Clause 9.3: Management review
Top management has to review the records system at planned intervals to confirm that it remains suitable, adequate and effective.
What clause 9.3 asks
Top management has to review the records system at planned intervals to confirm that it remains suitable, adequate and effective. The review has to take in the status of actions from the previous review, changes in context and requirements, performance against objectives, audit results, nonconformities and corrective actions, monitoring results and the concerns of interested parties, and it has to produce decisions about improvement and resource needs. Documented information of the review has to be retained.
The review is a decision forum. It takes the required inputs, judges suitability, adequacy and effectiveness, and produces decisions about improvement and resources.
Reading it in practice
The review is where the system's direction is set. A pack that repeats last year's slides is a sign that nothing is being decided. Build the inputs from the record, then record three decisions with owners and dates. Follow them up at the next review, and the review becomes a control rather than a meeting.
The third edition is at stage 50.00 and its clause text is not public. No public draft wording. The 2019 text keeps the harmonized review clause and the requirement to retain documented information of the review.
Status: not shown in the public record. The 2019 requirement above is the one a certificate is issued against. No draft requirement is asserted.
Evidence for clause 9.3
Expect a review pack with the required inputs and their sources, minutes that record decisions, owners and dates, and follow-up evidence that the decisions were implemented.
- Management review Management review pack with the required inputs and their sources
- Management review Minutes recording the decisions, owners and dates
- Management review Follow-up evidence that the decisions were implemented
Where clause 9.3 commonly fails
- A review that is a presentation with no decisions
- The same pack reused year after year with the dates changed
What to do about clause 9.3 before the revision
Build the pack from the record: previous actions, context changes, objectives, audit results, nonconformities, monitoring and interested parties. Record three decisions with dates. Follow them up.
Read across from clause 9.3
Open the full index. The revision record shows the public stage record and the proven 2011 to 2019 changes.
Source for clause 9.3: ISO 30301:2019, ISO 30301:2019, Clause 9.3, retrieved 22 October 2026. The requirement, evidence and gaps are written from our clause record; the draft status rests on the ISO/PRF 30301 page 89772. Every source.