The first three clauses in the ISO 9001:2015 are introductory, while the last seven contain the requirements for the Quality Management System against which a company can be certified.

The seven main clauses of ISO 9001:2015 are:
- Clause 4: Context of the organization
- Clause 5: Leadership
- Clause 6: Planning
- Clause 7: Support
- Clause 8: Operation
- Clause 9: Performance evaluation
- Clause 10: Improvement