How to prepare for the ISO 9001:2026 update 

Speak to your certification body 

The best people to speak to about ISO 9001:2026 are at your certification body. They should be one of your main sources of transition guidance. 

Ask when they expect to start auditing against ISO 9001:2026, how the transition may affect your surveillance or recertification audits, and whether your transition audit can be combined with an existing audit cycle. 

The exact details can vary from body to body. In general, ISO certifications usually allow for a three-year transition period. For example, if the standard is released in autumn 2026, you’ll likely have until autumn 2029 to develop and implement your QMS changes and carry out a transition audit. 

The guidance is out there if you ask. You may need to wait a few months until we know more. There’s no need to build your transition plan based only on assumptions.  

Create an ISO 9001:2026 transition file 

Set up one central file or folder for everything connected to the ISO 9001:2026 update. This could include draft-stage notes, certification body updates, internal decisions, meeting notes, useful guidance, potential action points, audit findings and evidence of preparation. 

Don’t get carried away. This doesn’t need to be complicated, especially before the final publication. A simple spreadsheet or shared folder may well be enough. Take the time to avoid scattered or irrelevant information. That way, when ISO 9001:2026 is published, you have a clear record of what you’ve already reviewed, what you’ve decided, and what still needs to be checked against the updated requirements.  

Check how your QMS works in daily operations 

First of all, assess how your quality management system works as part of everyday workflows. Are your procedures actually followed? Do staff understand their responsibilities? Are records completed properly? Does your QMS help you manage risk, customer satisfaction, performance and improvement? 

This is the overall point of ISO 9001, and especially the 2026 revision. The update, and your QMS itself, shouldn’t become a set of interlinked documents created once and never looked at again. It should actively support how your organisation works.  

Get leadership involved as early as possible 

ISO 9001 isn’t just the responsibility of your quality manager. After all, your quality manager works under the direction of your management team. As such, your senior leaders should have a comprehensive understanding of how your QMS supports the wider business objectives. 

Before the update arrives, conduct a review. How involved is your leadership team? Do they take part in management reviews? Do they understand quality objectives? Are they involved in decisions about resources, risks, customer satisfaction and improvement? Or do they do little more than sign off strategies or completed documents? 

We expect ISO 9001:2026 audits to continue placing strong emphasis on leadership involvement, with greater scrutiny of how leadership practically supports your QMS. Stronger leadership involvement also makes your QMS more effective. As such, now is a good time to implement any necessary changes.  

Review your risks and opportunities 

Use the upcoming update as a good reason to revisit your risks and opportunities with a risk review. Think about what has changed since your QMS was last reviewed. This may include supply chain pressure, skills shortages, customer expectations, digital tools, AI, regulatory changes, climate-related issues, data quality, product or service failures, and supplier performance. 

Of course, there’s no need to add risks for the sake of it. In fact, you may find yourself removing risks or opportunities. The point is to ensure that your QMS reflects the real-life pressures affecting quality in your organisation.  

Review your quality objectives 

Go back to your quality objectives. They must still be relevant, measurable and useful. Check that they link to your organisation’s current priorities and aren’t out of date. Also, are they reviewed regularly? Does someone own them? Are results tracked? Are actions taken when targets are missed? 

The objectives are your end goals for quality. They shouldn’t exist only to satisfy an auditor. They help you monitor whether your QMS is improving performance, reducing problems, supporting customers or achieving the specific objectives your business has set. An ISO 9001:2026 auditor will check historic evidence to see how you have set, measured and adjusted your goals, so hurriedly setting new targets just before your transition audit won’t work. 

If your objectives feel vague or disconnected from your daily work, update them before the transition begins.  

Assess your quality culture 

We expect the ISO 9001:2026 update to place greater emphasis on modern business expectations such as quality culture and ethical conduct. This is another good opportunity to look beyond your documents and procedures and assess what’s actually happening on a day-to-day basis. 

Carry out questionnaires or interviews. Do people feel able to report problems? Are mistakes used as learning opportunities? Are customer complaints taken seriously? Are shortcuts tolerated? Do teams understand why quality controls matter? 

If you identify areas where quality culture is weak, begin planning practical actions to address them. These could include making it easier to suggest improvements, recognising teams who prevent defects rather than reacting to them, involving frontline staff in process reviews and making sure managers respond constructively when they receive reports of quality issues. 

Strengthen your internal audits 

Internal audits are one of the most useful preparation tools in your arsenal. 

Rather than waiting for the new version, start improving how your internal audits work now. An internal audit should be much more than checking whether documents exist. They should test whether your processes are effective by following evidence through your QMS. Crucially, each audit should have a clear and specific objective that can be analysed and acted upon post-audit. 

For example, if a customer complaint was raised, was it investigated properly? Was corrective action taken? Was the action effective? 

The most effective approach is often to bring in an external consultant, such as ISO QSL, to review your internal audit programme rather than relying on your own internal auditor or quality manager. This gives you an independent view of whether your audits are genuinely testing the effectiveness of your processes, producing useful findings and driving improvement.  

Tidy up your document control 

There’s no need to rewrite every single document, especially before the final version of ISO 9001:2026 is even published. However, there is time now to clean up your existing document control. 

Go through your QMS. Look for outdated procedures, duplicate forms, conflicting instructions, uncontrolled templates, unclear version history and records stored in too many places. Simplify, combine, or remove anything unnecessary. 

At the same time, this is a good opportunity to check whether your documents match what actually happens in the business. If a procedure says one thing but staff do another, you need to understand why.  

Prepare your team without overloading them 

You don’t yet need to provide in-depth training to every single staff member in your organisation. However, everyone should know that an update is coming and that your business is preparing for it. 

Send out a memo. Keep the message simple. Explain that your current QMS is still important, that changes will be made based on forthcoming reviews and audits, and finalised once ISO 9001:2026 has been officially published. Let your employees know that they may be asked to support reviews, audits, or process updates. 

While it’s important to keep everyone in the loop, don’t overdo it. Over-training may overload your staff without reason (especially if the final wording or transition rules change).  

Run a gap analysis 

In this context, a gap analysis involves comparing the requirements of ISO 9001:2026 against your current QMS. It should compare the final requirements against your current processes, documents, records, controls and evidence. This is, of course, most effective once the final standard has been published. 

That said, before we reach that point, you can still conduct a lighter review. Look for obvious weaknesses in your existing system, such as outdated procedures, weak evidence, poor internal audit findings, unclear responsibilities or unmeasurable objectives. 

After ISO 9001:2026 is published, you can carry out a more formal gap analysis. 

Build your full transition plan after publication 

Once ISO 9001:2026 is published, you can move from preparation to formal transition planning. At this stage, confirm the final requirements, complete a detailed gap analysis, prioritise the most important actions, update documents where needed, train relevant staff, run internal audits against the new version, and complete a management review. 

This is when your transition plan should become more specific. It should include actions, owners, deadlines, evidence requirements and audit preparation steps. 

Until then, focus on strengthening the system you already have.  

Keep preparation proportionate 

ISO 9001:2026 should be treated as an opportunity to improve your QMS, not as a reason to create unnecessary work. Done properly and in proportion, you can prepare for the 2026 update now to reduce bottlenecks and complications later on. 

If you need help preparing for ISO 9001:2026, get in touch with our consultants here at ISO QSL. We’ll review your current QMS, identify the most practical improvement areas and keep you up to date with confirmed developments in the ISO 9001:2026 revision. Once the final standard is published, we’ll immediately help you plan a tailored transition and train your staff to use your updated QMS. 

Whether you’re actively preparing for the ISO 9001:2026 update or simply looking for more information, you can reach us on 0330 058 5551. We look forward to hearing from you.