Czechia: from 1 November 2026 accreditation of bodies certifying persons is granted and extended only against ISO/IEC 17024:2026; existing accreditation certificates remain valid until 31 March 2029
In a letter of 25 September 2026 the Czech Accreditation Institute (ČIA) announced that from 1 November it will accept applications for the assessment of bodies certifying persons against the new edition ČSN EN ISO/IEC 17024:2026, and that from that day granting and extending accreditation will be carried out only against this edition. ČIA issued an analogous letter for inspection bodies and ISO/IEC 17020:2026 on the same day.
- The new edition ČSN EN ISO/IEC 17024:2026 is already available in the ČSN online system of the Czech Standards Agency as an endorsed standard in the original language; a full Czech translation, on which ČIA is working, could be available by the end of 2026. In the catalogue of the Estonian standards body EVS, EVS-EN ISO/IEC 17024:2026 is valid from 3 August 2026, and the text of ISO/IEC 17024:2026 was approved in Europe as EN ISO/IEC 17024:2026 without any changes.
- Accreditation certificates issued against the 2013 version (the Czech edition ČSN EN ISO/IEC 17024:2013) expire after a three-year transition period, on 31 March 2029; the date follows document Global ACI-TECH-3-TR 2029-03-31 (M). Until then, regular surveillance visits use the edition stated in the valid accreditation certificate.
- Assessment against the 2026 edition can take place during a regular surveillance visit (a combined visit) or as a separate assessment — in both cases only on the body’s application. For granting and extending accreditation, assessing the new edition does not increase costs because the calculation rules do not change; ČIA estimates the additional time at 12 hours for an assessment combined with surveillance and 20 hours for a separate assessment.
- ISO/IEC 17024 specifies principles and requirements for bodies certifying persons, including the development and maintenance of certification schemes for persons. According to the description in the EVS catalogue, certification of persons can only occur when there is a certification scheme — based on market needs or required by governments — and the standard can be used for accreditation, peer assessment or designation by governmental authorities, scheme owners and others.