ISO 9001:2026 – How to prepare for your certification transition?

If you already hold an ISO 9001:2015 certificate, you can continue to use it while it remains valid, subject to the usual conditions for maintaining certification. If the expiry date shown on your certificate is earlier than 30 September 2029, that date still applies. If the date shown is later, your ISO 9001:2015 certification will end no later than 30 September 2029. You do not need to request a replacement certificate solely because it shows a later date.

When we issue an ISO 9001:2015 certificate, we use the scheduled expiry date for the certification cycle or 30 September 2029, whichever is earlier. The certificate may therefore be valid for a shorter period than your usual certification cycle.

The new edition clarifies, among other things, the role of top management in promoting a quality culture and ethical behaviour, the actions needed to address risks and opportunities, and how to monitor the effectiveness of changes. It also requires management reviews to take account of changes in the needs and expectations of relevant interested parties.

Compare the revised requirements with your current practices, identify the changes you need to make and inform the teams involved. Your internal audits and management reviews can help you check whether the changes have been put into practice and are achieving the intended results.

Depending on your certification cycle and how ready you are, we can assess your transition during a surveillance audit, a recertification audit or a dedicated transition audit. Your current audit programme remains in place until we agree any changes with you. Before you commit, we will confirm which edition we will audit against, the audit duration and any applicable fees.

We will let you know as soon as transition audits can be scheduled.

To maintain continuity of certification, choose an audit date that leaves enough time to address any nonconformities, review the audit file, make the certification decision and issue the new certificate. If your current certificate expires before the end of the transition period, take that earlier date into account when planning your audit.