Updates on the Third Edition of the ISO 26262 Standard

Although in fall of 2023 the preparation for the Third Edition of the ISO 26262 standard started, don’t expect an official release until sometime in Q2 of 2027. We shouldn’t expect a Working Draft (WD) until later in 2025 and then a Committee Draft (CD) sometime early to mid-2026. The Draft International Standard (DIS) phase is expected to start Q2 of 2026 and be completed by the end of 2026. The DIS is the result of the work produced by the Working Group and approved by the Technical Committee, which will lead into the final release. If we recall the origins of the First Edition, we saw the CD in 2008 which was heavily based on the IEC 61508 standard originating in the late 90’s and early 00’s. The DIS for the First Edition was presented in 2009, but it wasn’t until November of 2011 before we saw the official release of the First Edition of the ISO 26262 standard. The DIS for the Second Edition came out in 2016 with the current official release arriving in December of 2018. The Second Edition added two new Parts, one addressing the semiconductor industry and the other for the motorcycle industry. We also saw inclusions for Truck and Bus, transforming the ISO 26262 standard away from only being applicable to passenger vehicles and being applicable for all on-road vehicles. We should expect some major updates and changes in the Third Edition based on some parallel activities within the ISO committees, including the following topics: