Two International Organization for Standardization (ISO) documents that sit underneath much of the credentialing and quality assurance world were revised in 2026. ISO 9001:2026, the quality management system standard, was published on September 16. ISO/IEC 17024:2026, which sets requirements for bodies that certify people, was published in March. For accreditation staff who manage an organization's own quality system, for certification bodies that run professional exams, and for anyone following quality & standards work, both editions replace versions that had been in place for more than a decade.

ISO 9001:2026 at a glance

ISO's catalog lists the new standard with these details:

  • Full title: Quality management systems: Requirements
  • Edition: 6, published September 2026, stage 60.60 (International Standard published)
  • Length: 36 pages
  • Committee: ISO/TC 176/SC 2
  • Replaces: ISO 9001:2015 and its 2024 amendment (ISO 9001:2015/Amd 1:2024), both now listed as withdrawn
  • Price: 235 Swiss francs from ISO, with versions that include a redline comparison against the prior edition

ISO says the fifth edition dated from 2015 and that, after an international consultation, consensus was reached in August 2023 that a revision would add value. ISO also reports that more than one million ISO 9001 certificates have been issued to organizations in 189 countries.

What ISO says changed in ISO 9001

ISO describes the 2026 edition as building on the existing framework with targeted updates rather than a redesign. According to ISO's summary, the new edition:

  • focuses on clearer wording so organizations of any size, maturity and purpose can better understand the requirements;
  • gives more emphasis to quality culture and to leadership;
  • treats risks and opportunities separately, so organizations act on opportunities as well as guarding against risks;
  • aligns more closely with other ISO management system standards, which ISO says makes integration with existing management systems simpler.

The standard still covers the same core areas: context of the organization, leadership, planning, support, operation, performance evaluation and improvement.

The transition for certified organizations

ISO's guidance on the transition is brief. It says organizations certified to ISO 9001:2015 will have to transition to the new edition within the time frame set by their certification cycle, and it directs them to their certification body for details. ISO's page for the 2015 edition says it is no longer current and repeats that certified organizations should consult their certification body about transition arrangements. Neither page sets a specific transition deadline.

For a university, testing center or credentialing organization that holds ISO 9001 certification, the practical next step is to ask the certification body for its transition schedule, then run a gap review against the new text using ISO's redline edition or the sample available on ISO's Online Browsing Platform.

ISO/IEC 17024:2026 for personnel certification bodies

ISO/IEC 17024 sets requirements for organizations that certify individuals against a defined certification scheme, so that those bodies run their programs in a uniform, dependable way that can be recognized across borders. The new edition's catalog details:

  • Full title: Conformity assessment: General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons
  • Edition: 3, published March 2026, stage 60.60
  • Length: 25 pages
  • Committee: ISO/CASCO, the ISO committee on conformity assessment
  • Replaces: ISO/IEC 17024:2012, now withdrawn; ISO's life cycle listing also shows ISO/IEC TS 17027:2014 as withdrawn
  • Price: 179 Swiss francs

ISO says the standard can be used for accreditation, peer assessment, or designation by government authorities, scheme owners and others.

The most visible change is a set of requirements on artificial intelligence. According to ISO, the 2026 edition:

  • introduces a tailored definition of AI and dedicated clauses on the use of AI in certification processes;
  • expects certification bodies to monitor and validate AI-generated outcomes, maintain human oversight and ensure competence in the AI tools they use;
  • updates terminology and aligns with the common elements used across ISO/CASCO standards;
  • adds a new Annex B that explains how certification activities, processes, assessments, applications, exams and schemes fit together.

ISO frames the AI provisions as a way to keep new assessment tools from compromising fairness, transparency or reliability. A certification body that uses AI tools in item writing, proctoring or scoring would find its new obligations in those clauses.

What readers can do next

Personnel certification bodies accredited to the 2012 edition can ask their accreditation body for its transition timeline to the 2026 edition, since ISO's catalog pages do not set one. Quality managers can request ISO 9001 transition dates from their certification body. Both standards are sold through ISO and national standards bodies, and ISO's Online Browsing Platform offers a preview of each. Quality & standards teams that maintain both a management system and a certification program can track the two transitions separately, since each runs through a different kind of body.

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