International Organization For Standardization - Standardization Process

Standardization Process

A standard published by ISO/IEC is the last stage of a long process that commonly starts with the proposal of new work within a committee. Here are some abbreviations used for marking a standard with its status:

• PWI - Preliminary Work Item
• NP or NWIP - New Proposal / New Work Item Proposal (e.g., ISO/IEC NP 23007)
• AWI - Approved new Work Item (e.g., ISO/IEC AWI 15444-14)
• WD - Working Draft (e.g., ISO/IEC WD 27032)
• CD - Committee Draft (e.g., ISO/IEC CD 23000-5)
• FCD - Final Committee Draft (e.g., ISO/IEC FCD 23000-12)
• DIS - Draft International Standard (e.g., ISO/IEC DIS 14297)
• FDIS - Final Draft International Standard (e.g., ISO/IEC FDIS 27003)
• PRF - Proof of a new International Standard (e.g., ISO/IEC PRF 18018)
• IS - International Standard (e.g., ISO/IEC 13818-1:2007)

Abbreviations used for amendments:

• NP Amd - New Proposal Amendment (e.g., ISO/IEC 15444-2:2004/NP Amd 3)
• AWI Amd - Approved new Work Item Amendment (e.g., ISO/IEC 14492:2001/AWI Amd 4)
• WD Amd - Working Draft Amendment (e.g., ISO 11092:1993/WD Amd 1)
• CD Amd / PDAmd - Committee Draft Amendment / Proposed Draft Amendment (e.g., ISO/IEC 13818-1:2007/CD Amd 6)
• FPDAmd / DAM (DAmd) - Final Proposed Draft Amendment / Draft Amendment (e.g., ISO/IEC 14496-14:2003/FPDAmd 1)
• FDAM (FDAmd) - Final Draft Amendment (e.g., ISO/IEC 13818-1:2007/FDAmd 4)
• PRF Amd - (e.g., ISO 12639:2004/PRF Amd 1)
• Amd - Amendment (e.g., ISO/IEC 13818-1:2007/Amd 1:2007)

Other abbreviations:

• TR - Technical Report (e.g., ISO/IEC TR 19791:2006)
• DTR - Draft Technical Report (e.g., ISO/IEC DTR 19791)
• TS - Technical Specification (e.g., ISO/TS 16949:2009)
• DTS - Draft Technical Specification (e.g., ISO/DTS 11602-1)
• PAS - Publicly Available Specification
• TTA - Technology Trends Assessment (e.g., ISO/TTA 1:1994)
• IWA - International Workshop Agreement (e.g., IWA 1:2005)
• Cor - Technical Corrigendum (e.g., ISO/IEC 13818-1:2007/Cor 1:2008)
• Guide - a guidance to technical committees for the preparation of standards

International Standards are developed by ISO technical committees (TC) and subcommittees (SC) by a process with six steps:

• Stage 1: Proposal stage
• Stage 2: Preparatory stage
• Stage 3: Committee stage
• Stage 4: Enquiry stage
• Stage 5: Approval stage
• Stage 6: Publication stage

The TC/SC may set up working groups (WG) of experts for the preparation of a working drafts. Subcommittees may have several working groups, which can have several Sub Groups (SG).

It is possible to omit certain stages, if there is a document with a certain degree of maturity at the start of a standardization project, for example a standard developed by another organization. ISO/IEC directives allow also the so-called "Fast-track procedure". In this procedure a document is submitted directly for approval as a draft International Standard (DIS) to the ISO member bodies or as a final draft International Standard (FDIS) if the document was developed by an international standardizing body recognized by the ISO Council.

The first step—a proposal of work (New Proposal) is approved at the relevant subcommittee or technical committee (e.g., SC29 and JTC1 respectively in the case of Moving Picture Experts Group - ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11). A working group (WG) of experts is set up by the TC/SC for the preparation of a working draft. When the scope of a new work is sufficiently clarified, some of the working groups (e.g., MPEG) usually make open request for proposals—known as a "call for proposals". The first document that is produced for example for audio and video coding standards is called a verification model (VM) (previously also called a "simulation and test model"). When a sufficient confidence in the stability of the standard under development is reached, a working draft (WD) is produced. This is in the form of a standard but is kept internal to working group for revision. When a working draft is sufficiently solid and the working group is satisfied that it has developed the best technical solution to the problem being addressed, it becomes committee draft (CD). If it is required, it is then sent to the P-members of the TC/SC (national bodies) for ballot.

The CD becomes final committee draft (FCD) if the number of positive votes is above the quorum. Successive committee drafts may be considered until consensus is reached on the technical content. When it is reached, the text is finalized for submission as a draft International Standard (DIS). The text is then submitted to national bodies for voting and comment within a period of five months. It is approved for submission as a final draft International Standard (FDIS) if a two-thirds majority of the P-members of the TC/SC are in favour and not more than one-quarter of the total number of votes cast are negative. ISO will then hold a ballot with National Bodies where no technical changes are allowed (yes/no ballot), within a period of two months. It is approved as an International Standard (IS) if a two-thirds majority of the P-members of the TC/SC is in favour and not more than one-quarter of the total number of votes cast are negative. After approval, only minor editorial changes are introduced into the final text. The final text is sent to the ISO Central Secretariat, which publishes it as the International Standard.