New Revision to ISO 9001:2015
ISO’s surprise announcement on 29 July 2023 to immediately begin the revision process of ISO 9001:2015 left most industry experts baffled. After its mid 2021 decision to keep ISO 9001:2015 unchanged, observers had expected that the revision decision wouldn’t be revisited prior to 2026 with an ISO 9001:2030 revision generally expected. So, what happened?
Initially, and for the first time, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) decided to keep its most famous management standard – ISO 9001 – unchanged during its scheduled review in 2021.
The decision was made based on a user survey that ISO’s technical subcommittee in charge of ISO 9001 conducted in 2020. Following the users’ vote, an internal review, and a ballot among its members, the subcommittee approved the confirmation of ISO 9001:2015 without revision on 1 May 2021.
However, the 2021 ballot was taken by a narrow margin, opinions remained divided, and proponents of a revision continued to make their case. Eventually another task force, the Technical Group 5, was created to study the need for an early revision of ISO 9001. Following the group’s report in spring 2023, ISO’s technical subcommittee TC 176 / SC 2 organized another ballot of its 81 National Standards Bodies. With 78 votes cast, a “sizable majority” voted in favor of revising the ISO 9001 standard without delay.
The Next Revision – ISO 9001:2026
The decision to revise ISO 9001:2015 implies that a new working group for the revision of the standard will be established to discuss the comments and suggestions received from members of TC 176 / SC 2. Given the disagreements among the members, the time for the development and approval process of the standard is expected to last about three years. This means that the next edition of ISO 9001 will likely be published in 2026.
What to Expect
The purpose of the survey taken in 2021 was not only to identify users’ view on the current version of the standard but also to gather ideas as to what should change. The input of users and industry associations, as well as the discussions with other influential quality professionals has lead us to expect the following changes in ISO 9001:2026:
- Integration of emerging technologies, including the rapid increase in digitization and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in automated decision marking
- Inclusion of ethics and integrity and alignment with company decisions, actions and interactions with stakeholders
- Expansion of the concept of customer satisfaction to become the entire customer experience
- Renewed focus on quality assurance (this could also lead to increased customer pressure to get ISO 9001 certified, a development that ISO would certainly appreciate)
- Clarifications for service providers and strengthening service requirements (some even suggest a separate standard for services)
- Further clarifications that the QMS is an integral part of the business processes
After maintaining the status-quo of ISO 9001 for 11 years, it is possible that the 2026 revision will contain important changes. On the other hand, the mandated high-level structure limits the possible innovation.
