ISO 9001 version 2026: time for public consultation

In November 2023, we announced the launch of the revision of ISO 9001, the most famous of the voluntary international standards governing management systems, available in France under the name NF EN ISO 9001 in the AFNOR collection. Its latest version dates back ten years; it was time for an update! Indeed, this text, adopted by millions of companies around the world, deals with a subject, quality, which has itself taken on a new dimension over the past ten years. The quality of computer data, quality of life at work, quality of customer relations with the rise of disruptive channels linked to e-commerce and social networks... There are many new challenges!

To the point that in February 2024, the standard was amended to include a new provision. NF EN ISO 9001/A1 , calling for climate change to be made a focus of attention in the implementation of a proper quality policy. By complying with the requirement to identify risks and opportunities as stipulated by ISO 9001, companies will be better able to identify the threats they face, particularly climate-related threats such as water shortages in our example. Such risks threaten business continuity. It is therefore very much a question of quality, as we explained in this article November 2024.

ISO 9001 version 2026: ten weeks of public inquiry

After numerous meetings involving professionals from many countries, including one in France at the AFNOR headquarters in spring 2025, the text is now ready to be submitted for public review. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has scheduled the start of this stage for Wednesday, August 27, 2025. For France, AFNOR will open the window on September 5, 2025, for a period of five weeks. We will close the consultation on October 14, 2025, and then formulate France's final position and submit it to ISO, which will do the same with the contributions from all the other countries, explains Pauline Joris, who is leading the project and the quality division at AFNOR. You can submit your comments on the text by coming here , via your Norminfo account. Several paragraphs will most likely be rewritten to take the following points into account:

• Climate change
• Quality culture
• Ethical behavior

These additions will undoubtedly lead to changes in the approach to risks and opportunities, one of the common foundations of all major management system standards, by separating the two into sub-paragraphs. This will result in new wording in chapters 6 (planning) and 9 (performance evaluation). In line with what we mentioned above about water shortages, Chapter 6 will address business continuity risks, stipulating that the organization must identify, analyze, and evaluate risks that may affect its ability to continuously and systematically provide compliant products and services after a disruption. Also under discussion are the concept of customer experience and the consideration of emerging technologies. Rest assured, four concepts remain unchanged:

• Purposes
• Scope of application
• PDCA logic (plan, do, check, act) )
• Risk-based approach

Scheduled for release in all countries in October 2026, the new version of the standard is being led by an ISO technical committee, the TC 176 , which recently came under French chairmanship and Norwegian secretariat. This gives France and AFNOR strategic visibility and allows them to join the select circle of players who shape cross-cutting standards for management systems, influencing all sector-specific management system standards. It is a powerful act of soft power! The proposed chair of TC 176, Cédric Meunier, from the Renault group, a major player in French industry, is sending a strong signal: that of putting end users, companies, and certifiers back at the heart of normative decisions.

ISO 9001 workshops in the regions

To enable you to closely follow developments in ISO 9001, the AFNOR group is organizing a series of workshops in different regions. Don't hesitate to sign up!