The word quality (2.1)in popular usage often means different things to different people. In this International Standard quality is defined as the totality of characteristics of an entity that bear on its ability to satisfy stated and implied needs. There are many different usages of the word quality. These different usages create considerable confusion and misunderstanding. Two such usages are ”conformance to requirements” and” degree of excellence”. ”Conformance to requirements” leads people to argue that ”quality costs less”, which in some cases it does. Conversely, ”degree of excellence” implies that ”quality costs more”, which in some cases it does. In order to resolve some of the confusion in the usage of the word quality, another term grade (2.2) can be used to describe the degree of excellence. The term grade is used, when needed, to describe the sense of technical excellence. Grade reflects a planned or recognized difference in the requirements for quality. Although the different categories of grade do not necessarily stand in rank order relationship to each other, grade indicators can readily be used in a rank order sense to describe the sense of technical excellence. An example of this usage is that it costs more to provide and run a five-star hotel than a boarding house