system: results, changes, customer requirements, problems. The standard does not say how much communication is enough, which puts the burden on the company to decide what is relevant and then be consistent about it. Almost every failure of coordination a company suffers traces back to a communication nobody had decided was somebody's job.
The simplest way to meet it is a communication matrix: indicator results to the team at the monthly meeting by the supervisor; a procedure change to the operators during training by the quality department; a customer complaint to production and sales within 24 hours by the quality department; a specification change to the supplier by email from purchasing. Five columns, one row per communication that genuinely matters, reviewed when the organization changes. It does not have to be elaborate; what makes it work is that each row names a person rather than a department.
Communication with the customer has its own requirements in clause 8.2.1, covering product information, enquiries and orders, customer feedback, customer property and contingency actions. What the auditor looks for under clause 7.4 is whether the important communications happen in a planned way rather than only when somebody remembers. The usual test is the night shift or a remote site: if a change reached the day shift and not the others, the communication was never really determined. That is the question worth asking before the auditor does.
What the auditor asks to see
- A definition of what, when, with whom, how and who communicates, as a matrix or a procedure
- Evidence of the planned communications: minutes, noticeboards, emails, indicator boards
- Changes to the system communicated to the people and the shifts they affect
- External communication with customers, suppliers and authorities where it is relevant
Where companies most often get it wrong
- Indicators measured every month and never shown to the team that produces them
- A procedure change that the night shift never heard about until a complaint arrived
- A customer complaint that never reaches the production area responsible for the defect
- Communication that depends entirely on one person being present that day
Example of a nonconformity
- Requirement
- ISO 9001, 7.4: determine the internal communications relevant to the quality management system, including what, when and with whom to communicate.
- Evidence
- Revision 05 of the packing instruction (04/2026) changed the quantity per box; the night shift carried on working to the previous revision until 06/2026, generating 2 customer complaints. There is no definition of how changes to instructions are communicated to the shifts.
- Finding
- Internal communication of changes to the system was neither determined nor carried out.
Ready-made templates for this clause
Frequently asked questions
Does ISO 9001 require a communication plan?
It requires the relevant communications to be determined. A simple matrix is the most common way to evidence that.
Is communication with the customer covered by 7.4?
The specific requirements for customer communication are in clause 8.2.1. Clause 7.4 covers the communication of the system as a whole.
Does a noticeboard count as communication?
It does, if people actually read and understand it. Auditors tend to ask about whatever is pinned to it.