Article
ISO 9001:2026 Transition Timeline: Who Has to Do What, and by When
ISO 9001:2026 transition dates reported by Global ACI and UKAS, what each date means for certification bodies and certified organizations, and what to ask.
Last reviewed October 1, 2026
If your organization holds an ISO 9001:2015 certificate, the dates that matter most are the ones your certification body gives you. To make sense of them, it helps to know where they come from. This article walks through the published timeline from Global ACI, adds what UKAS says for the UK, and explains what each step means for you.
A note on sources. This is our own summary of public sources, not ISO text. Dates can be updated, so check them with your certification body. Global ACI's transition requirements are written for accreditation and certification bodies, not for certified organizations directly.
Who sets the dates
ISO publishes the standard. It does not certify organizations. ISO's own page says it "does not perform certification or issue certificates" and that certification is performed by external certification bodies (ISO, Certification).
Global ACI (Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated) sets the transition period for accredited certification. Its transition requirements for ISO 9001:2026 (Global ACI-TECH-3-TR 2029-09-30 (M), version 1.0, issued September 4, 2026) are mandatory for its Multilateral Recognition Arrangement accreditation body signatories and their accredited certification bodies. They give the timeline from ISO 9001:2015, including its 2024 amendment, to the new edition (Global ACI).
The Global ACI timeline
ISO 9001:2026 was published on September 16, 2026. Global ACI sets a three-year transition period and these dates:
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| By March 31, 2027 | Accreditation bodies ready to assess against and support the new edition |
| By June 30, 2027 | Accredited certification bodies submit their transition declaration and supporting information |
| By September 30, 2027 | Accreditation body transition decisions completed |
| From March 31, 2028 | New and initial accredited certifications may only be issued to ISO 9001:2026 |
| By September 30, 2029 | Organizations certified to ISO 9001:2015 must complete their transition, at a surveillance or recertification audit or at a separate transition audit |
What UKAS says
UKAS's technical bulletin (September 16, 2026) lists these milestones for UK accreditation: UKAS ready to begin transition assessment activity on December 1, 2026; transition decisions commencing on January 1, 2027; all UKAS transition decisions completed by September 30, 2027; certification bodies to stop accepting new applications against the previous version of the standard on March 16, 2028; and certification bodies to transition all certified customers by September 30, 2029 (UKAS technical bulletin).
Notice the difference. Global ACI's date for new and initial accredited certifications is March 31, 2028. UKAS's date for stopping new applications against the previous version is March 16, 2028. These are two different statements from two different bodies. Ask your certification body which applies to you.
Why your certification body goes first
UKAS says that until it has made an accreditation decision to transition a certification body, certification issued against ISO 9001:2026 "must not be represented as accredited certification". Global ACI's declaration form for certification bodies refers to a process for issuing accredited certificates only after the accreditation body's transition decision. ANSI's release makes the same point: accredited certification bodies must be transitioned by their accreditation body before they can issue certificates to the new edition (ANSI, September 16, 2026).
What does that mean for you? The date your certification body is able to audit you to ISO 9001:2026 depends on when it is transitioned. So ask it now what its plan is.
What a transition audit involves
Global ACI's document says transition can happen during a scheduled surveillance or recertification audit, or through a separate transition audit. It says the transition audit includes a review of the changed requirements compared with the previous version, changes to the organization's context, and the need for any other changes to the management system.
How your certification body schedules and conducts this is for that body to say.
What the reported changes are
Global ACI describes the overall changes as "minimal" and says organizations will find them "largely intuitive, practicable" and, depending on context and objectives, attainable "with reasonable effort". It adds that it is the certified organization's responsibility to determine the changes to its context and management system (Global ACI, TECH-3-TR, section 3.2). UKAS names interested parties, quality culture and ethical behavior, risks and opportunities, planning of changes and management review as the most significant. Our articles cover several of them:
When to book
LRQA, a certification body, says audit capacity is "always most constrained in the final year of a transition window", and that organizations certified to ISO 9001:2015 have a choice about timing because the 2015 certificate remains valid during the transition (LRQA). That is one certification body's view, published alongside its own services. We have no data on audit capacity, so treat it as LRQA's view, not something we have checked. Global ACI says accredited certifications for the previous version are no longer valid after September 30, 2029.
A short plan
Ask your certification body when it expects to be ready, and when it would like to audit you.
Get your own copy of the standard. Summaries, including this one, are no substitute.
See where you stand by comparing your system with the changes, clause by clause.
Update documents and records where the comparison shows gaps.
Re-check the dates from time to time, because bodies can update their requirements.
For the full list of reported changes, see ISO 9001:2026: what changed and what to update.
Check where you stand
Our free Gap Analysis Checklist for ISO 9001:2026 has 111 plain-English questions covering clauses 4 to 10, with 25 new or changed 2026 requirements flagged, in Excel and Word. It works for first-time certification and for organizations moving from ISO 9001:2015. The download page has a short sign-up form; occasional emails about Clearline Systems kits are a separate, optional tick box.
The checklist paraphrases requirements in our own words. It is not ISO text, you will still need your own copy of the standard, and using it does not promise a pass or certification. Only a certification body can certify your organization.
Clearline Systems is an independent publisher of documentation templates. Clearline Systems is not affiliated with or endorsed by ISO (the International Organization for Standardization), ANSI, Global ACI, UKAS, LRQA, any national standards body, accreditation body or certification body. We don't reproduce ISO text; you'll need your own copy of the standard.
Sources
Global ACI, news page, "Global ACI Publishes Transition Requirements for ISO 9001:2026," September 16, 2026: https://global-aci.org/en/news/global-aci-publishes-transition-requirements-for-iso-90012026/
Global ACI-TECH-3-TR 2029-09-30 (M), Transition Requirements for ISO 9001:2026, version 1.0, issued September 4, 2026: https://sys.global-aci.org/uploads/documents/TECH-3-TR_2029-09-30_(M)_ISO_9001_2026_Transition_v1_03.pdf
UKAS, Technical Bulletin, QMS ISO 9001:2026 transition, September 16, 2026: https://www.ukas.com/resources/technical-bulletins/qms-iso-9001-2026-transition/
ANSI, "First Full Revision of ISO 9001 in a Decade Now Available from ANSI," September 16, 2026: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/first-full-revision-of-iso-9001-in-a-decade-now-available-from-ansi-302880800.html
LRQA, "ISO 9001:2026 is live: the transition period has begun," September 16, 2026: https://www.lrqa.com/en/latest-news/iso-9001-2026-live/
ISO, Certification: https://www.iso.org/certification.html
All sources checked October 1, 2026.