Change: Minor re-wording
Procedure Required: NO
Record(s) Required: Lost, Damaged or Unsuitable Customer Property
Comments:
This section requires the organization to exercise care with customer
property while it is under the organization's control or being used by
the organization. The organization must also identify, verify, protect
and safeguard customer property provided for use or incorporation into
the product. If any customer property is lost, damaged or otherwise
found to be unsuitable for use, this shall be reported to the customer
and records maintained.
ISO 9001:2000 includes a note stating that customer property can
include intellectual property.
Guidance:
I suggest paraphrasing the wording of the standard in your Quality
Manual. If your organization does not handle customer property (as
described in the standard), state this in your quality manual as an
exclusion. If your organization does not handle customer property, but
it may at some time in the future, then I suggest paraphrasing the
wording of the standard in your Quality Manual to address this
possibility.
As a good business practice, I recommend addressing control of both
customer property and information (e.g., billing / account information)
in a documented procedure and creating records (hard copy or electronic)
providing positive tracking. Customer information should be held secure.
