A revision with limited changes
The Global ACI transition document describes the changes as minimal and expects most organisations to find them intuitive and manageable with reasonable effort. Even so, it warns that the impact depends on each company, and that it is up to the organisation to determine what needs to change in its context and its system.
There are still the same ten clauses and the plan-do-check-act cycle is untouched. Anyone with a working 2015 system starts with nearly all the work already done.
The clauses that change
According to that document, the main changes are in top management's commitment (5.1.1), which now includes promoting quality culture and ethical behaviour and refers to continual improvement; in the quality policy (5.2.1), reordered to take account of context and strategic direction; in risks and opportunities (6.1), now split into three subclauses; in the planning of changes (6.3); in awareness (7.3); and in the management review inputs (9.3.2).
The list is not exhaustive: the document introduces these as changes that include them "but are not limited to" them. That is why the gap analysis should be done with the text of the standard to hand.
Changes of form that also matter
The standard is aligned with the latest version of the Annex SL harmonised structure. The terms and definitions now include the quality-specific ones — quality management system, quality policy and quality objectives — and ISO 9000 remains the normative reference for vocabulary.
The way documented information requirements are expressed also changes, the meaning of "shall be available" is clarified, the informative Annex A is rewritten to clarify the requirements, and Annex B is removed.
What we have not been able to verify
The transition document does not detail the remaining clauses, such as operation in clause 8. We do not assume that the numbering or content of those clauses is identical to 2015 until it has been checked against the published standard; the Academy's templates and chapters that cite specific clauses still use the 2015 numbering.
What an auditor usually asks for
- Text of ISO 9001:2026 purchased and available to the quality team
- Gap analysis of clauses 5.1.1, 5.2.1, 6.1, 6.3, 7.3 and 9.3.2
- Remaining clauses reviewed against the new text, assuming nothing is unchanged
- List of system documents and records that need updating
How to prepare the gap analysis in Kimobox
- 1Record the gap analysis as a controlled document, with version, approval and review date.
- 2Open one action for each gap with an owner and a due date, and let the system warn you if it slips.
- 3Link each action to the process on the map it affects, so you know which indicators and documents need reviewing.
If you already run ISO 9001:2015 in Kimobox, the transition means reviewing what you have, not starting from scratch.
Where each figure comes from
References to the official text in force. If a standard is revised, this page is updated and the review date says so.
- ISO 9001:2026 — Quality management systems. Requirements ISO · 2026 ed., published 16 September 2026
- ISO press release on the publication of ISO 9001:2026 ISO · 16 September 2026
- ISO/TC 176/SC 2: ISO 9001:2026 has been released ISO/TC 176/SC 2 · 28 September 2026
- Global ACI-TECH-3-TR 2029-09-30 (M), transition requirements for ISO 9001:2026 Global ACI (successor to IAF and ILAC) · Version 1.0, 4 September 2026
- IAF notice of cessation and transfer of its documents to Global ACI IAF · 1 January 2026
- ISO 9001:2015 — Quality management systems. Requirements (withdrawn) ISO · 2015 ed., with Amd 1:2024; withdrawn 16 September 2026
- ISO 9000:2015 — Fundamentals and vocabulary ISO · 2015 ed.