There is a lot of discussion in the world regarding the change from ISO 9001:2008 to ISO 9001:2015. This blog post seeks to offer some insight into the published facts,  in order to assist those implicated by the changes. It therefore in no way seeks to direct the actions that are to be taken by interested parties but simply to inform for those who need to plan for the upgrade, to make related decisions.

The International Accreditation Forum (IAF), on the 12 January 2015, published the Informative Document: IAF ID 9:2015, titled Transition Planning Guidance for ISO 9001:2015. The document points to the consensus reached by IAF members and the information relevant to Conformity Assessment Bodies that they accredit.

On 23 October 2013, in Seoul, the IAF General Assembly passed IAF Resolution 2013-15, endorsing a 3-year transition period to ISO 9001:2015.

Quoting from this guide: “2.1 Validity of certifications to ISO 9001:2008 – ISO 9001:2008 certifications will not be valid after three years from publication of ISO 9001:2015. The expiry date of certifications to ISO 9001:2008 issued during the transition period needs to correspond to the end of the three-year transition period.”

It is noteworthy to consider the events surrounding the last significant change to ISO 9001, during the year 2000. On that occasion, the transition period was also a three-year duration. On expiry, there were many organisations that lost their certification due to an insufficient presence of auditors available to conduct certification audits. Too many organisations had left the transition to the revised standard and the related certification audit far too late… 

To review a list of IAF members go to: http://www.iaf.nu//articles/IAF_MEMBERS_SIGNATORIES/4

ISO offer a white paper called “Implementation Guidance for ISO 9001:2015” which provides some help towards understanding the new standard.