ISO 9001:2026 is published. Is your system ready?
Your ISO 9001:2015 certificate remains valid until 30 September 2029, and not a day longer. The transition will require few new documents, but more thinking from top management. Planning now means building it into your next audit, without a last-minute rush.
Plan my transition Take the 10-question testWhat changes
The 2026 edition is an evolution, not a revolution. The structure is the same, the operational core is stable and no new mandatory document appears. If your 2015 system is sound, most of your documentation remains valid. The changes are mainly about concepts.
Quality culture and ethics
Top management must promote a quality culture and ethical behaviour, and people must be aware of them. In an audit, this will not be shown by a framed charter, but through interviews: how nonconformities are handled, what the team does when a delivery deadline conflicts with quality.
Risks and opportunities separated
Risks and opportunities are now addressed separately. The point is not to copy the risk register into an "opportunity register", but to make management identify real options: new practices, partnerships, technologies.
Stronger change management
Planning a change now also means communicating it, monitoring its effectiveness and reviewing its results. Systems often break down during changes.
Resilience
Without a dedicated new clause, the standard takes disruptions into account: continuing to deliver conforming products during and after a crisis, informing customers when supply is disrupted, on-site, remote or hybrid work, iterative development.
Climate change
Introduced by the 2024 amendment, it is now an integral part of the analysis of context and interested parties.
Built-in vocabulary
The essential definitions now sit in the standard itself. Fewer debates about interpretation.
More precise management review
It now evaluates the effectiveness of actions on risks and, separately, on opportunities.
A rewritten explanatory annex
It clarifies words often debated in audits and points to supporting standards. It helps with interpretation, without adding requirements.
Further reading: ISO 9001:2026, an auditor's reading (in French), the full analysis by Jean-Marc Valentin.
Independent summary for information only. Only the official text of the standard is authoritative.
Transition timeline
The transition rules were published on 16 September 2026 by Global ACI, which succeeded IAF and ILAC on 1 January 2026. They are binding on accredited certification bodies.
- 16 September 2026ISO 9001:2026 published. Start of a 3-year transition period.
- By 30 September 2027Certification bodies obtain accreditation for the new edition.
- 31 March 2028Initial certifications are only issued against the 2026 edition.
- 30 September 2029End of the transition. ISO 9001:2015 certificates are no longer valid.
There is no race, but make good use of the calm. The transition can take place during a surveillance audit, a recertification audit or a dedicated transition audit. Our advice: gap analysis this winter, system update in 2027, and transition at your 2027 or early 2028 audit. You will avoid the 2029 bottleneck. Ask your certification body now at which audit the transition can be carried out.
Are you ready? The checklist
Answer yes or no. Each "no" is a point to address before your transition audit.
- Can your top management explain how it actually promotes a quality culture?
- Are your expectations on ethical behaviour written down and known to everyone?
- Can your staff on the shop floor explain why their work matters for quality?
- Do you treat opportunities as rigorously as risks, with real actions?
- Are your major changes communicated, monitored and evaluated after implementation?
- Do you know how to keep delivering conforming products during a disruption (supplier, IT, staff)?
- Have you assessed whether climate change is a relevant issue for your company and your interested parties?
- Does your management review evaluate the effectiveness of actions on risks and on opportunities?
- Are your internal auditors trained on what is new in the 2026 edition?
- Do you know at which audit your certification body will carry out the transition?
Our services
Support scaled to the size of your company, from diagnosis to the transition audit.
Gap analysis
Point-by-point comparison of your system with ISO 9001:2026, and a prioritised action plan.
Documentation update
Targeted adjustments, without making your system heavier.
Management workshop
Quality culture, ethics and identifying real opportunities, not inverted risks.
Training
Staff awareness and upskilling of internal auditors, so that your first 2026 internal audits ask the right questions.
Mock audit
An internal audit carried out under certification audit conditions.
Support through the transition audit
Preparation, attendance if you wish, and help with addressing any findings.
Why us
More than 20 years of experience
Independent consultant since 2004 in management systems: quality, environment, occupational health and safety, information security.
A lead auditor's perspective
Jean-Marc Valentin has been a lead auditor for SGS since 2006 (ISO 9001, 14001, 20000-1, 27001, 45001, SAS and UKAS accreditation). He knows what an auditor expects, and what is unnecessary.
Systems that work
The goal is not another binder, but a system that helps you run the company. Culture, not documentation, makes the difference.
Local, in French-speaking Switzerland
Based in Martigny, working on site throughout French-speaking Switzerland. French, English, German.
Let's talk about your transition
A first conversation, with no commitment.