Public check PZ-I1 · version 1.0

Half of ISO 9001:2026 can be closed at a desk. The other half cannot.

Eight checks you can run yourselves in a morning. Each one says what has changed, what an auditor will ask to see, and what you do if the answer is no.

Three dates, and only the last one hurts

The transition period runs for three years, which sounds like plenty. But the March 2028 deadline is the one that actually sets the pace: from that day, accredited certificates are only issued against the new edition.

And the final date is unforgiving. If the transition is not complete by 30 September 2029, the certificate is not suspended — it is gone, and you certify from scratch.

  1. 16 September 2026ISO 9001:2026 was published. The transition period started the same day.
  2. 31 March 2028Last date for new and initial certifications against the 2015 edition. After that, accredited certificates are only issued against the 2026 edition.
  3. 30 September 2029All 2015 certificates cease to be valid. If the transition is not complete, the certificate is not suspended — it is gone, and you certify from scratch.

The changes split in two, and only one kind can be written away

The revision is called evolutionary. That is true of the structure: clauses 4 to 10 are still there, the process approach is there, risk-based thinking is there. If your system is mature under the 2015 edition, you are not rebuilding — you are adjusting.

But the adjustments are not alike. Half of them close at a desk. The other half cannot be closed with a document at all, and that is where the transition turns expensive for anyone who finds out late.

4 of 8 · paper changes

Closed in an afternoon

Terminology, cross-references, a clause that changed number, a position that needs writing down. Dull, but cheap. Save it for last so you only do it once.

4 of 8 · behavioural changes

Cannot be written away

Quality culture, ethical behaviour, awareness, knowledge, opportunities. The auditor walks out and asks somebody. If the answer is not there in daily work, no procedure can supply it, and it takes months before it is.

That is the real news in the 2026 edition. The standard has moved to where the difference between a management system that gets used and one that sits in a binder can finally be seen. The companies that run into trouble at the transition are not the ones with the thinnest procedures. They are the ones whose system never reached the floor.

The eight checks

Run them in order. Each check is either passed or not passed — there are no points for partly, because a scale always ends up being negotiated. The text of the standard is not reproduced here; the check refers to clause numbers and says what the change means in practice.

14.1 og 4.2

Climate change and interested parties

Paper change

What has changed

The 2024 climate amendment is now part of the standard itself: you must have taken a position on whether climate change is a relevant issue for your context. Clause 4.2 is sharpened at the same time — you now decide which of the interested parties’ requirements the management system will actually address, rather than merely listing them.

What the auditor will look for

Somewhere in the context analysis where climate is assessed as relevant or not relevant, with a reason. And a stakeholder overview where each requirement is marked as addressed by the system or not.

The check

Have you taken a position on climate, and does each interested-party requirement say whether you address it?

A pass is: Both are written down and dated. "Not relevant" is a perfectly good answer if it says why — it is the deliberation, not the conclusion, that is the requirement.

If the answer is no

Half a day at a desk. Put it on the next management review so the date follows with it.

25.1.1

Quality culture and ethical behaviour

Behavioural change

What has changed

Top management must promote a quality culture and ethical behaviour. This was implied in the 2015 edition. Now it is a requirement, and the auditor expects to see it — not read about it.

What the auditor will look for

Not a policy. The auditor will talk to employees and check whether leadership behaviour matches what is written: Is bad news received well? What happens when a deviation is raised? Can an operator name an example?

The check

Can three employees outside management each give their own example of quality winning over speed?

A pass is: Three different examples from the last six months, which they can tell without looking anything up. One example from management itself does not count.

If the answer is no

This is not closed with a document. It takes a daily rhythm where deviations are raised and handled visibly — and six months before anyone can remember examples.

36.1

Opportunities separated from risks

Behavioural change

What has changed

Risks and opportunities are more clearly separated. Opportunities now require actions of their own. The widespread practice — one register where the opportunities are the risks phrased in reverse — no longer holds.

What the auditor will look for

A list of opportunities that are not simply risks turned around, with actions, owners and deadlines. And evidence that at least one has been carried out.

The check

Do you have at least three opportunities that are NOT a risk phrased in reverse — and has at least one of them been carried out?

A pass is: Three opportunities that stand on their own, and one completed within the last year with a result that can be seen.

If the answer is no

Half a day with the management team and a revision of the register. The hard part is not the list, but completing something from it before the next audit.

47.1.6

Knowledge of the whole management system

Behavioural change

What has changed

Organisational knowledge used to cover what was needed to deliver the product or service. It now covers the knowledge needed to achieve the results of the management system — that is, how the system itself is run. Retaining, using and sharing that knowledge has become explicit.

What the auditor will look for

What happens when the person who knows the system is away? The auditor asks who runs the internal audit, the management review and the deviation handling — and who could do it if that person resigned tomorrow.

The check

Can at least two people run each of the system’s core routines — and has the second person actually done it at least once?

A pass is: Two names against each routine, and the second person has actually carried it out at least once within a year. "She could do it if it came to that" is not a pass.

If the answer is no

This is the most expensive one on the list and the one that takes longest. Start by letting the second person run the next internal audit with the first as observer.

57.3

Awareness extended

Behavioural change

What has changed

The requirement for employee awareness has been extended to cover quality culture and ethical behaviour as well. It follows clause 5.1.1 and is measured in the same place: out among the people doing the work.

What the auditor will look for

A spot check. Can an employee explain what is expected if something looks wrong — and what happens afterwards?

The check

Can a randomly chosen employee explain what they do about a deviation, and what happens next?

A pass is: The explanation matches the actual routine, and they can say what happened last time. If they can only point out that "it is in the system", that is not a pass.

If the answer is no

Induction material will not move this. It moves when deviations are handled visibly every day, and people can see that raising one leads somewhere.

6Kapitel 8

Terminology and cross-references

Paper change

What has changed

The operations clause is largely unchanged in substance. The changes are editorial, but they hit every reference you hold: procedures, forms and matrices that point at a clause number or a phrase from the 2015 edition.

What the auditor will look for

That the references are correct. It is not a deep check, but it is one of the easiest nonconformities to write.

The check

Have you searched the entire document set for references to ISO 9001:2015?

A pass is: A completed search with a list of what was corrected. Remember templates, forms and cover pages — not just the procedures.

If the answer is no

A day of search and replace. Do it last in the transition so you do not do it twice.

7Kapitel 9

Performance evaluation

Paper change

What has changed

Unchanged in substance. Monitoring, measurement, internal audit and management review continue as before. The point is on the list because it is worth knowing that here you need do nothing.

What the auditor will look for

The same as before.

The check

Do the internal audit and the management review run as before, and have both been completed within the last year?

A pass is: Both completed and documented within the last twelve months.

If the answer is no

Then the 2026 edition is not your problem — you have a nonconformity against the current certification.

810.1

Continual improvement consolidated

Paper change

What has changed

Continual improvement has moved from 10.3 to 10.1, and the old 10.1 has been folded into it. The requirement to evaluate the effectiveness of a corrective action (10.2.1) is unchanged — and it is still the field most systems fill in on the same day the action is closed.

What the auditor will look for

References to 10.3 need correcting. And then the same question as always: how do you know the corrective action worked?

The check

Has the effectiveness of your last five closed corrective actions been evaluated AFTER closure — not on the same day?

A pass is: At least four out of five carry an evaluation dated later than the closure, and the evaluation refers to something you can see: a number, a measurement, an observation.

If the answer is no

This is the site’s other public check. The Anchoring Protocol PZ-F1 is a concrete answer to exactly this requirement.

What the number means

8 of 8

Adjustment

You are effectively ready. Put the transition audit in the calendar, and spend the time keeping the four behavioural points alive until then.

5-7 of 8

Ordinary

This is where most mature systems sit today. What matters is WHICH ones failed: paper points can wait, behavioural points cannot.

0-4 of 8

Start now

If two or more behavioural points failed, three years is not long. That kind of thing moves in six months at best, and only if somebody works on it every week.

The check is free to use — including without us

Check PZ-I1, version 1.0, published 30 September 2026. If we change it, it gets a new version number and a date.

The text of the standard is under copyright and is not reproduced. The standard itself is bought from ISO or your national standards body. This check does not replace it — it tells you where to look.

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