ConfirmedISO 9001:2026 publishes 16 September 2026. FDIS approved 7 August 2026.What it means →
Updates
A dated record of what is happening to ISO 9001:2026 and what changes on Qlause. Every claim about the standard carries a link to the committee or to ISO, so you can check it rather than take our word for it. Entries are not edited after the fact — corrections get their own entry.
Where the standard stands today
The final draft was approved on 7 August 2026. ISO 9001:2026 publishes on 16 September 2026. The clause numbering and text are frozen, so transition work done now still stands on publication day. The transition period — three years is the settled pattern — is confirmed by the IAF at publication and will be logged here.
Qlause
The full 2015 vs 2026 clause comparison is now live
Every clause of ISO 9001 is now compared across the two editions, free: what the 2015 text required, what the 2026 text requires, and what to actually change in your QMS. Eight clauses changed in substance and each has its own page; the rest are listed as carried over so you can see at a glance that nothing was missed.
It is published now rather than on publication day for one reason. The FDIS ballot closed on 7 August, which freezes the clause numbering and the text — so guidance written against the approved final draft does not need re-cutting when the standard lands. Waiting would have bought no accuracy and cost five weeks.
The pages will be re-verified against the licensed text on publication day, and anything that drifted will be corrected here with a dated entry.
The Qlause Internal Auditor course is live — free during launch
Eight modules, built to ISO 19011, taking an internal auditor from the purpose of auditing through to reporting, corrective action and follow-up — including a module on auditing the new 2026 ground. Server-graded quizzes, a final exam, and a certificate you can verify from a public link.
Free during launch. The verification page means an employer or an auditor can confirm a certificate is real without taking anyone's word for it.
ISO/FDIS 9001 approved — ISO 9001:2026 publishes on 16 September 2026
ISO/TC 176/SC 2, the subcommittee responsible for ISO 9001, announced that the Final Draft International Standard has passed its ballot and that the sixth edition of ISO 9001 will be published on 16 September 2026. ISO's own catalogue entry corroborates it at stage 60.00, Edition 6.
Two things follow from this, and the second matters more than the first. The publication date is now fixed rather than estimated — for two years the honest answer to “when?” was “sometime in 2026”, and it is now a specific Wednesday five weeks out. And because the FDIS ballot has closed, the clause numbering and the text are frozen. Gap analysis, document updates and training built against the approved final draft from today are built against what the standard will actually say.
The transition period is the one thing still genuinely open. Three years from publication is the settled pattern for major ISO 9001 revisions, which would put the deadline around September 2029 — but that is anticipated, not official. The formal transition arrangements are confirmed by the IAF and the accreditation bodies at or around publication, and we will log them here when they land.
If you hold an ISO 9001:2015 certificate, nothing breaks on 16 September. Both editions stay valid through the transition window, and the switch happens at a normal surveillance or recertification audit rather than a separate event.
“ISO/FDIS 9001 has been approved with overwhelming international support… The sixth edition of ISO 9001 is scheduled for publication on 16 September 2026.”
The Clause Companion — the plain-language field guide is published
A plain-language guide to ISO 9001, mirror-numbered to the standard, with a box in every clause family showing exactly what the 2026 edition changes and a phased transition checklist at the back.
Sold as an early edition: buyers get the 2026-verified update free when the standard publishes.
Two free calculators: transition deadline and SA certification cost
The transition deadline calculator takes your current certificate expiry and shows which audit in your calendar should be the transition audit, and how much slack you have. The certification cost calculator gives a realistic Rand range for ISO 9001 certification in South Africa, broken down by what actually drives the price.
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Qlause provides interpretive guidance only and is not a substitute for the standards. Refer to your licensed copy of ISO 9001 for the authoritative text.