The ISO 9001:2026 transition deadline is 30 September 2029. Global ACI set it in Global ACI-TECH-3-TR 2029-09-30 (M), Transition Requirements for ISO 9001:2026, published on 16 September 2026, the day ISO published the standard. Until that date an ISO 9001:2015 certificate stays valid; after it, ISO 9001:2015 certificates and accreditations are no longer valid. Four milestones fall before the deadline: 31 March 2027, 30 June 2027, 30 September 2027 and 31 March 2028. Because accredited ISO 9001:2026 audits begin only as certification bodies are accredited during 2027, the usable window for a Philippine organisation is closer to two and a half years than three.
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The deadline is 30 September 2029, and Global ACI set it
The date comes from one document: Global ACI-TECH-3-TR 2029-09-30 (M), Transition Requirements for ISO 9001:2026, version 1.0, issued on 4 September 2026 and published by Global ACI on 16 September 2026. It fixes a transition period of three years from publication of the standard, ending 30 September 2029. ISO publishes the standard; it does not set transition deadlines. Neither does IAF any more.
Global ACI, in full Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated, took over the roles of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and ILAC on 1 January 2026. Earlier transitions, including the ISO 9001:2008 to ISO 9001:2015 transition that closed in September 2018 and the ISO/IEC 27001:2022 transition that closed on 31 October 2025, ran under IAF resolutions. The ISO 9001:2026 transition is the first ISO 9001 transition run under Global ACI, and the document’s title carries the deadline in its reference number: 2029-09-30.
That matters for one practical reason. Before 16 September 2026, every published estimate of the deadline, including the earlier version of this page, was conditional on what IAF or its successor would decide at publication. That condition has been met. The deadline is neither an estimate nor a proposal awaiting anyone’s approval; it is 30 September 2029, in a published document, and every certification body operating in the Philippines is bound by it through its accreditation body.
The four milestones and what each one means for you
Global ACI-TECH-3-TR 2029-09-30 (M) sets four dated milestones between publication and the deadline. They are written for accreditation bodies and certification bodies, but each has a direct consequence for a certified organisation, because together they decide when your certification body can audit you to the 2026 edition and when a 2015 certificate stops being an option.
31 March 2027: accreditation bodies ready to assess certification bodies against ISO 9001:2026. Accreditation bodies, the organisations that accredit certification bodies, have until this date to be able to assess a certification body’s competence to audit and certify against the 2026 edition. For you this is the earliest date from which any certification body anywhere can have its accreditation extended. Before it, no accredited ISO 9001:2026 certificate can exist.
30 June 2027: certification bodies’ transition declarations due. By this date each certification body must have declared its transition to its accreditation body, setting out how it will move its ISO 9001 clients to the 2026 edition. For you this is the date by which your certification body has committed, in writing, to an approach; asking for its declaration date and its content is a fair question, and a body that has no answer in July 2027 has a problem you should know about.
30 September 2027: accreditation-body transition decisions completed. By this date the accreditation bodies must have completed their decisions on extending each certification body’s accreditation to the 2026 edition. Between 31 March and 30 September 2027 the extensions happen body by body, which is why the first accredited ISO 9001:2026 certificates appear during 2027 rather than on a single date. For you this is the date by which your certification body either can audit you to ISO 9001:2026 or has fallen out of the market for it.
31 March 2028: initial certifications only to ISO 9001:2026. From this date certification bodies may issue initial, meaning new, certifications only to the 2026 edition; no new ISO 9001:2015 certificate may be issued after it. Existing ISO 9001:2015 certificates continue. For an organisation seeking certification for the first time this is the decisive date: a first certification planned for the second quarter of 2028 or later will be to ISO 9001:2026, and a system being built now should be built to the 2026 standard.
30 September 2029: all transitions completed. ISO 9001:2015 certificates and accreditations are no longer valid after this date. The document sets no later date for anyone: not for audits still in progress, and not for a certificate whose printed expiry date falls after it. For you this is the date by which the certification body’s decision to issue your ISO 9001:2026 certificate must have been made, with all transition-audit findings closed.
Why the usable window is shorter than three years
Three years on paper becomes about two and a half in practice, for four reasons that compound: no certification body can audit to the 2026 edition before its accreditation is extended during 2027; transition audits are tied to existing surveillance and recertification schedules; the 31 March 2028 cut-off removes the 2015 option for new certifications; and the final year of every transition is a queue for auditor days.
The accreditation lag. The earliest an accreditation body can be ready is 31 March 2027, and decisions run to 30 September 2027. A certification body whose extension arrives in August 2027 cannot conduct an accredited transition audit for its Philippine clients before then, however ready those clients are. If your surveillance audit falls in the first half of 2027, it will almost certainly be a 2015 audit, and your transition audit moves to the next scheduled visit, usually twelve months later.
Audit scheduling. The transition audit is normally combined with a surveillance or recertification audit that was already in the diary, because that is cheaper for you and more efficient for the certification body. Each organisation therefore has roughly one realistic transition slot per year: the scheduled audit that falls after the certification body’s accreditation is extended and after your own evidence exists. Miss the 2028 slot and the next is in 2029, inside the crunch.
The 31 March 2028 cut-off. For organisations not yet certified, this date ends the option of a 2015 certificate. It also ends a route some organisations used in the last transition: certifying to the old edition late and transitioning at the first surveillance audit. After 31 March 2028 there is one edition for new certifications, and any first-time project started now should assume it.
The final-year crunch. In the 2015 to 2018 transition a large share of Philippine certificate holders transitioned in the last twelve months. Certification bodies allocated dates rather than negotiated them, additional audit time became scarce and organisations with open nonconformities at the deadline ran out of time to close them. Nothing in the 2026 rules prevents a repeat; only your own timing does.
A year-by-year plan for Philippine organisations, 2026 to 2029
The plan below places the work of a certified organisation against the Global ACI milestones and assumes a maintained ISO 9001:2015 system. Its target is a transition audit in 2028, which is late enough for the certification body to be accredited and for your evidence of operation to exist, and early enough to leave 2029 free for closing findings and for anything that goes wrong.
| Year | Milestones in the year | Your work |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 (from 16 September) | ISO 9001:2026 published 16 September; Global ACI transition requirements published 16 September; ISO’s digitally enhanced content available from 1 October | Obtain the ISO 9001:2026 standard; brief top management on 5.1.1 i) and k), 5.2.1 e), 6.1.3 and 6.3 e) to g); run a gap assessment against the ISO 9001:2026 standard; write to your certification body asking for its accreditation date, its declaration and its audit approach; treat the transition as a planned change under 6.3 |
| 2027 | 31 March: accreditation bodies ready; 30 June: certification-body declarations due; 30 September: accreditation decisions completed; accredited 2026 certificates appear body by body | Close the wording gaps (policy, split risk and opportunity registers, change-planning template, awareness content, audit checklist, management review agenda; no 10.3 anywhere); deliver awareness of quality culture and ethical behaviour under 7.3 e); plan a real change under 6.3 a) to g); train internal auditors on the 2026 edition; complete one internal audit and one management review to the 2026 edition late in the year; confirm the certification body’s accreditation extension in writing |
| 2028 | 31 March: initial certifications only to ISO 9001:2026 from this date | Take the transition audit at your scheduled surveillance or recertification audit; close findings under 10.2; receive the ISO 9001:2026 certificate on the certification body’s decision |
| 2029 (to 30 September) | 30 September: all transitions completed; ISO 9001:2015 certificates and accreditations no longer valid after this date | Contingency only: if 2028 slipped, audit as early in the year as the certification body can offer and allow for nonconformity closure before the deadline; organisations already transitioned run normal surveillance to the 2026 edition |
Two adjustments are common. An organisation whose recertification falls in 2028 makes that audit the transition audit and does everything else on the same timetable. An organisation whose recertification falls in 2027 usually recertifies to 2015, unless its certification body’s accreditation has been extended in time, and transitions at the 2028 surveillance audit. The ISO 9001:2026 playbook sets out seven scenarios in full.
What happens to a certificate not transitioned by 30 September 2029
A certificate not transitioned by 30 September 2029 is no longer valid after that date, whatever expiry date is printed on it, because the accreditation under which it was issued is no longer valid either. The organisation is then uncertified. There is no late transition: the route back is initial certification to ISO 9001:2026 as a new client, with a stage 1 and a stage 2 audit and a certificate history that shows the gap.
In the Philippines the gap is not only a matter of record. A certificate that is invalid on the date a bid is submitted, a supplier accreditation is renewed or a contractor prequalification file is checked is treated as no certificate at all. Organisations that hold ISO 9001 because a client, a tender rule or a regulator asks for it should plan the transition so that no such date in 2029 depends on a 2015 certificate, and should confirm with the body concerned how it treats certificates to the 2026 edition during the transition. The government suppliers page and the construction page cover the two sectors where this bites hardest.
The other consequence of a lapse is the cost. A transition audit adds hours to an audit you were going to have anyway; an initial certification is a new contract, a new two-stage audit and, in most cases, a new implementation effort to rebuild evidence that lapsed with the certificate. The cost page compares the two.
What the transition audit involves
Global ACI-TECH-3-TR 2029-09-30 (M) defines the transition audit rather than leaving it to each certification body. It may be conducted during a scheduled surveillance audit, during a recertification audit or as a special transition audit; it may be conducted remotely using information and communication technology; and it shall review, without being limited to, the changed requirements of ISO 9001:2026, changes to the organisation’s context and the need for any other changes to the management system.
The certification body must also consider whether additional audit time is needed for the transition and justify its calculation in accordance with ISO/IEC 17021-1. Expect the additional time to be spent on the changed requirements: the climate-change determination in 4.1, the interested-party decision in 4.2 c), quality culture and ethical behaviour in 5.1.1 i) and 7.3 e), the policy’s link to context and strategy in 5.2.1 e), the separated risks and opportunities in 6.1.2 and 6.1.3, the planning of changes in 6.3 e) to g), knowledge in 7.1.6, contingency communication in 8.2.1 e), the two effectiveness items in 9.1.3 e) and f) and 9.3.2 g) and h), and improvement under 10.1. The clause-by-clause register lists each with the evidence an auditor will ask for.
Before the audit your system must have completed an internal audit to the 2026 edition (9.2) and a management review with the 2026 inputs (9.3.2), because both will be requested and neither can be back-dated. Findings from the transition audit are closed under 10.2 in the usual way, and the ISO 9001:2026 certificate is issued on the certification body’s decision. The transition checklist puts these steps in order with clause references.
When does ISO 9001:2015 expire?
ISO 9001:2015 was cancelled and replaced as a standard on 16 September 2026, when ISO published the sixth edition, but certificates to it do not expire on that date. They remain valid to their own expiry date and in no case beyond 30 September 2029. No new ISO 9001:2015 certificate may be issued from 31 March 2028. Surveillance audits to the 2015 edition continue in the meantime.
Three consequences follow for a certificate holder. First, a certificate whose printed expiry date falls after 30 September 2029 is not valid beyond that date and cannot be renewed to the 2015 edition, so its transition audit must happen at a surveillance audit inside the window. Second, an organisation recertified to 2015 in early 2027 is not disadvantaged; it transitions at a later surveillance audit like everyone else. Third, the transition audit does not shorten or restart your certification cycle by itself; ask your certification body how it will date the ISO 9001:2026 certificate, because practice varies and the answer affects your next recertification date.
The ISO 9001:2026 transition milestones in one table
Every date in the ISO 9001:2026 transition, from the FDIS ballot to the deadline, is fixed in a published source. The table is the one to paste into your management review calendar and your certification-body correspondence; nothing in it is an estimate, and the only date not shown is the one that belongs to your certification body, namely the date on which its accreditation is extended to the 2026 edition.
| Date | Event | Source | Consequence for a certified organisation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 July 2026 | FDIS ballot closed (ISO close-of-voting record) | ISO/TC 176/SC 2 | Text finalised |
| 16 September 2026 | ISO 9001:2026 published (sixth edition) | ISO | ISO 9001:2015 cancelled and replaced as a standard |
| 16 September 2026 | Global ACI-TECH-3-TR 2029-09-30 (M) published | Global ACI | Three-year transition period begins |
| 1 October 2026 | ISO’s digitally enhanced content available, ISO 9001 included | ISO | The text in ISO’s digital format |
| 31 March 2027 | Accreditation bodies ready to assess certification bodies against ISO 9001:2026 | Global ACI | Earliest possible accreditation extension for any certification body |
| 30 June 2027 | Certification bodies’ transition declarations due | Global ACI | Your certification body has committed to an approach; ask for it |
| 30 September 2027 | Accreditation-body transition decisions completed | Global ACI | Your certification body can audit to the 2026 edition, or cannot offer it |
| 31 March 2028 | Initial certifications only to ISO 9001:2026 from this date | Global ACI | No new ISO 9001:2015 certificates; existing ones continue |
| 30 September 2029 | All transitions completed | Global ACI | ISO 9001:2015 certificates and accreditations no longer valid after this date |
How Sterling helps you meet the deadline
Sterling Revise™ is Sterling’s fixed-scope transition service, delivered by lead auditors from Makati, Cebu and Davao through Sterling OS™. Week 1 is a documentation review and gap assessment against the ISO 9001:2026 standard; week 2 is a gap report with the number of requirements needing work, before you commit further; weeks 3 and 4 produce the dated plan, the certification-body booking and the first updates. Sterling does not certify; your accredited certification body conducts the audit.
The plan is built backwards from the milestones above and from your own certificate dates, so that your transition audit lands in the slot where your certification body’s accreditation and your evidence of operation coincide, normally in 2028. Where your registers and records sit in Effivity or another QMS platform, the week 1 review is done inside the platform. The migration service page describes each week, and the contact page, the phone line on +63 977 815 1204 and info@iso-philippines.com are the ways to start.
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Plan your ISO 9001:2026 transition with Sterling
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Frequently asked questions
What is the ISO 9001:2026 transition deadline? 30 September 2029. It is set in Global ACI-TECH-3-TR 2029-09-30 (M), Transition Requirements for ISO 9001:2026, published by Global ACI on 16 September 2026, as a three-year period from the publication of the standard. After 30 September 2029 ISO 9001:2015 certificates and accreditations are no longer valid. The document gives no later date, so plan for the date as written.
Who set the ISO 9001:2026 transition deadline, ISO or IAF? Neither. Global ACI (Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated) set it. Global ACI took over the roles of IAF and ILAC on 1 January 2026 and publishes the transition requirements that accreditation bodies and certification bodies follow. ISO publishes the standard itself; it does not decide how long certificates to a superseded edition remain valid.
Is my ISO 9001:2015 certificate still valid after 16 September 2026? Yes. Publication of ISO 9001:2026 cancels and replaces the 2015 edition as a standard, but certificates issued to it stay valid until their own expiry date and in no case beyond 30 September 2029. Surveillance audits to the 2015 edition continue until your transition audit. From 31 March 2028 no new ISO 9001:2015 certificate may be issued, but existing ones are unaffected by that date.
When can we take our ISO 9001:2026 transition audit? Once your certification body’s accreditation has been extended to the 2026 edition and once your own evidence exists. Accreditation bodies are to be ready by 31 March 2027 and to complete decisions by 30 September 2027, so accredited transition audits begin during 2027, body by body. Your evidence needs an internal audit and a management review to the 2026 edition first. For most Philippine organisations the realistic slot is a scheduled audit in 2028.
What is the best year to transition? 2028, at a scheduled surveillance or recertification audit. By then every certification body offering ISO 9001:2026 is accredited for it, your evidence of operating the changed requirements has accumulated through 2027, and a full year remains before the deadline for closing findings. Transitioning in 2027 is possible for early movers whose certification body is accredited early; transitioning in 2029 is the option that carries the queue risk.
Can we transition remotely? The transition audit may be conducted remotely using information and communication technology under the Global ACI transition requirements, at the certification body’s discretion and within its accreditation rules. Whether your body offers remote transition audits, and for which parts, is one of the written questions to put to it now. Interviews on quality culture and ethical behaviour and on planned changes are often done on site even when document review is remote.
What happens if we miss 30 September 2029? Your ISO 9001:2015 certificate is no longer valid after that date and cannot be transitioned afterwards. To be certified again you apply for initial certification to ISO 9001:2026 as a new client, with stage 1 and stage 2 audits, and your certificate history shows a gap that tender evaluators, prequalification reviewers and customers’ supplier records will see. The cost is a new contract rather than additional hours on an existing audit.
Does the ISO 9001:2026 deadline also apply to ISO 14001:2026? No; ISO 14001:2026 has its own document and an earlier deadline. Global ACI-TECH-3-TR 2029-04-30 (M), published on 14 September 2026, ends the ISO 14001:2026 transition on 30 April 2029, with accreditation bodies ready by 31 October 2026, certification-body declarations by 31 January 2027, accreditation decisions by 30 April 2027 and new certifications only to the 2026 edition from 31 October 2027. Organisations holding both certificates should plan to the earlier date; see the integrated transition page.
Read next
The ISO 9001:2026 playbook for the full transition picture including seven scenarios; the transition checklist for the nine steps with clause references; the clause-by-clause register for what the transition audit will review; the migration service page for Sterling Revise™ week by week; and the ISO standards revision calendar for every other transition running at the same time.
Sources
ISO 9001:2026, Quality management systems — Requirements, sixth edition, published 16 September 2026 (ISO catalogue stage 60.60): clauses 4.1, 4.2 c), 5.1.1 i) and k), 5.2.1 e), 6.1.2, 6.1.3, 6.3 a) to g), 7.1.6, 7.3 e), 8.2.1 e), 9.1.3 e) and f), 9.2, 9.3.2 g) and h), 10.1, 10.2. ISO news release of 16 September 2026 on the publication, including the availability of ISO’s digitally enhanced content from 1 October 2026. Global ACI-TECH-3-TR 2029-09-30 (M), Transition Requirements for ISO 9001:2026, version 1.0, issued 4 September 2026, published by Global ACI on 16 September 2026 (verified on global-aci.org and in the document on 18 September 2026). Global ACI-TECH-3-TR 2029-04-30 (M), Transition Requirements for ISO 14001:2026, published 14 September 2026. ISO 14001:2026, fourth edition, published 15 April 2026. ISO/IEC 27001:2022 (transition closed 31 October 2025). ISO/IEC 17021-1 for audit-time calculation and certification-cycle practice. No Philippine regulation is cited on this page.
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