ISO 9001:2026 is out. Is your supplier's ISO 9001:2015 certificate still valid?
Yes, for now, if it is an accredited certificate. ISO 9001:2026 was published in September 2026. Accredited certificates to the 2015 edition stay valid until 30 September 2029, and after that date they are no longer valid, whatever date is printed on them. Certification bodies don't have to reprint existing certificates, so that end date may not be on the document. To know where a certificate stands, check the register, not the PDF.
The dates
The dates come from the mandatory transition document of Global ACI (Global Accreditation Cooperation). They bind the accreditation bodies that have signed its arrangement and the certification bodies they accredit, so they apply to accredited certificates. A certificate without an accreditation mark falls outside them.
| date | what happens |
|---|---|
| September 2026 | ISO 9001:2026 is published. The three-year transition starts. |
| by 30 September 2027 | Accreditation bodies move the certification bodies they accredit to the 2026 edition. A certification body can issue an accredited 2026 certificate only after its own move. |
| from 31 March 2028 | No new ISO 9001:2015 certifications. A first certification is to the 2026 edition. |
| after 30 September 2029 | Accredited 2015 certifications are no longer valid. |
What it means for your supplier files
Our view: from now until 2029, the certificate PDF in your folder is not enough on its own. Check the register entry at every renewal.
- A 2015 certificate is fine today. What matters is that it is in force in the register, under the name on your contract.
- The printed expiry date can run past 2029. A certificate renewed in 2027 can print 2030. It still ends on 30 September 2029 unless the supplier has moved to the 2026 edition. The rules let a certification body reissue it with the earlier date, but don't require it.
- The move happens at a transition audit, which can be combined with the supplier's surveillance or recertification audit. Ask your supplier when theirs is planned.
- An early 2026 certificate is accredited only if the body that issued it has made its move. Ask the certification body when its accreditation was moved to the 2026 edition.
- A supplier may decide not to move to 2026. Its certification then ends at the end of the transition, and its certification body has to tell it so.
Which register
Two places hold the entry: the register of the certification body that issued the certificate, and, for a certificate issued in China, China's national certification register. Every certification body working in China needs approval from CNCA, the national certification authority, and has to report to it the certificates it issues, suspends or withdraws. More on that register: CNCA and CQC.
Looking for the ISO 9001:2026 PDF?
The text of the standard is copyrighted. It is sold by ISO (iso.org) and by national standards bodies. The transition rules on this page are free: Global ACI publishes them as a PDF, listed under Sources. And a supplier's certificate PDF won't show the 2029 end date, so the register entry is the one to read.
How Clacta helps
For a Chinese supplier, Clacta reads China's national certification register for you. Type the supplier's name: a free Cross Check shows how many certificates the register holds under that name, by status, such as in force or suspended. With a free account, each certificate is itemized with its number, status and validity, in English, and the report carries its date.
What that looks like: on our sample report (a real supplier, with its identity removed), three of the supplier's current certificates are suspended on China's register. The supplier's own PDFs would not show that. The register doesn't say why a certificate was suspended, so the report gives you the question to ask: why is it suspended, and is it back in force? Why a certificate can say valid while the register says otherwise: the certificate and the register.
If the register shows no entry under the supplier's name, that doesn't mean the certificate doesn't exist. It may be held under another company's name, or issued by a body outside China. Ask the supplier which company holds it and which body issued it, then check that body's register.
Sources
- Global ACI-TECH-3-TR 2029-09-30 (M), "Transition requirements for ISO 9001:2026", version 1.0, issued 4 September 2026, implemented 16 September 2026 (PDF at sys.global-aci.org): §2 status (published September 2026); §4 timescale; §5.2 transition audit and accredited certification impact, with the note on modifying existing certificates; §6.4 organisations that do not transition; Annex A (a) accredited certificates only after the transition decision.
- Measures for the Administration of Certification Bodies (认证机构管理办法): approval of certification bodies by CNCA, and their duty to report certification information to it.
- Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People's Republic of China (CNCA): the national certification register.
Cross-check, Clacta.