Your quality audits now need objectives too
ISO 14001:2026, 9.2.2 a) requires an objective for each internal audit. ISO 9001 requires criteria and scope only. In a combined system you run one audit program, so the stricter requirement governs it — which means your quality audits need objectives as well. Most existing audit plans have none at all.
ISO 9001 has six inputs and three outputs. ISO 14001:2026 has seven inputs and six results. They overlap on about half, and the rest exists in one standard and not the other — in both directions. An agenda built from either one alone silently drops requirements from the other.
Where the two standards diverge
- Four inputs ISO 14001 does not ask for — Customer satisfaction and interested-party feedback, process performance and conformity of products and services, the performance of external providers, and the effectiveness of actions taken on risks and opportunities. An agenda built around the environmental clause drops all four.
- Three results ISO 9001 does not name — Actions where objectives were not achieved, opportunities to improve integration with other business processes, and implications for the strategic direction. ISO 9001 places the last of these in the purpose of the review rather than among its outputs, which is why its minutes so often omit it.
- Risk, asked two different ways — ISO 14001 asks what changed. ISO 9001 asks whether the actions you took were effective. They are separate sections here — one combined risk section answers the change question and leaves effectiveness unanswered.
- New in the 2026 edition — Clause 9.3 split into three subclauses, results lettered a) to f), the audit objective requirement at 9.2.2 a), the audit program itself required as documented information, and clause 6.3 Planning of Changes with no 2015 equivalent.
- Retention governs the shared record — ISO 9001 requires documented information to be retained; ISO 14001:2026 requires it to be available. Retention is the stricter obligation and applies to the combined record.
Appendix D carries fifteen rows: the topic, what each standard says, what this record does, and the alternative not taken. Plus seven decisions to confirm before adoption, including whether you run one combined review or two.
Built from the clause, not from last year’s agenda
Every requirement ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2026 names in clause 9.3 in both has its own numbered section, with the clause reference printed under the title. Nothing can be omitted by not knowing it exists. Where a section is MSI practice rather than a clause requirement, it says so, so an auditor can tell the difference.
What you get
| PowerPoint deck 55 slides |
What you present from. Numbered badge, clause reference and preparation prompt on every section slide. |
| Word minutes form 22 pages, 29 sections |
The record. Every section anchored to the requirement it satisfies. |
| One shared spine | The deck and the form are generated from the same section list. Section 12 on the slide is Section 12 on the form. Presenter and recorder are never on different items. |
| Worked examples | Example slides showing completed data, each marked as example data to replace. Native PowerPoint charts you can edit, not images. Perennia Corp is a fictional organization created by MSI for illustration only. |
| Terms used | Plain-language explanations of every term that carries a specific meaning, with the clause where each is defined. The review does not depend on who has read the standard most recently. |
| Before you hold this review | Each section mapped to the record that feeds it, and what to do if you do not have it. This is the page that stops a review being held on data that does not exist. |
| Document control throughout | Company name placeholder, period covered, template revision date and the date the review was held, marked for internal use and proprietary — on every slide and every page. Once completed this is a permanent record a registrar will read. |
Who it is for
Quality and environmental managers at organizations certified to both ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, running one combined system — the most common pairing of any two management system standards. Particularly useful inside the ISO 14001:2026 transition.
What this does not do
It records what both clauses require, with every entry traceable, and Appendix D records every point where the two standards diverge and which one governs.
It does not make you compliant with either standard, and it does not create the registers it draws on — the aspects register, the compliance obligations register, customer satisfaction data, provider performance and audit results all have to exist before the meeting.
Plan. Decide. Deploy.
Pairs with MSI’s ISO 14001:2026 transition course: member.msi-international.com/courses/iso-14001-2026-transition/
Management Systems International is a veteran-owned, female-owned ISO consulting firm founded in 1998 — 28 years, 200+ audits attended, 80+ certifications supported, and 600+ professionals trained across manufacturing, technology, aerospace, medical device, government, and other regulated industries.
Questions before you buy? Call 760-434-9141 or visit msi-international.com.
Delivered as one .pptx and one .docx, fully editable, no protection and no macros. Worked examples use a fictional organization created by MSI for illustration only, marked as such throughout and intended to be replaced with your own data.
