List for external documents – Non conformance

The control of external documentation includes those documents and records necessary for the planning and operation of the QMS. As you mention this is a requirement of the clause 7.5.3.2 of ISO 9001:2015, and therefore you need to address the following activities in relation to that documentation of external origin as per 7.5.3.1, including:

a) distribution, access, retrieval and use;

b) storage and preservation, (including legibility);

c) control of changes (i.e. version of the document);

d) retention and disposition.

I recommend you to write a procedure containing how you control documents and records, including external a nd internal documented information.

For the external documentation you can, for instance, do the following:

• relevant emails can be saved in an specific folder, for instance client email folder;
• new standards and laws, can be saved in a legal compliance folder;
• government and authorities letters can be stored in a government letters folder.

For each folder you will need to assign the person/s responsible for its updating and maintenance, as well as who will have access and right to edit those documents.

In addition, in the procedure of the control of documents and records you need to stablish a codification for each document and record, so you can easily control any change or update,

You can see these materials to help you with the control of list of external documents and records:

• Article – What does external documents control mean in ISO 9001: https://advisera.com/9001academy/blog/2019/02/04/what-does-external-documents-control-mean-in-iso-9001/
• Book – Discover ISO 9001:2015 through practical examples: https://advisera.com/books/discover-iso-9001-2015-through-practical-examples/
• Free on-line training – ISO 9001:2015 Foundations: https://advisera.com/training/iso-9001-foundations-course/