According to the latest news from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the final draft international standard (FDIS) for ISO 9001:2026 has successfully passed global voting, with core requirements locked in, marking the official countdown to the release of the new standard (ISO 9001 6th edition), which is expected to be officially released on September 16th.
New Release and Transition Timeline
According to the latest revision process of ISO, the schedule for the new version of ISO 9001 is as follows:
On August 27, 2025, the draft international standard (DIS) was officially released and global voting was initiated
In the first half of 2026, it is expected that the final draft of international standards (FDIS) will be released
Fourth quarter of 2026: The new standard is officially released (expected to be ISO 9001:2026)
3 years after release: Transition period, existing certification organizations must complete the conversion before the end of the transition period, otherwise the certificate will become invalid.
Main changes in the new version
1、 The definition of terms is separated into a separate article (Chapter 3)
The 2015 version only references ISO 9000, while the 2025 version directly lists 20 core term definitions in Chapter 3. This change makes the standards more independent and convenient for users to access directly. It is worth noting that the annotation content of some terms has been adjusted - for example, "competitors" have been added to the example of "stakeholders", and "beliefs" have been included for the first time in the elements of "management system", reflecting the standard's emphasis on culture and values.
2、 Climate change becomes a mandatory question (4.1/4.2)
New requirement: Organizations must determine whether climate change is a relevant issue and consider climate change related requests from stakeholders.
Enterprises need to assess the impact of extreme weather on operations, develop low-carbon transformation plans, and respond to customer carbon footprint disclosure needs.
3、 Quality Culture and Moral Behavior (5.1.1/7.3)
New requirement: Top management must 'promote quality culture and ethical behavior', and employees must be aware of 'organizational quality culture and ethical behavior'.
Enterprises need to deeply link quality culture with values, conduct awareness training for all employees, and establish ethical behavior norms.
4、 Clear separation of risk and opportunity (6.1)
New requirement: Split the original "Risk and Opportunity" clause into:
6.1.1 Identify risks and opportunities
6.1.2 Measures to address risks
6.1.3 Measures to address opportunities
Enterprises need to establish specialized processes to identify and respond to opportunities, shifting from passive defense to proactive creation.
5、 Refined Change Management (6.3)
New requirement: Change planning needs to consider:
How to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of changes
Communication of Changes
How to review the results of changes
Enterprises need to establish a closed-loop mechanism for change management to ensure that changes achieve the expected results.
6、 Process runtime environment extension (7.1.4)
New requirement: Clearly list social factors (non discrimination), psychological factors (stress reduction, prevention of excessive fatigue), etc., and emphasize that "it depends on organizational quality culture, including ethical behavior".
Enterprises need to pay attention to employees' mental health and work atmosphere, and incorporate them into the scope of quality management.
7、 Customer communication strengthens emergency requirements (8.2.1)
New requirement: Communication must include "information related to emergency actions, including information related to any interruptions in the products or services provided".
Enterprises need to establish a communication interruption mechanism to ensure that customers are promptly informed of service abnormalities.
8、 New input item for management review (9.3.2)
New requirement: Add "changes in stakeholder needs and expectations related to the quality management system" as input for the review.
Enterprises need to establish a dynamic monitoring mechanism for stakeholder requirements to ensure that management reviews keep pace with the times.
9、 Guidelines for Integrating Digital Concepts into Appendix
Appendix A is the place where the upgrade of the standard concept is truly reflected.
Although there are no new digital requirements in the main text, the significantly expanded content in Appendix A mentions emerging technologies such as AI and big data as reference directions for improvement. This reflects the standard's focus on digital trends and provides space for organizations to explore technological innovation.
Information source: China Academy of Quality Research
