ISO 30301 revision: what is known, and what is not
ISO/PRF 30301 is edition 3 of the management system for records standard. ISO records it at stage 50.00, final text received or FDIS registered for formal approval, dated 7 September 2026. It is not published, it cannot be certified against, and its requirement text is not public. This page separates what the record proves from what is an estimate.
| Field | Public record | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Designation | ISO/PRF 30301, edition 3, a proof | ISO/TC 46/SC 11 project page, ISO page 89772 |
| Committee | ISO/TC 46/SC 11, Archives/records management | ISO page |
| Stage | 50.00, final text received or FDIS registered for formal approval, 7 September 2026 | ISO page |
| Project start | 10 June 2024, new project approved and registered | ISO page lifecycle |
| Replaces | ISO 30301:2019 and ISO 30301:2019/Amd 1:2024 | ISO page; 2019 page |
| Publication | No date stated. This site estimates 18 February 2027, within a window of January to June 2027 (estimate). | ISO page; our estimate |
| Transition | No ISO 30301 transition document issued by Global ACI on 22 October 2026. The three-year case here is a precedent from ISO 9001:2026 and ISO 14001:2026. | Global ACI transition documents |
| Text | Not public. ISO sells the proof. The page carries the abstract and the stage record, not the clauses. | ISO page |
The 2019 page records 16 pages for edition 2. ISO does not state the page count for edition 3 on the public page, so this site does not state one.
The dates ISO records
| Stage | What it means | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 10.99 | New project approved | 10 June 2024 |
| 20.00 | New project registered in the work programme | 10 June 2024 |
| 30.99 | Committee draft approved for registration as DIS | 9 October 2025 |
| 40.00 | DIS registered | 10 October 2025 |
| 40.20 | DIS ballot initiated, 12 weeks | 12 December 2025 |
| 40.60 | Close of voting | 7 March 2026 |
| 40.99 | Full report circulated, DIS approved for registration as FDIS | 16 June 2026 |
| 50.00 | Final text received or FDIS registered for formal approval (the stage on this date) | 7 September 2026 |
| 50.20 / 50.60 | Proof sent to secretariat or FDIS ballot initiated / close of voting | Not yet recorded |
| 60.00 / 60.60 | Under publication / published | Not recorded; estimated 18 February 2027 |
Stage dates to 50.00 are from the ISO page. Later dates are blank because ISO has not recorded them. The estimate is ours and is labelled wherever it appears.
What changed between 2011 and 2019, clause by clause
The committee published its own comparison of the two editions. This is the proven change record a reader can use today: the old clause, its new home and what the committee says changed. It is not a prediction about edition 3.
| 2011 | 2011 title | 2019 | 2019 title | Change recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.1 | Understanding the organization and its context | 4.1.1 | Understanding the organization and its context | reworded; documentation of the analysis is no longer mandatory |
| 4.2 | Business, legal and other requirements | 4.1.2 | Records requirements | moved into context; appraisal at strategic level |
| (none) | No equivalent | 4.2 | Understanding the needs and expectations of interested parties | new in 2019 |
| 4.3 | Determining the scope of the MSR | 4.3 | Determining the scope of the MSR | reworded; outsourcing wording removed |
| (none) | No equivalent | 4.4 | Management system for records | new in 2019 |
| 5.1 | Leadership and commitment | 5.1 | Leadership and commitment | reworded |
| 5.2 | Policy | 5.2 | Policy | reworded |
| 5.3 | Organization roles, responsibilities and authorities | 5.3 | Organization roles, responsibilities and authorities | restructured; operational representative retained |
| 6.1 | Actions to address risks and opportunities | 6.1 | Actions to address risks and opportunities | reworded |
| 6.2 | Records objectives and planning to achieve them | 6.2 | Records objectives and planning to achieve them | subject changed from top management to the organization |
| 7.1 | Resources | 7.1 | Resources | subject changed from top management to the organization |
| 7.2 | Competence | 7.2 | Competence | no change |
| 7.3 | Awareness | 7.3 | Awareness | training programme requirement removed |
| 7.4 | Communication | 7.4 | Communication | procedure requirement replaced by communication decisions |
| 7.5.1 | Documented information: general | 7.5.1 | Documented information: general | list of mandatory statements removed |
| (none) | No equivalent | 7.5.2 | Creating and updating documented information | new in 2019; identification, format and approval |
| 7.5.2 | Control of documented information | 7.5.3 | Control of documented information | restructured; activities named |
| 8.1 | Operational planning and control | 8.1 | Operational planning and control | reworded |
| (none) | No equivalent | 8.2 | Determining records to be created | new in 2019; appraisal analysis |
| 8.2 | Design of records processes | 8.3 | Designing and implementing records processes, controls and systems | rewritten to point at Annex A |
| 9.1 | Monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation | 9.1 | Monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation | more explicit on method and timing |
| 9.2 | Internal audit | 9.2 | Internal audit | split into duty and programme |
| 9.3 | Management review | 9.3 | Management review | reworded |
| 10.1 | Nonconformity and corrective action | 10.1 | Nonconformity and corrective action | reworded; identification not separately required |
| 10.2 | Continual improvement | 10.2 | Continual improvement | simplified; priority by risk assessment removed |
| A.1 | Creation | A.1 | Records processes | restructured into seven processes |
| A.2 | Control | A.2 | Records controls | restructured into four controls |
| A.2.5 | Records systems | A.3 | Records systems | restructured around integrity, technology, inventory and access |
What the 2019 edition changed in practice
| Change | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Appraisal moves to the main text | Clause 8.2 now requires a documented, top-management-authorized analysis of what records each business process creates, when and how. The 2011 appraisal wording sat inside Annex A. This is the largest practical change: the decision about what to keep is now a management decision with an approval trail. | ISO/TC 46/SC 11 |
| Interested parties and the system itself | Clauses 4.2 and 4.4 are new. The organization has to name interested parties and decide which needs become requirements, and it has to establish, implement, maintain and improve a system rather than a set of documents. | ISO/TC 46/SC 11 |
| Annex A is rebuilt | The annex moves from a creation and control structure to three normative sections: records processes (A.1), records controls (A.2) and records systems (A.3). The seven processes and four controls are the vocabulary a gap analysis should use. | ISO/TC 46/SC 11 |
| Documented information is simplified | The 2011 list of mandatory statements and documented procedures is gone. The organization chooses the form and amount except where a clause explicitly requires documented information. The control activities are named instead. | ISO/TC 46/SC 11 |
| Awareness and communication change shape | The standing training programme is no longer required, and communication is a set of decisions about what, when, with whom and how, not a procedure. The outcomes remain: people know their duties and important messages happen. | ISO/TC 46/SC 11 |
| Capturing superseded records | A.1.6 is recorded as a new requirement: when a record supersedes an existing one, the new version has to indicate the obsolete one and the changes made. Version control for manuals, procedures and system documentation is the practical consequence. | ISO/TC 46/SC 11 |
The estimate and the transition case
| Date or window | What it is | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 18 February 2027 | The planning date used on this site: 120 days from 21 October 2026, from the stage 50.00 registration | Estimate |
| 31 January 2027 to 30 June 2027 | Publication window | Estimate |
| 31 January 2030 to 30 June 2030 | Illustrative transition end, applying the Global ACI three-year precedent | Precedent, not a rule |
| 31 July 2028 to 31 December 2028 | Illustrative 18-month cut-off for new certificates against the old edition | Precedent, not a rule |
No ISO 30301 transition document has been issued. Confirm the Global ACI date when it is published. Read the timeline.
The rules this is built from
Every line names its source. The 25 clause-level records and the 3 Annex A records for the requirements that apply today are written from the published ISO 30301:2019, in our words; the evidence and the common gaps are our reading, cited to the clause. The revision layer is read from the public ISO stage record and the committee's published comparison. Where the record is silent, the page says so. Read from the real rules, not invented.
ISO 30301:2019, clause by clause
Each clause page states the requirement in our words, the evidence, the gaps and what to do before the revision lands.
Open the clause indexAnnex A, normative
Processes, controls and systems. Requirements, not guidance, and each one has its own page.
Open Annex AWhat changed in 2019
The committee's own comparison of the 2011 and 2019 editions, with the old clause and its new home.
Read the comparisonThe ISO 30301:2019 text is not reproduced. The ISO/PRF 30301 text is not public and is not reproduced. The record this site reads is linked on the standards page.