As a result of reviews within ISO in 2023, ISO Technical Committee 176 (which is in charge of Quality Management System standards) initiated revisions to ISO 9001:2015. In accordance with ISO’s policy of reviewing and updating all its standards, the goal of this revision is to keep the standard relevant and responsive to changing needs and expectations of global stakeholders.

ISO Draft International Standard (DIS) 9001, prepared by ISO TC 176, had completed its first round of comments worldwide. As with every member country of ISO, the Philippines, through the Bureau of Philippine Standards (BPS), received and made publicly available a copy of this draft, for Philippine comments and votation. Last November 20, voting was completed at ISO and it is anticipated that sometime in early 2026, a Final Draft International Standard (FDIS) will be issued by ISO, for a second commentary period of 8 weeks across all ISO member countries. Whether the FDIS will contain further changes, major or minor, remains to be seen. From previous experiences with revisions to ISO standards, plenty of changes usually were still introduced at the FDIS stage. Based on the outcomes of this second round of comments and votations, the FDIS stage is expected to be followed by ISO’s publication and release of ISO 9001:2026 in September 2026.

The issuance of ISO 9001:2026 will lead to a transition period, normally 3 years, unless modified by ISO and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF). The transition period provides enough time for ISO 9001:2015-certified organizations that intend to maintain their certified status to convert their Quality Management System to the requirements of the 2026 edition and achieve certification to ISO 9001:2026 upon passing transition audit requirements.

At the end of the transition period, ISO 9001:2015 will be withdrawn from circulation by ISO, leaving ISO 9001:2026 as the lone edition of the Quality Management System (QMS) standard. This means ISO 9001:2015 certificates will no longer be valid after the transition period. In the case of organizations seeking to be certified for the first time to ISO 9001 upon publication of the 2026 edition, they can go straight to the requirements of this new edition when setting up their Quality Management Systems and preparing for the subsequent audit and certification process by CIP under ISO 9001:2026.

Rev. 1

---