In September 2025, the draft of DIN EN ISO 9001:2025 was published. It offers a first look at the upcoming changes to the standard. After the deadlines for public review, comments and the final revision have passed, we expect the revised edition only by mid to late 2026.
What will ISO 9001:2026 bring? First insights from the draft
Why climate aspects are becoming a fixed part of quality management
More and more organizations are addressing ESG, sustainability and environmental protection. The ISO 9001 draft responds to this. In the areas
- Understanding the organization and
- Understanding the requirements of interested parties
organizations will in future be required to explicitly consider how climate change affects their strategic quality objectives. This is not entirely new: since the joint IAF/ISO statement of February 2024, it has been clear that climate aspects should be incorporated into management systems.
“Tone from the top”: how ISO 9001:2026 strengthens leadership and values
In the ISO 9001:2026 revision, organizational culture and ethical conduct play a bigger role. The so‑called “tone from the top” is emphasized in particular. New: the standard now contains its own sub‑clauses on quality culture and ethics. In several places, for example
- in the section on leadership and commitment,
- in the notes of the section on the process environment, and
- in the section on awareness,
top management is, for the first time, explicitly called upon to lead by example in creating a positive quality culture and to actively promote ethical behavior within the organization.
Risks and opportunities clearly separated
The risk‑based approach is further specified: in the current draft, the “Planning” section now contains two clearly separated requirements—one for dealing with risks and one for dealing with opportunities. This explicitly calls on organizations to consider both potential negative impacts and positive potentials on their quality‑relevant processes in a structured way.
Context and strategy in sharper focus
Top management must pay greater attention to ensuring that the quality policy truly fits the organization’s context and supports its strategic direction. This means management not only establishes the quality policy, but also ensures it is lived in day‑to‑day operations—and aligned with the organization’s quality‑relevant topics and objectives.
More clarity: revised structure and improved terminology
The previous standard was fairly general in many places. In the current draft, several wordings have been linguistically reworked, making the new ISO 9001 noticeably clearer and more concise. In addition, several adjustments enhance comprehensibility: the updated, harmonized structure for management system standards, additional terms in section 3, and the amended annex. These changes make the standard easier to follow overall.
What does this mean for organizations?
For most organizations that are already certified, the revision will entail only low to moderate effort. The new ISO 9001 is primarily intended to align better with the harmonized structure of other management systems, while giving organizations the opportunity to modernize their processes. In terms of content, ISO 9001:2026 addresses important current topics: sustainability, organizational culture and ethics, digitalization, and the supply chain. This means organizations will need to consider these areas more consciously within their quality management going forward.
Our contribution: early support in implementing the new requirements
Eticor is already working intensively with the current draft of the standard. This allows us to inform you early about the upcoming changes. It simplifies your organizational planning and helps you implement the future requirements efficiently and without time pressure in the long term.
Your personal contact
Do you have questions about the current blog post or our services in the context of ISO Compliance? Feel free to get in touch—we look forward to hearing from you.
