This page 'teched/typeformcontent.htm' was last updated on 19 January 2006.
Types,
Form and Content of ISO/TC67 Standards
Note: written in
mid-1990's - ISO Directives were re-issued in 2001 however the philosophy of
this report remains valid.
Foreword Introduction 1. Types 2. Form 3. Content References
| Report of an ISO/TC67/AG3 Task Group led by Mr. G. Caporali (Italy) with members:
Hein (USA), Raca (USA), Reeve (NL), Thomas (UK) and Virot (France). Now included as an Annex to doc.
TC67 N 435 "TC67 Policies and Procedures".
FOREWORD
The objective of this note is to
provide clarity on the Types, Form and Content of ISO/TC67 Standards, and to place these
in the context of the ISO/IEC Directives. The conclusion is that there is considerable
latitude in the ISO/IEC Directives for TCs and WGs to develop the types of standards that
they consider most usefully meet the needs of the relevant subject (provided that that is
within the scope of the approved work item).
The ISO/IEC Directives and ISO Guide 2 are extensively quoted to demonstrate that the system within which we are working already meets our needs without significant modification. These relevant requirements are included to aid in reducing the time spent obtaining and interpreting the impact of the applicable paragraphs. All TC/SC/WG chairmen, secretaries, convenors and project leaders must become familiar with the Directives.ISO/TC67 standards should be developed using as a basis existing documents which are used in the industry, where available, improving their form and content where agreed, and harmonizing regional, national, branch and company requirements into the standards, so that they can be adopted worldwide "as a single set of words", without need of amendments/supplementary requirements. The aim and type of the standard to be developed needs to be clearly identified early in the process (at the time of raising the New Work Item proposal). In this way it will be possible to select, from within the general descriptions of the ISO/IEC Directives which apply to all types of standard, only those parts which are applicable to the specific type of standard being developed. |
Back to Top Foreword Introduction 1. Types 2. Form 3. Content References
|
ISO/IEC Directives ISO Guide 2 Directives Part 2 Directives Part 3 THE ISO/IEC DIRECTIVESThe ISO/IEC Directives are published
in three parts: "These procedures have been established by ISO and IEC in recognition of the need for International Standards to be cost-effective and timely, as well as widely recognised and generally applied. In order to attain these objectives, the procedures are based on the following concepts: a) Modern technology and programme management Quoting from the Foreword of Part 2: "This part sets methodological rules and guidelines to be followed by the ISO and IEC technical committees and their subsidiary bodies in developing International Standards. Its contents are inspired by the principle that International Standards are required to be comprehensible and unambiguous, and to be drawn up in such a way that they can readily be adopted as national standards and, where applicable be referenced in governmental regulations, certification rules or other documents." Quoting from the Foreword of Part 3: "This part sets out rules for the drafting and presentation of documents intended to become International Standards (or, in some cases, technical reports). They are intended to ensure that such documents, prepared by the committee secretariats of IEC or ISO are presented in as uniform a manner as practicable, irrespective of the technical content." ISO/TC67 shall follow the ISO/IEC Directives. Quoting the first sentence from Chapter 1.1 (Basic Terminology) of the ISO/IEC Directives Part 2: "General terms concerning standardization and certification are defined in ISO/IEC Guide 2." ISO/IEC Directives ISO Guide 2 Directives Part 2 Directives Part 3 Quoting from the Explanatory Notes in the Introduction to ISO/IEC Guide 2:"In science and technology, the English word "standard" is used with two different meanings: as a normative document as defined in 3.2 (in French "norme") and also as a measurement standard (in French "etalon"). This Guide is concerned solely with the first meaning. The second is the province of the International vocabulary of basic and general terms in metrology (VIM)." Standardization Quoting from clause 1.1 (Standardization) of ISO/IEC Guide 2:"1.1 Standardization: Activity of establishing, with regard to actual or potential problems, provisions for common and repeated use, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context. Notes1. In particular, the activity consists of the processes of formulating, issuing and implementing standards. 2. Important benefits of standardization are improvement of the suitability of products, processes and services for their intended purposes, prevention of barriers to trade and facilitation of technological cooperation ." Quoting from clause 1.7 (Consensus) of ISO/IEC Guide 2:"1.7 Consensus: General agreement, characterized by the absence of sustained opposition to substantial issues by any important part of the concerned interests and by a process that involves seeking to take into account the views of all parties and to reconcile any conflicting arguments. Note - Consensus need not imply unanimity.Quoting from clause 2 (Aims of standardization) of ISO/IEC Guide 2: "The general aims of standardization follow from the definition in 1.1. Standardization may have one or more specific aims, to make a product, process or service fit for its purpose. Such aims can be, but are not restricted to, variety control, usability, compatibility, interchangeability, health, safety, protection of the environment, product protection, mutual understanding, economic performance, trade. They can be overlapping". Standards Quoting from clause 3 (Normative documents) of ISO/IEC Guide 2:"3.1 Normative document: Document that provides rules, guidelines or characteristics for activities or their results. Notes - 1. The term "normative document" is a generic term that covers such documents as standards, technical specifications, codes of practice and regulations. .... 3.2 Standard: Document, established by consensus and approved by a recognized body, that provides, for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for activities or their results, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context. Note - Standards should be based on the consolidated results of science, technology and experience, and aimed at the promotion of optimum community benefits. Publicly available standards:3.2.1 international standard: Standard that is adopted by an
international standardizing/standards organization and made available to the public. 3.3 Technical specification: Document that prescribes technical requirements to be fulfilled by a product, process or service. Notes1. A technical specification should indicate, whenever appropriate, the procedure(s) by means of which it may be determined whether the requirements given are fulfilled. 2. A technical specification may be a standard, a part of a standard or independent of a standard. 3.4 Code of practice: Document that recommends practices or procedures for the design, manufacture, installation, maintenance or utilization of equipment, structures or products. Note - A code of practice may be a standard, a part of a standard or independent of a standard.Quoting from clause 4 (Bodies responsible for standards and regulations) of ISO/IEC Guide 2: "4.3.2 international standards organization: Standards organization whose membership is open to the relevant national body from every country." Quoting from clause 5 (Types of standards) of ISO/IEC Guide 2: "5 Types of standards Note - The following terms and definitions are not intended to provide a systematic classification or comprehensive list of possible types of standards. They indicate some common types only. These are not mutually exclusive; for instance, a particular product standard may also be regarded as a testing standard if it provides methods of test for characteristics of the product in question. 5.1 Basic standard: Standard that has wide-ranging coverage or contains general provisions for one particular field. Note - A basic standard may function as a standard for direct application or as a basis for other standards. 5.2 Terminology standard: Standard that is concerned with terms, usually accompanied by their definitions and, sometimes, by explanatory notes, illustrations, examples, etc.5.3 Testing standard: Standard that is concerned with test methods, sometimes supplemented with other provisions related to testing, such as sampling, use of statistical methods, sequence of tests. 5.4 Product standard: Standard that specifies requirements to be fulfilled by a product or a group of products, to establish its fitness for purpose. Notes:1. A product standard may include in addition to the fitness for purpose requirements, directly or by reference, aspects such as terminology, sampling, testing, packaging and labelling and, sometimes, processing requirements. 2. A product standard can be either complete or not, according to whether it specifies all or only a part of the necessary requirements. In this respect one may differentiate between standards such as dimensional, material, and technical delivery standards. 5.5 Process standard: Standard that specifies requirements to be fulfilled by a process, to establish its fitness for purpose. 5.6 Service standard: Standard that specifies requirements to be fulfilled by a service, to establish its fitness for purpose. Note - Service standards may be prepared in fields such as laundering, hotel keeping, transport, car servicing, telecommunications, insurance, banking, trading. 5.7 Interface standard: Standard that specifies requirements concerned with the compatibility of products or systems at their points of interconnection.5.8 Standard on data to be provided: Standard that contains a list of characteristics for which values or other data are to be stated for specifying the product, process or service. Note - Some standards, typically, provide for data to be stated by the suppliers, others by purchasers. Further in ISO/IEC Guide 2, guidance and definitions are given on: Harmonization of standards; Content of normative documents; Structure of normative documents; Preparation of normative documents; Implementation of normative documents; Reference to standards in regulations; Testing; Conformity and related general concepts; Certification activities; Recognition of approval arrangements; Accreditation of testing laboratories.ISO/IEC Directives ISO Guide 2 Directives Part 2 Directives Part 3 Quoting from section 5 (Technical requirements) of ISO/IEC Directives Part 2:The following principles are expressed in terms of standards for products; they shall also be applied, where appropriate, to standards for processes and services. 5.1 The aim-oriented approach 5.1.1 Any product has an infinite number of properties, and only some of them are subject to international standardization. The choice depends on the aims of the International Standard to be prepared, the overriding aim being to ensure fitness for purpose of the product concerned." ..... (Note: see clause 2 (Aims of standardization) of ISO/IEC Guide 2, quoted above which is then elaborated further in this section of the ISO/IEC Directives). "...In order to facilitate implementation by users, ......, the aspects of a product which will be of separate interest to the various parties shall be clearly distinguished, either in separate clauses or sections of the International Standard or, preferably, in separate standards or parts of a standard. Such a distinction shall be made, for example, between - health and safety requirements ...... Ensuring fitness for purpose may necessitate the specification of dimensional, mechanical, physical, chemical, acoustical, thermal, electrical, biological, ergonomical or other characteristics. Products intended for various purposes or for use under various conditions (for example different climatic conditions), or by various groups of users, may require different values of some characteristics, each value corresponding to some category or level, intended for some particular purpose or conditions. These values may be included in one International Standard or in different International Standards, as appropriate, but it is essential that the correlation between purposes and values is clearly indicated. Note 2 Different categories or levels in different regions or countries may also be included if justified by their importance to trade." Further in section 5.1, the aims of the following principles are elaborated: mutual understanding; health, safety and environment; certification; interface, interchangeability, compatability and interworking; and variety control."5.2 The performance approach Whenever possible, requirements shall be expressed in terms of performance rather than design or descriptive characteristics. This approach leaves maximum freedom for technical development. Primarily those characteristics shall be included that are suitable for worldwide (universal) acceptance. Where necessary, owing to differences in legislation, climate, environment, economies, social conditions, trade patterns, etc., several options may be indicated. Notes3 If the performance approach is adopted, care is necessary to ensure that important features are not inadvertently omitted from the performance requirements. .....Requirements concerning the manufacturing process shall usually be omitted in favour of tests of the final product. There are, nonetheless, some fields in which reference to the manufacturing process is needed (for example, hot rolling, extrusion) or even in which inspection of the manufacturing process is necessary (for example, pressure vessels). However, the choice between specifying by description or by performance needs considerable judgement because specification by performance may lead to complicated testing procedures of long duration and high cost. 5.3 The principle of verifiability Whatever the aims of a product standard, only such requirements shall be included as can be verified. ...... 5.3.2 Another consequence of the principle of verifiability is that the stability, reliability or lifetime of a product shall not be specified if no test method is known by means of which compliance with this requirement can be verified in a reasonably short time. A guarantee by the manufacturer, although useful, is not a substitute for such requirements. Guarantee conditions are considered to be outside the aspects to be included, being a commercial or contractual, and not a technical, concept." Quoting from Annex D (normative - Standardization of materials required for end products) of ISO/IEC Directives Part 2: "Standardization of materials required for end products D.1 To obtain optimum results in standardization, close cooperation is necessary between technical committees responsible for the standardization of end products and those responsible for the standardization of materials used in these products. D.2 The technical committee responsible for the end product, being ultimately responsible for all features concerning the quality of the product, is also responsible both for the minimum quality requirements for the materials needed, and for approving or adopting the technical solutions or specifications (and type and grade if relevant) for the material, tests, etc. proposed in response to these needs. ........ D. 4 A technical committee responsible for the standardization of an end product shall take care that, where appropriate, the product standard includes the necessary specifications concerning the material(s) of which the product should be manufactured. This will not apply to a product standard prepared entirely in terms of performance characteristics." Annex D then describes the procedure which should be followed by the technical committee. ISO/IEC Directives ISO Guide 2 Directives Part 2 Directives Part 3 Quoting from section 1 (General principles) of ISO/IEC Directives Part 3: "1.1 Objective The objective of an International Standard is to define clear and unambiguous provisions in order to facilitate international trade and communication. To achieve this objective, the International Standard shall: - be as complete as necessary within the limits specified by its scope; "1.3 Homogeneity Uniformity of structure, of style and of terminology shall be maintained not only within each standard, but also within a series of associated standards. ......" Quoting from section 2.3 (General normative elements) of ISO/IEC Directives Part 3: This element shall appear at the beginning of every standard, to define without ambiguity the subject of the standard and the aspect(s) covered, thereby indicating the limits of applicability of the standard or particular parts of it. It shall not contain requirements." Quoting from section 2.4 (Technical normative elements) of ISO/IEC Directives Part 3: "2.4.3 Requirements This element includes the following: a) all characteristics relevant to the aspect(s) of the product(s), processes(es) or service(s) covered by the standard, either explicitly or by reference; b) the required limiting values of quantifiable characteristics; c) for each requirement, either a reference to the test method for determining or verifying the values of the characteristic (see 2.4.5), or the test method itself. A clear distinction shall be made between normative requirements and statements included only for information or guidance. Contractual requirements concerning claims, covering of expenses, etc. shall not be included." Quoting from section 4.1 (Text of the International Standard) of ISO/IEC Directives Part 3: "4.1.2 Verbal form for the expression of requirements A standard does not in itself impose any obligation upon anyone to follow it. However, such an obligation may be imposed, for example, by legislation or by a contract. In order to be able to claim compliance with a standard, the user needs to be able to identify the requirements he is obliged to satisfy. He needs also to be able to distinguish these requirements from other provisions where he has a certain freedom of choice. Clear rules for the use of verbal forms are therefore essential." These verbal forms are defined in Annex C of ISO/IEC Directives Part 3 and are summarised as: The word shall indicates a requirement. The word should indicates a recommendation. The word may indicates a permitted course of action within the limits of the standard. The word can indicates a possibility open to the user of the standard. ISO/IEC Directives ISO Guide 2 Directives Part 2 Directives Part 3 |
Back to Top Foreword Introduction 1. Types 2. Form 3. Content References
Back to Top Foreword Introduction 1. Types 2. Form 3. Content References
|
The
form of any particular ISO/TC67 standard is unambiguously described in the ISO/IEC
Directives Part 3. All TC/SC/WG chairmen, secretaries, convenors and project
leaders must become familiar with the Directives.
Recently the ISO Central Secretariat have produced a Template for the use of ISO Working Groups to enable them to prepare their documents in a form which can be very simply processed by the ISO Central Secretariat at the DIS/FDIS and publication stages. This will be made available to the ISO/TC67 Working Groups. |
Back to Top Foreword Introduction 1. Types 2. Form 3. Content References
3. CONTENT OF ISO/TC67 STANDARDS The selected aim or aims determine the type or types of standard that is required, noting that various different aims and types may be embodied in the same document. See ISO/IEC Directives Part 2, section 5.1 and ISO/IEC Guide 2, clause 5 (quoted above).The content of the standard depends on the type of the standard, and is then well defined in the relevant sections of Parts 2 and 3 of the ISO/IEC Directives, noting particularly the sections quoted above. Finally ISO/TC67 has made a number of resolutions to supplement and clarify the ISO/IEC Directives with respect to the ISO/TC67 standards and these have been compiled in ISO/TC67 doc N435 "Summary of resolutions, recommendations and other information for applying the ISO format and procedures" dated 10/95. It is intended that this document itself (ISO/TC67/AG3 doc N128) should be included in the next revision of ISO/TC67 doc N435 <<editorial note: it was included>>. |
"To create value added standards for the oil and gas industry"
|
ISO/IEC Directives ISO/TC67 doc N435:
"Summary of resolutions, recommendations and other information for applying the ISO
format and procedures" |
Back to Top Foreword Introduction 1. Types 2. Form 3. Content References
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This page 'teched/typeformcontent.htm' was last updated
on 19 January 2006.