ISO 9001:2026 transition audit: what your certification body will do
Gap assessment, documentation update, training, internal audit and support through your transition audit, delivered end to end by our expert, experienced, professional and friendly local Filipino lead auditors.
Your certification body will audit your quality management system against ISO 9001:2026 inside a scheduled surveillance or recertification audit, or in a special transition audit, following Global ACI-TECH-3-TR 2029-09-30 (M), the transition requirements published on 16 September 2026. The audit may be conducted remotely by ICT. It must review at least the changed requirements of the 2026 edition, changes in your organisation’s context, and whether other changes to your system are needed. The certification body decides, with a justified calculation under ISO/IEC 17021-1, whether extra audit time is required, and no 2026 certificate is issued while nonconformities stay open. The transition period ends on 30 September 2029.
Which rules govern the ISO 9001:2026 transition audit?
The transition audit is governed by Global ACI-TECH-3-TR 2029-09-30 (M), Transition Requirements for ISO 9001:2026. Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated (Global ACI), the body that on 1 January 2026 took over the roles of IAF and ILAC, issued version 1.0 on 4 September 2026 and published it on 16 September 2026. Accreditation bodies apply it to certification bodies; certification bodies apply it to you, alongside ISO/IEC 17021-1.
Five dated milestones follow.
| Date | Milestone | What it means for your audit |
|---|---|---|
| 31 March 2027 | Accreditation bodies in a position to assess certification bodies for the 2026 edition | No accredited 2026 certificate before your certification body’s extension |
| 30 June 2027 | Certification bodies’ transition declarations due | Ask your certification body for its declared plan |
| 30 September 2027 | Accreditation-body transition decisions completed | Every certification body knows its position |
| 31 March 2028 | Initial certifications issued only to ISO 9001:2026 | A lapsed certificate is replaced only by a 2026 initial certification |
| 30 September 2029 | All transitions completed; 2015 certificates and accreditations no longer valid | Audit and closure finished before this date |
In the Philippines, a certification body is accredited either by the Department of Trade and Industry’s Philippine Accreditation Bureau (PAB), whose Management System Accreditation Division accredits ISO 9001 certification bodies, or by a foreign accreditation body. Ask first which accreditation your 2026 certificate will carry and when that extension is due.
Three ways the transition audit can be scheduled
Under the requirements the transition audit can ride on a scheduled surveillance audit, form part of a recertification audit, or run as a special transition audit in its own right. The choice is agreed with your certification body and depends on where your three-year cycle falls against the 2027 accreditation extensions, on whether a contract or tender needs the 2026 certificate earlier, and on cost.
| Route | How it runs | Suits | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Surveillance plus transition | Transition review added to the annual surveillance visit, with justified additional time | 2027 or 2028 surveillance falling after the certification body’s extension | A short visit; underestimated time means not every changed requirement is reached |
| Recertification plus transition | Transition review inside the full recertification audit; the new three-year certificate is issued to ISO 9001:2026 | Cycles ending between 2027 and mid-2029 | A cycle ending after 30 September 2029 cannot wait for recertification |
| Special transition audit | A stand-alone audit with its own plan, report and certificate decision | A cycle that fits neither of the above, or a contract that wants the 2026 certificate early | Separate travel and reporting; the most expensive route unless partly remote |
Each route is priced on the transition cost page.
Can the transition audit be conducted remotely?
Yes. The Global ACI requirements allow the transition audit to be conducted remotely using information and communication technology, at the certification body’s discretion. In practice a remote transition audit needs three things: documented information that can be shared on screen, people at every level who can be interviewed by video, and a certification body satisfied that what it cannot walk through, it can still verify.
For Philippine organisations, remote review is most valuable for provincial sites, where auditor travel can cost more than the audit hours. It works when records sit in a system such as Effivity and a supervisor can carry a camera onto the production floor, and badly when evidence lives in binders and the people who know the process are on a shift the auditor cannot reach. Remote is a mode, not a discount on scrutiny: the certification body still requires physical presence where it judges that necessary, and travel cost changes, not audit time.
How much additional audit time will the certification body add?
The requirements do not fix a number of days. What they require is that the certification body considers whether the transition needs additional audit time and justifies its calculation in accordance with ISO/IEC 17021-1. Expect the addition to reflect your size, the number of sites, the complexity of your processes and the state of your system, and ask for the calculation in writing before you accept the quotation.
Additional time rises with multi-site sampling, a risk and opportunity register examined from scratch, a long list of interested parties, and design and development in scope. It falls when the certification body receives, ahead of the visit, an internal audit report against the 2026 criteria, a management review record with the new inputs, and a document register mapping each changed requirement to where it is met. Sterling’s pre-assessment produces that pack; the free online ISO 9001:2026 gap check (20 questions, about ten minutes) shows how much of it you already have.
What the auditor will review
The transition audit must review at least three things: the requirements that changed in ISO 9001:2026, changes in your organisation’s context since the last audit, and whether any other changes to your management system are needed. When the transition is combined with surveillance or recertification, the normal programme runs as well, and a finding against an unchanged requirement counts just as much.
For the changed requirements, expect the audit plan to name the clauses below (paraphrased; 2026 clause numbers and list letters).
| Clause | What the auditor looks for |
|---|---|
| 4.1 and 4.2 c) | Whether climate change has been determined relevant or not, and a decision on which interested-party requirements the QMS addresses |
| 5.1.1 i) and k) | Top management promoting a quality culture and ethical behaviour, visible in shared values, attitudes, practices and actions (NOTE 2), and opportunity-based as well as risk-based thinking |
| 5.2.1 e), 5.2.2 d), 5.3 e) | A policy that takes the context into account, supports strategic direction and is implemented, understood and applied; an assigned responsibility for reporting on opportunities for improvement |
| 6.1.1 to 6.1.3 | Each risk determined, analysed and evaluated, the response sized to what is at stake for the intended results of the QMS; opportunities handled separately, with actions appropriate to context |
| 6.3 c), e), f), g) | Planned changes that consider the availability of resources and information, are communicated, have their effectiveness monitored and evaluated, and their results reviewed |
| 7.1.6, 7.3 e), 8.2.1 e) | Knowledge retained, applied and shared; people aware of the organisational quality culture and ethical behaviour; customer information on contingency actions covering disruptions to provision |
| 9.1.3 e) and f), 9.3.2 c), g), h) | Effectiveness of actions on risks and on opportunities evaluated separately and fed into management review, together with changes in interested parties’ needs and expectations |
| 10.1 and documented information | Continual improvement covering processes and future needs and expectations, with no sub-clause 10.3; no new mandatory documents or records, only the wording that documented information “shall be available” (Annex A.2 e)); no quality manual, procedures or management representative required |
Changes in context are the second area: new customers, sites or regulations, remote or hybrid working (a new informative NOTE in 7.1.3), or the after-effects of a typhoon or power interruption. The third, other changes, follows the evidence: if the context has changed and the objectives, scope or process map have not, that is where the finding is written. Clause-level detail is on the ISO 9001:2015 vs 2026 changes register.
What happens if the auditor raises a nonconformity
A nonconformity raised at the transition audit must be closed before the certification body issues the ISO 9001:2026 certificate. Closure follows the certification body’s normal process under ISO/IEC 17021-1: correction, analysis of cause, corrective action and evidence, verified by the certification body before its certificate decision. A transition audit in the final months before 30 September 2029 leaves no room for a major finding.
The likeliest findings are predictable: a risk register that lists risks without analysing or evaluating them, opportunities buried in the same table as risks, a management review agenda still built on the 2015 inputs, changes made without the steps in 6.3 e) to g), and operators who have never heard of the quality culture and ethical behaviour their top management is supposed to promote. None is hard to prevent; all are hard to fix in a fortnight.
What to agree with your certification body, and when
Six things need agreeing, in this order: the certification body’s accreditation timing; the audit route; the audit mode, on site, remote or mixed; the additional audit time and its calculation; the audit plan and evidence access, against the 2026 standard and not a summary; and the certificate decision path. Settle the first three now and the rest when the gap report is in hand.
| Item | When | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Accreditation timing | Now | It decides which visit can carry the transition |
| Audit route | Now, against your cycle | Surveillance, recertification or special audit fixes the date and the cost |
| Audit mode, site by site | Now | The certification body needs to know what evidence will be on screen |
| Additional audit time | After the gap report | A justified calculation under ISO/IEC 17021-1, seen before you sign |
| Audit plan and evidence access | Four to eight weeks before | The plan lists the three review areas; logins, shared folders, site contacts and an interview schedule by level and shift are ready |
| Certificate decision path | At the closing meeting | Closure deadline, verification method, target issue date, accreditation shown for the 2026 edition |
When the new certificate arrives, check it as a tender evaluator would, using the certificate verification guide.
Pre-assessment audit by Sterling before the transition audit
A pre-assessment is the transition audit run early by a local Filipino lead auditor with no stake in the outcome: the same criteria, the 2026 standard; the same three review areas; the same sampling of sites and shifts; and a report in the format your certification body will use, with findings you can close before it arrives. Sterling does not certify and does not guarantee any certification body’s decision; what it removes is the surprise. Pre-assessments are run by Mark Santos (Metro Manila), Zia Bautista (Cebu) and Ann Reyes (Davao); book one through contact us.
How ISO and GRC certification fits the Sterling system
Sterling delivers ISO and GRC certification through Sterling OS™ — our delivery operating system: Design™ (guided) or Drive™ (fully managed), then Sustain™, Automate™ and Revise™. It connects into the Sterling Business Excellence Framework™, one integrated system across quality, environment, safety, energy and continuity. Not sure which standard is right for you? Use our free Select the Standard™ tool, or request a free gap analysis.
Certified to ISO 9001:2015? Take the free ten-minute ISO 9001:2026 gap check, then let a local Sterling lead auditor turn your result into your transition plan.
Transition training for your people, online. The ISO 9001:2026 Awareness course on Sterling Academy (12 modules) takes every employee through the sixth edition in their own time, with practice checkpoints, a final exam and a numbered Certificate of Completion, verifiable online. Sterling consulting clients benefit from preferential course access and special pricing through their Sterling consultant, including complimentary ISO 9001 awareness training as part of a transition engagement, so the awareness evidence for clause 7.3 is in place before the transition audit.
What clients say about working with Sterling
Our proof is our clients. Read verbatim feedback from organisations Sterling has taken through ISO and GRC programmes across the Philippines and beyond — named signatories, real letters.
Frequently asked questions
Do we need a separate transition audit for ISO 9001:2026? Not necessarily. Global ACI-TECH-3-TR 2029-09-30 (M) allows the transition to be reviewed during a scheduled surveillance or recertification audit or in a special transition audit. Most organisations combine it with a planned visit; a special audit suits cycles that do not fit.
Can the ISO 9001:2026 transition audit be done remotely in the Philippines? Yes. Remote conduct by ICT is permitted under the transition requirements, and the choice rests with the certification body. It suits provincial sites and electronic records, not binders and unreachable shifts. The certification body may still require physical presence for some processes, and remote review changes travel cost, not audit time.
How many extra audit days will the transition add? The requirements set no fixed number. The certification body must consider whether additional time is needed and must justify how it calculated that time, in accordance with ISO/IEC 17021-1, reflecting your size, sites, complexity and the state of your system. Ask for the calculation in writing; a pre-assessment evidence pack usually reduces it.
When will we receive our ISO 9001:2026 certificate? After the audit and closure of any nonconformities, and only once the certification body’s accreditation has been extended to the 2026 edition. The accreditation bodies’ own deadlines are 31 March 2027 (ready to assess) and 30 September 2027 (decisions complete), which is why the first accredited ISO 9001:2026 certificates will appear during 2027.
What happens if we miss 30 September 2029? After that date the ISO 9001:2015 certificate ceases to be valid and cannot be transitioned at all. The route back is an initial certification to ISO 9001:2026, a larger audit than a transition, during which any contract or tender that depends on a valid certificate is exposed.
Does Sterling conduct the transition audit? No. The transition audit is conducted by your certification body. Sterling does not certify; its local Filipino lead auditors prepare clients, run pre-assessments against the 2026 standard and audit for certification bodies, so a pre-assessment is run the way the real audit will be.
Read next
Price the routes on the ISO 9001:2026 transition cost page, sequence the work with the twelve-step migration plan, and re-base your programme with the internal audit checklist and auditor briefing. The Sterling Revise™ transition service covers the four weeks before the certification body is booked. The milestones are explained on the transition deadline page at iso-philippines.com.
Sources
- ISO 9001:2026, sixth edition, published 16 September 2026, 36 pages. Clauses cited: 4.1; 4.2 c); 5.1.1 i) and k); 5.2.1 e); 5.2.2 d); 5.3 e); 6.1.1 to 6.1.3; 6.3 c), e), f) and g); 7.1.3 NOTE; 7.1.6; 7.3 e); 8.2.1 e); 9.1.3 e) and f); 9.3.2 c), g) and h); 10.1; Annex A.2 e). https://www.iso.org/standard/9001
- Global ACI-TECH-3-TR 2029-09-30 (M), Transition Requirements for ISO 9001:2026, version 1.0, issued 4 September 2026, published 16 September 2026 by Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated.
- ISO/IEC 17021-1, Conformity assessment — Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems — Part 1: Requirements.
- Philippine Accreditation Bureau (DTI), Management System Accreditation Division: ISO 9001 certification-body accreditation based on ISO/IEC 17021-1. https://www.dti.gov.ph/pab/services/management-system-accreditation-division/ (verified 19 September 2026).