The possibility of carrying out an independent audit of quality management systems  (QMS) established according to ISO 9001 standard is a great advantage that has contributed considerably to the popularity of such systems.

An independent audit gives internal confidence to top management that the quality management system has been properly established and is producing the expected results. It also lends credibility to the Organization's claim that the QMS conforms to standards vis-à-vis external parties. The audit also serves as a basis for third-party certification.

For these reasons the publication in 1987 of the first ISO 9000 standards was followed in 1990 by the publication of ISO 10011 Parts 1, 2 and 3 which provide harmonized guidelines for auditing quality management systems.

In the area of environmental management the publication of ISO 14001 and 
ISO 14004 in September 1996 was followed one month later by the publication of 
ISO 14010, ISO 14011 and ISO 14012 which provide guidelines for auditing environmental management systems (EMS).

Many organizations that implemented environmental management systems already had quality management systems in place. Such organizations often integrated the QMS and the EMS into their general management systems and were not happy that ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 were not fully aligned. When the two systems were to be audited many organizations preferred to have the two audits carried out at once.

In response to requests from users, ISO/TC 176 revised ISO 9000 standards, among other reasons, to align them better with ISO 14000 standards.

In the area of auditing a joint working group (JWG) between ISO/TC 176 Quality management and ISO/TC 207 Environmental management was established to prepare one standard for auditing both QMS and EMS. The common auditing standard was allocated the number ISO 19011.