ISO 17100:2015 sets the requirements a translation service provider must meet for its people, technology and workflow, from the first enquiry to final verification and client feedback. The current text is the 2015 edition with Amendment 1:2017, and ISO registered work on a second edition in 2025, so certification today is still against the 2015 text.
This guide is for owners and quality managers of translation companies, including those who want one system for ISO 17100 and ISO 9001:2026.
What does ISO 17100:2015 cover, and what does it leave out?
The standard covers the core processes, resources and other aspects needed to deliver a translation service that meets the applicable specifications. Those specifications can come from the client, from the provider itself, or from industry codes and legislation. It is a short document of 19 pages, prepared by ISO/TC 37/SC 5, the subcommittee for translation, interpreting and related technology.
Two things sit outside its scope, according to ISO's page for the standard. Interpreting is not covered. Raw machine translation output plus post-editing is not covered either. That work has its own standard, ISO 18587:2017, which sets requirements for full human post-editing and the competences of post-editors.
Amendment 1:2017 is a one-page change that is sold separately. Buy both documents, and check that your procedures follow the amended text rather than an older summary.
Is a new edition of ISO 17100 coming?
Yes, but it is at an early stage. ISO's life-cycle record shows the 2015 edition was reviewed and confirmed in 2020. On 4 August 2025 its status changed to "to be revised". The replacement, ISO/AWI 17100 (Edition 2), is registered in the committee's work programme at stage 20.00 and has no publication date.
Until a new edition is published, certification bodies audit against ISO 17100:2015 with its amendment. Do not plan around draft changes reported in the trade press. Watch the ISO record instead, because a published edition will come with transition arrangements set by your certification body.
Which clauses does an auditor work through?
The requirements sit in four clauses after the terms and definitions. Clause 3 covers resources, clause 4 pre-production, clause 5 production and clause 6 post-production. The table maps each one to the overlapping ISO 9001 requirement and to the records an auditor normally samples. The record lists are AGS's interpretation, not text from either standard.
| ISO 17100 clause | What it deals with | Overlapping ISO 9001 area | Records an auditor samples |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1.1 to 3.1.8 | Competences and qualifications of translators, revisers, reviewers and project managers, and keeping them up to date | Competence and awareness | Linguist files with degrees, experience evidence, domain competence and CPD |
| 3.1.2 | Responsibility for subcontracted tasks | Control of externally provided processes | Freelancer and vendor approvals and evaluations |
| 3.2 | Technical and technological resources, including translation tools | Infrastructure | Tool list, translation memory and terminology control, data security |
| 4.2 to 4.5 | Enquiry and feasibility, quotation, client agreement, handling client information | Requirements for products and services | Feasibility check, quotation, signed agreement, confidentiality terms |
| 4.6 | Project preparation, including the linguistic specification | Operational planning and control | Project specification with language pair, purpose, audience and style |
| 5.2 to 5.3.6 | Project management, translation, check, revision, review, proofreading, final verification and release | Production and release of services | Revision record by a second linguist, final verification before delivery |
| 6.1 and 6.2 | Client feedback and closing administration | Customer satisfaction, nonconforming outputs | Feedback log, complaint handling, archive of project records |
Who can translate and revise on an ISO 17100 project?
Clause 3.1.4 sets minimum qualifications for translators. DEKRA, a certification body, summarises them on its ISO 17100 page as three routes. A translator needs a recognised higher-education degree in translation, or a degree in another field plus two years of professional translating experience, or five years of full-time professional experience as a translator.
A qualification on its own is not enough. Clauses 3.1.3 and 3.1.5 set the professional competences that translators and revisers must also show, and clause 3.1.8 asks you to record how those competences are maintained. Revision is done by a second qualified person, the double-check principle that DEKRA lists among its audit points. Every delivered job therefore needs a record of who translated it and who revised it.
Keep a file for each linguist, including freelancers. An auditor can pick a few delivered projects and trace each name back to its file. A missing degree certificate or an undocumented year of experience is exactly the gap that this kind of sampling exposes.
What changes when a translation company runs ISO 9001 as well?
ISO 9001 manages the business as a whole: context, leadership, risk, objectives, support, operations, evaluation and improvement. ISO 17100 is narrower and deeper. It fixes the translation workflow and the qualifications of the people in it. Most of its clauses fall inside the operations and support parts of ISO 9001, as the table shows.
ISO published ISO 9001:2026 in September 2026, and the 2015 edition is now listed as withdrawn. Our ISO 9001:2026 transition guide covers the changes and the deadline of 30 September 2029 for moving certificates to the new edition. A company certified to both standards can plan its ISO 9001 transition without touching its translation workflow, because ISO 17100 is unchanged.
In an integrated system, write one procedure where the standards overlap and keep the translation-specific steps intact. Typical shared procedures are document control, competence, nonconformity and corrective action, internal audit and management review. Plan one internal audit programme that covers both standards. Our guide to ISO 19011 audit guidance explains how to set one up.
How does ISO 17100 certification work?
An independent certification body audits the provider's documents and its live practice, then issues a certificate if the requirements are met. In DEKRA's description, the certificate is valid for a maximum of three years, with annual surveillance audits and a recertification audit in the third year. Freelance translators can be certified together in a group, which DEKRA calls a matrix certification.
Before you choose a body, ask what accreditation it holds for ISO 17100, how many projects it samples, and whether it can audit ISO 9001 in the same visit. A combined audit is a scheduling choice for the body, not a right.
How AGS can help
AGS has two kits written for translation providers, both in editable Microsoft Word:
- TSMS - Translation Services Management System (ISO 17100:2015): 40 documents, including procedures for each clause area and an ISO 17100 compliance matrix.
- IMS Quality & Translation Services (ISO 9001, ISO 17100): 46 documents with an integrated compliance matrix, written to ISO 9001:2015, the previous edition.
More kits sit in the Quality, Excellence and Accreditation collection.
Frequently asked questions
Does ISO 17100 apply to interpreting?
No. The standard excludes interpreting services. It covers written translation only.
Can a provider use machine translation and still conform?
Translation tools are allowed as technical resources. Raw machine output plus post-editing is outside ISO 17100, and ISO 18587:2017 covers that service instead.
What did ISO 17100 replace?
It replaced the European standard EN 15038, which had applied since 2006, according to DEKRA.
Does buying templates make a provider certified?
No. Certification depends on how the system is implemented and on the certification body's audit of real projects and linguist records.
AGS provides independent documentation toolkits. ISO and DEKRA are named for identification only. AGS is not affiliated with, endorsed by or approved by either of them, and no kit guarantees a certification outcome.
Reviewed October 2026. Facts checked against the sources current at publication.
