ISO 9001:2026 Has Been Published — What It Actually Changes

What actually changed, clause by clause. In Clause 4 (Context of the Organization), organisations must determine whether climate change is a relevant issue in their own context. Where it is relevant, they should consider its implications for their quality management system; the standard does not automatically require additional environmental controls. This builds on a 2024 amendment that already introduced the same requirement, so certified businesses that addressed it then are largely already compliant. Clause 5 (Leadership) gains an explicit new requirement for top management to promote quality culture and ethical behaviour, a theme also reflected in the working environment guidance around Clause 7 and in Clause 7.3 (awareness). Clause 6.1 (actions to address risks and opportunities) has been restructured to separate the determination of risks from the determination of opportunities more clearly, rather than treating them as a single combined exercise. Annex A — the informative explanatory annex ISO 9001 has carried since the 2015 edition — has also been substantially expanded, to around 15 pages of supplementary guidance on terminology, structure and the intent behind individual clauses, expected to reduce inconsistent interpretation during audits.

What has not changed — and what Clause 9 specifically now requires. The overall Annex SL high-level structure — the same ten clauses shared with ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 — is unchanged, which matters for any business running an integrated management system. The core process approach and PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) framework are untouched. Clause 9 (Performance Evaluation) keeps the same overall purpose, but it picks up real, specific changes that need action, not just reading: internal audits must now state explicit audit objectives alongside scope and criteria (Clause 9.2.2), management reviews gain a new input covering changes in interested parties’ needs and expectations (Clause 9.3.2), and review outputs are now termed “results” with more flexibility in how improvement opportunities are recorded, replacing the old fixed bulleted-output format. In practice that means three concrete updates: add an explicit audit-objectives line to your internal audit plan template if it isn’t already there; add “changes in interested parties’ needs and expectations” as a standing agenda item for management review; and update your management review minutes template so outputs are recorded as “results” rather than a fixed list. Certification bodies and standards consultancies that have reviewed the wider revision, including BSI and DNV, still describe it overall as a targeted update rather than a rewrite — a well-run ISO 9001:2015 system remains a strong foundation, but Clause 9 is one of the areas where the detail, not just the framing, has moved.

Who governs the transition, and the confirmed timetable. On 1 January 2026, the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) merged with the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) to form Global ACI (Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated). IAF no longer exists as an independent organisation. Global ACI has now published the mandatory transition document, Global ACI-TECH-3-TR 2029-09-30 (M), which sets a confirmed, dated timetable: accreditation bodies must be ready to assess against ISO 9001:2026 no later than 31 March 2027; certification bodies must declare their own transition by 30 June 2027, with accreditation body decisions completed by 30 September 2027; from 31 March 2028, new and initial accredited certifications may only be issued against ISO 9001:2026; and organisations already certified to ISO 9001:2015 have a firm deadline of 30 September 2029 to complete their transition.

What this means practically, right now. If your business already holds ISO 9001:2015 certification, nothing is invalidated today, and the 30 September 2029 deadline gives a clear, confirmed planning horizon — not an open-ended one. Individual certificates still transition through their own normal cycle — a scheduled surveillance audit, a recertification audit, or a separate transition audit — rather than being automatically extended by the 2029 date itself. Because accreditation bodies have until 31 March 2027 to be ready, and certification bodies must have their own transition decided by 30 September 2027, realistic transition audits for already-certified businesses are expected to become available through 2027 and 2028, well ahead of the 2029 deadline itself. The sensible approach is to keep your existing system properly maintained, review the specific new areas — quality culture, ethical behaviour, the restructured risk/opportunity clauses, and your own climate-change relevance assessment — as part of your normal internal audit and management review cycle, use the new Annex A to check your interpretation of clauses you’re less sure about, and ask your certification body directly when it expects to offer ISO 9001:2026 transition audits, since exact timing will vary by provider within the confirmed window.