ISO/IEC 17020:2026 transition timeline: key dates to March 2029

What is the deadline for the transition to ISO/IEC 17020:2026?

31 March 2029 in our standards registry, three years after publication. ISO/IEC 17020:2026 was published on 27 March 2026, according to the standard’s page on the ISO website. The three-year period is international: according to note INS INF 35 from Cofrac, the French accreditation body, it was endorsed in 2025 by the general assembly of ILAC, which has since become Global ACI (Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated).

The exact day varies from one accreditation body to another, because each counts from a date it cites. That includes SEMAC (Service marocain d’accréditation), Morocco’s accreditation service under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, which has not yet published its own:

Publication dates differ too: 27 March 2026 for ISO, 30 March 2026 for INAB. For a body accredited by SEMAC, the date that will count is the one SEMAC sets; it has not been published as of 6 November 2026.

For a Moroccan body, a four-day difference matters little. What matters is the date of its last assessment before the deadline, and the time left to close findings afterwards.

What do the accreditation bodies that have published a policy provide for?

A switch of assessments to the 2026 edition between late 2026 and early 2028, then a sanction for latecomers. Four public policies show the logic.

Cofrac makes one useful point. When an assessment against the 2026 edition raises findings that concern only the new requirements, the body has until 31 October 2028 to deal with them, with verification by 31 October 2028 on site or by 31 December 2028 on documents. In the meantime, accreditation is maintained against the 2012 edition, provided its requirements are still met.

NATA adds a rule for networks: the transition of a multi-site body covers all its inspection sites. Where the primary site assessment falls on or after 1 April 2028, the transition is carried out at another site assessed earlier.

What do they expect from inspection bodies?

Written preparation, before the assessment. The wording differs, but the substance overlaps:

• the standard purchased and read: NATA requires it, SAC encourages it;
• a gap analysis and a documented transition plan (INAB), an impact analysis and an action plan requested by letter (Cofrac), an implementation checklist to complete before the visit (NATA);
• an updated system and trained staff (INAB);
• a formal application for the transition, with the supporting evidence (INAB);
• extra assessment time: INAB adds time to all surveillance assessments; Cofrac adapts the duration and make-up of its teams; NATA charges for an early assessment requested by the body.

Those that publish a list of changes state that it is not exhaustive: the analysis is done against the text of the standard. Our method is set out in the ISO/IEC 17020:2026 gap analysis, and the changes clause by clause in our ISO/IEC 17020:2026 inspection body guide.

Where does SEMAC stand?

As of 5 November 2026, it had published no transition policy that we could find. The Accreditation page of the Ministry of Industry and Trade mentions neither the 2026 edition nor a transition, and the self-assessment questionnaire offered for download still carries “17020-2012” in its file name.

The SEMAC list of accredited inspection bodies, October 2026 version, gives three indications:

• fourteen active accreditations, classified under the 2012 edition: two Type A, five Type A/C, seven Type C;
• five accreditations granted between June and September 2026, all classified C under the 2012 types, a few months before the switches announced elsewhere;
• twelve of the fourteen accreditations expire after March 2029: for them, the transition will not happen at a renewal, but at a surveillance or a dedicated assessment.

Procedure A 110.03 sets the pace: first surveillance no later than twelve months after the decision, then one assessment every fifteen months, never more than twenty-four months apart. A body accredited in June 2026 will therefore have its first surveillance by June 2027 at the latest and the next around September 2028: two scheduled assessments before the deadline, no more. Since the certificate states the version of the reference standard in force, the transition will result in an updated certificate or scope.

One last marker: NATA grounds its timeline in its status as a signatory of the Global ACI mutual recognition arrangement (MRA). SEMAC appears among the associate members of Global ACI, which are not yet signatories of that arrangement. Its timeline is a matter for its own policy.

As of 6 November 2026, neither the ministry’s accreditation page nor its online documents and services page publishes this policy. Five questions therefore remain to be put to SEMAC in writing: the transition end date, the date from which it assesses against the 2026 edition, the form of the transition assessment, any additional assessment time, and the versions of forms AI 312 and AI 313 adapted to the 2026 edition.

What should you do now?

Align the transition with your next SEMAC assessment, not your last one. The milestones below are common-sense markers drawn from the published timelines, to be adjusted as soon as SEMAC publishes its own.

• Note the date of your next surveillance and the expiry date of your accreditation.
  
• Buy ISO/IEC 17020:2026 and start the gap analysis.
  
• Write to SEMAC to ask for its policy and the form of your transition assessment.
  
• Review the Type A or non-A classification of each field of the scope.
  
• Train the staff, then hold an internal audit and a management review against the 2026 edition.
  
• Leave a margin to close findings before the end of 2028.
  

The effect of these choices on the budget is covered in ISO/IEC 17020 accreditation cost and duration, and a complete example in our lifting equipment inspection body case study. Our ISO standards training covers the requirements of the 2026 edition and the internal audit of an inspection body.