ISO 9001:2026 Quality management systems — Requirements (sixth edition) was published by the International Organization for Standardization on 16 September 2026 and by BSI as BS EN ISO 9001:2026 on 30 September 2026. It replaces ISO 9001:2015 and incorporates the climate change amendment issued in February 2024 (ISO 9001:2015/Amd 1:2024).
The revision is evolutionary rather than radical. The clause structure, the process approach and the PDCA cycle are retained, while the main changes address quality culture and ethical behaviour, the separation of risks and opportunities, stronger management of change, core terms in Clause 3 and a much expanded Annex A.
Under the accreditation transition requirements issued on 4 September 2026 (Global ACI-TECH-3-TR), accredited ISO 9001:2015 certificates must be transitioned to ISO 9001:2026 by 30 September 2029.
This article is for business owners and quality managers and serves as a reliable resource for ISO 9001:2026 transition planning. It provides sound, actionable advice on the changes introduced by the new edition, the transition timeline and the steps your organization should take to update its quality management system.
A central aim of the revision was to clarify the existing requirements and align ISO 9001 with the latest ISO harmonized structure for management system standards, while keeping new requirements to a minimum. The main changes are:
Annex A has been significantly expanded to clarify the structure, terminology and intent of the requirements, although it adds no new requirements. Annex B, which listed other ISO/TC 176 standards, has been removed.
The great majority of the ISO 9001:2015 requirements continue unchanged in substance, so businesses that are already compliant with ISO 9001:2015 should expect to make targeted updates rather than a complete overhaul of their quality management system.
Themes such as climate change, resilience and quality culture add new dimensions to consider, but they build on the existing requirements rather than departing radically from them.
The transition arrangements are set out in the accreditation document Global ACI-TECH-3-TR, issued on 4 September 2026. The key dates for accredited certification are:
Until the end of the transition period, ISO 9001:2015 certificates remain valid (unless they expire sooner). Your certification body will explain how it plans to carry out transition audits, which can often be combined with a scheduled surveillance or recertification audit.
Now that ISO 9001:2026 has been published, organizations should plan their transition rather than wait for the deadline. This 7-step process involves understanding the new requirements, assessing current systems, and planning for necessary adjustments.
Our ISO 9001 quality manual and procedure templates have been revised to ISO 9001:2026 and offer a reliable way of achieving process-based compliance, shortening the time needed to complete your transition.
The transition period, which ends on 30 September 2029, is plenty of time to achieve compliance even if you are beginning from scratch today, but early action reduces both risk and cost.
The greatest resource of any organization is its people, so strategies for managing real and perceived change, or concerns and attitudes, should be addressed during transition planning. It is likely that during the first few months, Top management will need to regularly reinforce the benefits of the transition project to ensure that your employees maintain focus and motivation for upgrading the quality management system.
Adjusting the quality management system documents should also be expected as staff become accustomed to the requirements and suggest usability improvements. Instant business or quality improvements may be initially observed; however, experience suggests that there is a lag phase before consistent improvements become the norm.
The benefits to the organization of a properly functioning quality management system are not just restricted to the knowledge that it complies with regulatory requirements, but that it has the discipline to manage customer requirements effectively.
The extent of the documented information will differ from one organization to another because of the organization's size and its activities, processes, products, and services; the complexity of processes and their interactions, and the competence of personnel. Under earlier editions such as ISO 9001:2008, the quality manual helped to establish and document the framework of your organization's quality management system while articulating those aspects of the QMS to any interested parties.
While there is still no requirement for a quality manual or documented procedures in ISO 9001:2026, it is suggested that they should not simply be binned if they add value. You will be expected to maintain the integrity of the quality management system during the transition process.
You do not need to renumber your existing documentation to correspond to the new clauses. It is down to each organization to determine whether the benefits gained from renumbering will exceed the effort involved. You do not need to restructure your management system to follow the sequence and titles of the requirements. Providing all of the requirements in ISO 9001:2026 are met, your organization’s quality management system will be compliant.
The following criteria can be used to assess which of your existing documents and information your organization should keep available as documented information under ISO 9001:2026 by determining whether the information:
Suppose any of the above criteria apply to any type of document or information within your organization's domain, it should be kept available and controlled as a form of 'documented information' per Clause 7.5.
This is the 'Plan' part of the PDCA process. Establish the objectives and processes necessary to deliver results in accordance with customer requirements and the organizational policies. This is often implemented using stated objectives, work instructions or procedures as required for consistent process output.
This is the 'Do' part of the PDCA process. Ensure the availability of resources and information necessary to support the operation and monitoring of your processes. This may be through management review or other methods that define resource requirements.
This is the 'Check' part of the PDCA process. Monitor, measure and analyse process performance. Monitor and measure processes and products against policies, objectives and requirements, and report the results. The methods employed and the timing of such analysis should be based upon priorities established by the organization.
This is the 'Act' part of the PDCA process. Implement the actions necessary to achieve the planned results, and for the continual improvement of those processes. Auditors will expect to see evidence that corrective action is taken when measurable objectives and performance indicators fall below target or a pre-defined action level.
The latest and current quality management principles (QMPs), stated in ISO 9000:2026, are intended to provide the foundation by which any organization can continually improve its performance.
You can learn to apply the latest quality management principles in the context of your business's own particular operations by reviewing and documenting its activities in the context of each quality management principle.
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ISO Navigator™ is our FREE online training tool that shows you how to apply the principles of PDCA to your operations. We also offer many helpful templates that get you on the road to documenting your management system, please visit the download page.