Your manual is the first document a registrar opens, and in an integrated system it is where quality and environmental requirements meet.
Neither ISO 9001 nor ISO 14001 requires a manual, but an organization running both standards through one set of processes gains more from one than anyone. A single manual states one scope, shows one process map and points to where every requirement of both standards is met. This ISO 9001 14001 combined manual template and guide walks you through building yours, whether you are integrating for the first time or merging two manuals written to the 2015 editions.
It is a complete worked manual for a fictional organization, Perennia Corp. You replace the facts and keep the structure. Every decision that is yours to make is marked in square brackets, so nothing is left as an empty outline.
Two editions in one purchase
- Clean edition (62 pages). For organizations building an integrated system or combining two manuals into one. Part 1 explains how to set one scope for two standards and the order to work in. Part 2 is the manual itself. Part 3 is the MSI toolkit you work through and then delete.
- Transition edition (18 pages). For organizations updating manuals built to ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015. It summarizes the changes in both standards, keys each one to a section of the clean edition with what to do about it, and includes a worksheet that walks your current manual against both 2026 editions line by line.
What's included
- One scope statement for both certificates, with the ISO 14001 boundaries and a life cycle control and influence table
- Context of the organization, including environmental conditions and one climate change determination that serves both standards
- Interested parties register showing which requirements the system addresses and which become compliance obligations
- Environmental aspects with worked significance criteria, kept separate from the risk and opportunity register as ISO 14001:2026 expects
- Compliance obligations and a separate evaluation of compliance process
- One quality and environmental policy carrying both sets of commitments
- Process interaction map in your own names, with an editable map file and a map builder that works from your organization chart
- The naming rule: clear instructions for replacing ISO terms with the words your people use, such as business development and quoting in place of customer-related processes
- Operational control with environmental operating criteria written into the same travelers and procedures as quality criteria
- Emergency preparedness and response tied to the emergency situations found in the aspects review
- One management review covering the inputs and results of both standards
- Training video links: a Watch block at the end of each major section, with a slot for your own video and an MSI suggestion
- Appendix A: every item of documented information both standards require and where it lives
- Appendix B: an eighteen-entry integration decision record, showing what the manual does where the standards differ and the alternative considered
- Appendices C and D: full clause cross-references to ISO 9001:2026 and ISO 14001:2026
- Toolkit: scope and boundary builder, aspect significance test, non-applicability test, map builder, integration decisions, video plan and release check
- Document control built in: header title and footer ownership statement on every page, print date and page numbering
- ISO 9001:2026 and ISO 14001:2026 change analyses (PDF) showing what changed from the 2015 editions
- Editable process map file (SVG)
- Editable Microsoft Word (.docx) files
Who it's for
Quality, environmental and EHS managers and consultants at organizations certified or certifying to both ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. It suits organizations adding ISO 14001 to a working quality system, organizations merging a quality manual and an environmental manual, and organizations moving both certificates to the 2026 editions before the transition deadlines of April 30, 2029 for ISO 14001 and September 30, 2029 for ISO 9001.
Why it works
- One system, not two in one binder. Where the standards say the same thing, the manual says it once. Where only one standard asks, the requirement is tagged so nobody wonders which standard they are reading.
- Show the integration was deliberate. The integration decision record turns “we merged two standards” into documented choices with reasons, the first page worth showing when an auditor asks how one system satisfies both.
- Close the gaps combined systems usually miss. Contract commitments that become compliance obligations, aspects kept apart from risks, and evaluation of compliance kept apart from internal audit.
- See exactly what changed. The transition edition separates new requirements, changed requirements and wording changes in both standards, so you spend your time where the substance is.
ISO 9001 14001 combined manual: frequently asked questions
Do ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 require a manual?
No. ISO 9001 dropped the requirement in 2015, and ISO 14001 has never had one. Both still require a documented scope, a policy, objectives and the processes and their interactions. A combined manual holds those in one controlled document.
Can we exclude requirements we do not use?
Only under ISO 9001, which allows a requirement to be determined not applicable with justification. ISO 14001 requires every requirement to be fulfilled without exclusion. The manual and its toolkit show where that line falls.
Are the compliance obligations in the template ours?
No. They are worked examples for a fictional United States site. The manual shows how to record your own obligations, and tells you to verify each one at its primary source.
Do I insert my organization chart?
No. The manual references your organization chart by number and never inserts it, so the manual does not go out of date every time the chart changes.
Can MSI help us implement it?
Yes. Call MSI at 760-434-9141 or book time with MSI.
Train the people who run your system
QMS Interviews is MSI's online course on how a management system works in practice, through the conversations an auditor has with your people. Already certified to ISO 14001:2015? The ISO 14001:2026 Transition course takes your team through the changes.
Complete your documentation
Running ISO 9001 only? See the ISO 9001:2026 Quality Manual Template.
The manual points to the procedures underneath it. View the full documentation packages:
Prefer to buy by invoice or purchase order? Call MSI at 760-434-9141 or 888-914-9141 toll-free, or contact us, and we invoice your organization directly.
Perennia Corp is a fictional organization used as the worked example. No resemblance to any real company is intended. ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 are standards published by the International Organization for Standardization; this template is not affiliated with or endorsed by ISO. Read the requirements in your own licensed copies of the standards. © 2026 Management Systems International, LLC.
