Foreword The importance of the development of a positive safety culture has been recognized for some time@ particularly in large-scale systems where the consequences of losses may be severe. The marine and offshore industries are increasingly reliant on computer-based control systems; therefore@ the specification and verification of the software used in the control systems and their integration into the system is an important element of safety assessments. This document has been developed with the objective of improving safety and environmental performance of ships and offshore assets by providing a process to improve control system software quality. The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) provides this guidance in recognition of the beneficial effect that high software quality installed in various control systems has on the performance of assets. The ABS Guide for Integrated Software Quality Management (ISQM) presents a risk-based software development and maintenance process for application on ships and offshore assets that is based upon internationally recognized standards. These Guidance Notes augment the ISQM Guide by documenting procedures and recommendations developed with input from ABS clients and software development professionals and best practices for quality software development. The guidance provided is based on industry-accepted software quality development activities and practices that are applicable to software System Providers (SPs) who are internally implementing and evaluating their application of ABS?? ISQM processes. The Guidance Notes are also intended to help providers of control system software gain recognition of their quality software development policies@ procedures@ and practices. The guidance is applicable to all divisions@ groups@ and companies engaged in developing@ supplying@ deploying@ and maintaining software@ and provides information to assist SPs in preparing for ABS?? ISQM conformity assessments.