Position as of October 2026. This article will be updated as transition rules and new editions are confirmed.
2026 is the busiest year for management system standards in a decade. ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 have both been republished, AS9100 is being revised and renamed IA9100, and ISO 45001 is well into its own revision. If your organisation holds more than one certificate, you are not facing one transition. You are facing several, on overlapping timelines, involving the same leadership team and the same auditors.
The good news is that none of these revisions is a rebuild. They share a common structure, they pull in the same direction, and handled well they can be dealt with as one coordinated piece of work. This article sets out where each standard stands, what has actually changed, and how to plan sensibly.
The short version
ISO 9001:2026 was published on 16 September 2026. Organisations certified to ISO 9001:2015 have until 30 September 2029 to transition.
ISO 14001:2026 was published on 15 April 2026. Organisations certified to ISO 14001:2015 have until 30 April 2029 to transition.
IA9100, the successor to AS9100D, is targeted by the IAQG for late 2026. The publication date and transition period are not yet confirmed.
ISO 45001 is at Draft International Standard stage, with publication expected in 2027. Transition arrangements will follow publication.
The ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 deadlines are set by Global Accreditation Cooperation (Global ACI), which took over the work of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) at the start of 2026. Always confirm how your own certification body is scheduling transition audits.
ISO 9001:2026: evolution, with sharper edges
The sixth edition of ISO 9001 keeps the familiar ten-clause Harmonized Structure, and most of the standard reads much as it did in 2015. The changes that matter are the ones that turn good intentions into auditable requirements.
Quality culture and ethical behaviour. Top management must now actively promote a quality culture and demonstrate ethical behaviour. A refreshed policy statement will not be enough; auditors will look for evidence in decisions, communication and behaviour.
Risks and opportunities, separately. Clause 6.1 now treats risks and opportunities as two distinct things to determine and act on, rather than one bundled exercise. Many risk registers will need restructuring.
Planning of changes. Clause 6.3 now expects a visible, closed loop: plan the change, communicate it, monitor it, evaluate whether it worked and review it.
Climate and sustainability in context. The 2024 climate change amendment is carried into Clause 4, so climate must be considered as part of understanding your organisation and its interested parties.
Knowledge and awareness. Organisational knowledge must be shared, not just retained, and awareness now extends to culture and ethics as well as procedures. A new, expanded Annex A provides guidance on interpreting the requirements.
Accreditation bodies must be ready to assess against the new edition by 31 March 2027, after which certification bodies can complete their own accreditation and begin transition audits. More detail is on our ISO 9001 page.
ISO 14001:2026: the environmental system catches up with the world
ISO 14001 was the first of the 2026 revisions to publish, and its transition clock is already running. The key changes are:
Broader environmental conditions. Clause 4.1 now names climate change, natural resource availability, ecosystem health and biodiversity as conditions to consider.
Life cycle in the scope. A life cycle perspective is now explicitly required when determining the scope of the EMS.
Planning of changes. As with ISO 9001, changes affecting the EMS must be planned, controlled and evaluated rather than handled reactively.
Wider control of external provision. Operational control extends beyond outsourced processes to all externally provided processes, products and services, with the level of control based on environmental relevance.
Audit objectives and improvement. Internal audit programmes need defined objectives, and the continual improvement clauses have been merged into a single Clause 10.1.
Importantly, from 31 October 2027 new and initial accredited certifications can only be issued to ISO 14001:2026. See our ISO 14001 page for more.
AS9100 to IA9100: aerospace follows ISO 9001
The International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG) is revising AS9100D and renaming it IA9100, with publication deliberately timed to follow ISO 9001:2026. AS9100D remains the current, certifiable standard. Signalled themes include product safety, counterfeit parts prevention, sub-tier supplier control, cyber and data security, and culture, ethics and human factors.
Because IA9100 sits on top of ISO 9001:2026, aerospace and defence suppliers who address the ISO 9001 changes now will already have done much of the groundwork. We cover this in detail in AS9100 to IA9100: What UK Aerospace Suppliers Need to Know.
ISO 45001: next in line
ISO 45001 is being revised for the first time since 2018. The Draft International Standard ballot closed during 2026 and publication is expected in 2027. The draft points towards stronger attention to worker wellbeing, return to work after injury or ill health, hazards arising from modern ways of working, and control of externally provided products and services. The text can still change, so treat the draft as direction of travel rather than requirement. Our ISO 45001 page has more on where the standard is heading.
Three years is shorter than it looks
A three-year transition window sounds generous. In practice it shrinks quickly. Certification bodies need their own accreditation for the new editions before they can audit against them, transition activity is usually scheduled into an existing surveillance or recertification visit, and every organisation that waits until the final year will be competing for the same auditor time.
For integrated management systems the timing matters even more. ISO 14001 is already transitioning, ISO 9001 has just started, and IA9100 and ISO 45001 will follow. Handling them one at a time means repeated disruption to the same people and documents. Handling them together means one gap analysis, one set of updated registers and one coherent story for your auditors.
Already underway: a London technology company built for ISO 9001:2026
Hillscom is currently supporting a London-based technology company that is on track to achieve its first ISO 9001 certification directly to the 2026 edition.
Rather than build to the 2015 edition and face a transition within months of certifying, we designed the quality management system against ISO 9001:2026 from the outset. Quality culture, separate treatment of risks and opportunities, and planned change are built into the way the business already works, not bolted on alongside it. For a fast-moving technology business, that means a system that supports growth rather than slowing it down.
How Hillscom can help
Hillscom has been helping organisations build and certify management systems since 2007, backed by more than 30 years of quality leadership across automotive, aerospace, defence and technology. That includes senior quality and mission assurance roles in aerospace and defence, building AS9100D certification from the ground up, and hands-on experience in tier one automotive supply. We hold ISO 9001 Lead Auditor, ISO 27001 Lead Implementer and ISO 44001 Lead Implementer qualifications, and we have been through previous transitions from inside the businesses doing them.
Transition gap analysis. A clause-by-clause review of your current system against the new editions, prioritised by the size of each change, so effort goes where auditors will look first. Find out more about our certification readiness and gap analysis service.
One integrated approach. Where you hold several certificates, we work to a single set of registers and one plan covering every standard in scope, rather than parallel projects. See our integrated management systems service.
Forward-compatible documentation. Anything we write for you today already reflects the 2026 requirements, so you never pay for the same document twice.
Audit readiness. Internal audits against the new editions, preparing leadership for culture and ethics questions, and practical liaison with your certification body over transition timing.
First-time certification. For organisations certifying for the first time, especially technology businesses and startups and scale-ups, we build straight to the 2026 editions so there is no transition to face later.
What to do now
1. Check your certificates and audit dates. List every certificate you hold, its edition and your next surveillance or recertification date. This is your transition timeline.
2. Talk to your certification body. Ask when they will be accredited for each new edition and at which visit they plan to assess your transition.
3. Run one gap analysis, not four. Review ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 together now, with an eye on IA9100 and ISO 45001 where they apply.
4. Start with the big changes. Leadership evidence of culture and ethics, separate risks and opportunities, and a documented approach to planning changes are where most effort will be needed.
5. Do not wait for the last year. Organisations that transition early get auditor availability, time to fix findings and no risk of a gap in certification.
Whether you are moving an established system to the new editions or certifying for the first time, get in touch to discuss your transition planning.
Sources: ISO; Global ACI transition requirements for ISO 9001:2026 and ISO 14001:2026; IAQG published IA9100 development updates; ISO/TC 283 updates on the ISO 45001 revision. Transition arrangements should always be confirmed with your certification body.
