Internal and external auditing are important procedures in quality management to check and evaluate the effectiveness of management systems, processes and procedures.

The High Level Structure (HLS) is a framework developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to standardize the structure and composition of management system standards. HLS was introduced to improve coherence and consistency between different ISO management system standards and to facilitate the integration and adaptation of these standards.

The HLS defines a common structure for all ISO management system standards, regardless of their scope. This structure includes consistent numbering and terminology for the different sections of a management system standard, including organizational context, leadership, planning, support, operations, performance evaluation and improvement.

By applying the HLS, organizations can facilitate the integration of management systems by providing a common language and structure for different management systems such as quality management (ISO 9001), environmental management (ISO 14001) and information security management (ISO 27001).

The HLS also facilitates the implementation and certification of management systems, as organizations that are already familiar with an ISO standard can more easily adapt to new standards that also use the HLS. This leads to increased efficiency, consistency and compatibility between different management systems and improves collaboration and integration within organizations.