LRQA’s revision tracker states that ISO 14001:2026 has been published, which starts the formal transition for organisations certified to ISO 14001:2015, with a deadline in early April 2029. The same page describes the ISO 9001 revision as under way with full publication anticipated in the second half of 2026, and ISO 45001 as at ballot stage, with publication not confirmed and expectations pointing to 2027.
Dates for the individual standards will keep moving, so check your certification body for the current position before planning around them.
Our view
Most South African organisations that hold certification do not run one standard. They run quality, environmental and safety systems side by side, and a staggered revision cycle means those systems will drift out of step for a period.
- Treat revision as routine, not an event. A system that can only be changed by a project will always be late. Clause mappings, document templates and audit checklists should be data that can be updated, not text scattered through documents.
- Keep one record of objective evidence. If the same corrective action, training record or risk assessment can satisfy several standards, a revision becomes a re-mapping exercise instead of a rebuild.
- Plan the transition audit early. Transition windows look generous until the first gap analysis shows how much evidence has to be restructured.
The standards will keep changing. The systems that cope are the ones designed on the assumption that they will.