FIG PUBLICATION NO. 28A
FIG
Guide on standardisation
How to enhance FIG’s role in the process of creating and maintaining
official standards
Revised edition 2006
This publication in .pdf-format.
Contents
A. INTRODUCTION
A1. PURPOSE OF THIS GUIDE
A2. BACKGROUND
A3. TERMINOLOGY
B. FIG POLICY
C. FIG STRATEGIES
C1. CURRENT STANDARDISATION BODIES AND ACTIVITIES
C1.1 ISO
C1.2 National standardisation bodies
C1.3 Other international standardisation bodies
C1.4 Regional standardisation bodies
C1.5 Governments
C1.6 Companies
C1.7 Other international bodies
C1.8 The World Trade Organisation
C1.9 Publications
C2. INTERPRETING AND PROMOTING PUBLISHED STANDARDS
C3. HOW FIG CAN INFLUENCE THE EXISTING WORK PROGRAMME OF
ISO
C3.1 Gaining Liaison status
C3.2 FIG Experts
C4. HOW THE IVSC WORKS AND HOW FIG CAN INFLUENCE ITS WORK
PROGRAMME
C5. HOW FIG MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS CAN INFLUENCE THE ACTIVITY
OF NATIONAL STANDARDISATION BODIES
C6. HOW FIG CAN PROPOSE NEW WORK AREAS FOR INTERNATIONAL
STANDARDISATION
D. SUMMARY OF ROLES WITHIN FIG
D1. COUNCIL
D2. STANDARDS NETWORK
D3. COMMISSION AND PERMANENT INSTITUTION (PI) OFFICERS
D4. COMMISSION/PI MEMBERS TO THE STANDARDS NETWORK
D5. HEADS OF MEMBER ASSOCIATION DELEGATIONS TO FIG
D6. NATIONAL DELEGATES TO COMMISSIONS
D7. FIG LEAD CONTACTS TO TECHNICAL COMMITTEES OF
STANDARDISATION BODIES
E. FURTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION
E1. INTERNATIONAL STANDARDISATION BODIES
E2. REGIONAL STANDARDISATION BODIES
E3. OTHER INTERNATIONAL BODIES
E4. KEY ISO TCS AND STANDARDS
ANNEX A: HOW ISO WORKS
1. TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT BOARD
2. TECHNICAL COMMITTEES
3. THE PROCESS OF CREATING A STANDARD
4. LIAISON BODIES
5. OTHER PUBLICATIONS
6. REVIEWS
APPENDICES
A - SAMPLE LETTER APPLYING FOR LIAISON STATUS
Orders of the printed copies
FIG Guide on Standardisation
How to enhance FIG's role in the process of creating and
maintaining official standards
FIG Task Force on Standards
Iain Greenway, United Kingdom
International Federation of Surveyors, FIG
Revised edition 2006
A. Introduction
A1. Purpose of this Guide
This Guide was created by the FIG Task Force on Standards, and has been
updated by the FIG Standards Network, to assist the FIG Council, Commissions
and Member Associations in their efforts to make a difference in
standardisation activities. Standardisation activities can often seem
complex or even impenetrable, and the Task Force and Network have seen one
of their prime roles as filtering important information about
standardisation activities and explaining how surveyors can be actively
engaged in the processes.
A2. Background
Official standards have always been important in production operations,
with many originating in military activity: the ISO 9000 series of standards
on quality management is a prime example of this spreading of military
standards to the civilian world. Many surveyors have come across ISO 9000
and other official standards. Others will be very familiar with legal
standards, for instance legislation on land registration and cadastral
surveying. All of us are increasingly subject to de facto standards
in all that we do – for instance Microsoft personal computer operating
software and TCP/IP standards on the World Wide Web. Standards, in all of
these manifestations, are becoming increasingly important for surveyors.
To give an idea of the scale of standardisation activities, the International
Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) in 2004 had 149 national standardisation
bodies as members, and 2,952 technical bodies (technical committees,
subcommittees, working groups and ad hoc study groups). There were 14,941 ISO
standards in print, amounting to 531,324 pages. International standardisation
activity is becoming increasingly dominant, in an era of increasing
international trade, over regional and national standards: this emphasises the
growing role for international organisations such as FIG in inputting to the
standardisation process.
Turning to the benefits of standards, research undertaken by the Technical
University of Dresden and the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovations
(available at
www.din.de/set/aktuelles/benefit.html) found that:
- The benefit to the German economy from standardisation amounts to more
than US$ 15 billion per year;
- Standards contribute more to economic growth than patents and licences;
- Companies that participate actively in standards work have a head start on
their competitors in adapting to market demands and new technologies;
- Transaction costs are lower when European and International Standards are
used; and
- Research risks and development costs are reduced for companies
contributing to the standardisation process.
Further work in the UK in 2005 (available at
www.dti.gov.uk/iese/The_Empirical_Economics_of_Standards.pdf) found that 13%
of the UK’s economic growth between 1948 and 2002 could be attributed to
standards.
The process of creating standards is a lengthy one – most ISO standards are
under development for more than three years. This time scale has to be shortened
in a world where technological developments are happening more and more
frequently; as ISO recognises, standards will otherwise constrain development.
The same difficulties can arise with legislation – the cadastral survey
regulations of many countries prescribe methodologies which must be used,
thereby often disallowing GPS methods.
The main participants in the process of developing standards are generally
academics and public servants – people whose organisations can afford for them
to spend time on, and travel to, the necessary meetings. In general,
practitioners are present in much more limited numbers. This means that
standardisation bodies will often have limited knowledge of other initiatives –
they will assume a ‘green field site’ when in fact a good deal is already in
hand. A particularly relevant current example for surveyors is the area of
Spatial Data Infrastructures (at national, regional and global levels) – these
will be profoundly impacted (for good or ill) by standards and it is therefore
vital that there are clear links between the various professional and
standardisation activities.
For these reasons, standards are important to surveyors, and surveyors’
involvement in standardisation can develop better standards in shorter time
frames, improving the benefits that standards bring. In the last few years, FIG
has given a focus to international standardisation activities and has
significantly raised its profile in the area. Even in this limited time, the
work has achieved concrete results. To give two examples:
- The ISO standards on testing calibrating survey instruments, unworkable
for practising professionals, have been revised – in large part due to the
continuing pressure and input of FIG, particularly Commission 5, and some FIG
funding for individuals to attend relevant meetings;
- The proposed ISO work to create a standard for the qualification and
certification of personnel in the geographic information area was turned into
an informative report (ISO/TR 19122) due to FIG (and other NGO) pressure. The
recommendations of that report, due to parallel FIG activity and input,
recommend that the work is left to relevant international professional bodies.
FIG’s active input to the ISO work, rather than ignoring it, was a key factor
in these developments.
This Guide has been created to allow FIG to build on these successes, and to
focus its efforts and funds.
A3. Terminology
For the purposes of this Guide:
- Official standards are those created by authorised standardisation
bodies, whether operating on a global, regional or national basis;
- Legal standards are those created by sub-national, national,
supranational or international law; and
- De facto standards are documents such as regulations,
industry standards and professional instructions.
B. FIG Policy
Standardisation activity is, as summarised in section A2, becoming of
increasing importance to surveyors; indeed, the application of technical and
professional standards is one element which sets professionals apart from
others. In 1997, therefore, FIG decided to place a greater emphasis on
developing its work in the standardisation field, whilst recognising the
limitations of what its resources could achieve.
Overall, FIG’s aim in the field of standards is to assist in the
process of developing workable and timely official and legal standards covering
the activities of surveyors: FIG is one of the few bodies through which
surveyors can formally be represented in international official standardisation
activities. In so doing, FIG is supporting its objective to collaborate with
relevant agencies in the formulation and implementation of policies. FIG is also
committed in its objectives to developing the skills of surveyors and
encouraging the proper use of technology, activities which are becoming
increasingly shaped by standards.
FIG will generally seek to ensure that de facto standards
become official standards as technology matures, or at the very least that all
relevant official, legal and de facto standards are produced in full
knowledge of all other related material.
FIG sees the following roles for professionals in the standardisation
process:
- Assisting in the production of workable and timely standards by proposing
material which can be transformed into international standards (rather than
relying on work developed by others) and by participating in the process of
developing standards; and
- Disseminating information and creating explanatory material and guidance
notes to ensure that all members of FIG are aware of the most recent
standardisation activities, standards and regulations, and their implications
for surveyors.
In supporting this policy, FIG will dovetail the work of its
Commissions and other bodies with that of official standardisation bodies, to
ensure that the greatest possible benefit for practising surveyors and their
clients is achieved. This dovetailing will be reflected in Commission, Task
Force and Permanent Institution (PI) workplans – these will include the creation
of necessary information and explanatory material, and any relevant planned
output from any of FIG’s bodies will be discussed with the relevant
standardisation bodies before it is created. FIG will also seek to work closely
with other international bodies representing surveyors, to ensure the most
effective collective use of resources.
Since 1998, the FIG Task Force on Standards – and subsequently the FIG
Standards Network – have provided the necessary coordination in planning of
activity to achieve these goals, recognising that it is through the Commissions
and Member Associations that most of the necessary work and liaison will be
achieved. The standardisation roles of the various elements of FIG’s structure
are described in more detail in Section D of this Guide.
C. FIG Strategies
This Guide explains the often complex and lengthy processes through which
work items have to progress before they become published standards. It is
unrealistic for FIG, as one of many bodies representing professionals, to be
able to control the progress of individual standards, and FIG will have to
accept that many of its proposals for changing documents will not be
accepted (although the general principle of consensus allows FIG to push
home points on which it feels particularly strongly). Similarly,
standardisation bodies will not readily accept new work item proposals
unless there is a proven market need for them. FIG should, however, be well
aware of the needs of its 250,000 individual members – a significant market
– and can therefore expect standardisation bodies to listen to it.
To achieve the greatest degree of success, therefore, FIG needs to coordinate
its efforts, and to recognise the needs of the standardisation bodies as well as
of FIG’s members. The respective roles and responsibilities of the key bodies in
the standardisation arena are set out in Section C1 of this
Guide.
To achieve FIG’s stated policy, FIG’s Commissions need to work closely with
the relevant standardisation bodies (including the Technical Committees of ISO)
so that any informative or explanatory material that the Commissions create
which supports the use of standards is produced at the appropriate time, has
clear references to the relevant standards, and can be published and marketed in
a coordinated way with the published standards. Section C2 of
this Guide expands on this activity.
In addition, FIG needs to coordinate the inputs it makes to the creation and
development of standards by the various standardisation bodies. Sections
C3-C5 of this Guide cover this aspect of activity for ISO, the International
Valuation Standards Committee (IVSC) and national standardisation bodies
respectively.
Before drawing up Commission and Council work programmes, FIG should review
the needs of the market in terms of published standards, and should liaise with
the Secretariats and Technical Committees of standardisation bodies over
particular gaps in activity. Wherever possible, these gaps should be filled
through the development of material by FIG, in close liaison with the relevant
standardisation body, so that the completed FIG work can successfully be
progressed to become a standard, and so that the timing of the production of
FIG’s deliverables fits with the needs of the standardisation body (and the
market). Section C6 of this Guide provides further
guidance on this activity.
All of the above requires coordination of the development of Commission and
PI work plans so that FIG’s work has the greatest possible impact in the world
of standards. This may require a slightly greater planning horizon for
Commissions and PIs, and greater coordination of effort, which will be
facilitated through the strategic planning meetings of the Council and the
Advisory Committee of Commission Officers (ACCO). It will also require ongoing
collaboration with other international NGOs to ensure that the combined efforts
are coordinated to best effect.
In short, FIG needs to continue to see itself, and its activity, as part
of a larger picture which includes key bodies such as the UN and its agencies,
standardisation bodies and the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
C1. Current standardisation bodies and
activities
In light of the numbers quoted in section A2, it will be no surprise that
there is a very significant amount of standardisation activity underway,
with large numbers of people and organisations involved. This section
attempts to provide some information on the main players. It does not set
out to reproduce all of the material available – see the list of contacts in
Section E of this Guide for further information – but rather to provide FIG
members with some pointers to the main players and their roles.
ISO is a key player in international official standards. The
International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) is a world-wide
federation of national standards bodies from 149 countries. ISO is a
non-governmental organisation established in 1947 (at that stage,
essentially to provide recommendations to members aimed at harmonising
national standards). ISO’s mission is to promote the development of
standardisation and related activities in the world with a view to
facilitating the international exchange of goods and services, and to
developing co-operation in the spheres of intellectual, scientific,
technological and economic activity. ISO’s work results in international
agreements which are published as International Standards.
International standardisation began in the electrotechnical field: the
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) was created in 1906. Pioneering
work in other fields was carried out by the International Federation of the
National Standardising Associations (ISA), which was set up in 1926. ISA’s
activities ceased in 1942 owing to the Second World War. Following a meeting in
London in 1946, delegates from 25 countries decided to create a new
international organisation ‘the object of which would be to facilitate the
international co-ordination and unification of industrial standards’. The new
organisation, ISO, began to function officially on 23 February 1947. The first
ISO standard was published in 1951 with the title ‘Standard reference
temperature for industrial length measurement’.
The lack of correlation between the official title when used in full,
International Organisation for Standardisation, and the short form, ISO,
should be explained. In fact, ‘ISO’ is a word, derived from the Greek isos,
meaning ‘equal’, which is the root of the prefix ‘iso-’ that occurs in a host of
terms, such as ‘isometric’ (of equal measure or dimensions) and ‘isonomy’
(equality of laws, or of people before the law). From ‘equal’ to ‘standard’, the
line of thinking that led to the choice of ‘ISO’ as the name of the organisation
is easy to follow. In addition, the name has the advantage of being valid in
each of the organisation’s three official languages – English, French and
Russian. The confusion that would arise through the use of an acronym is thus
avoided.
The official goals of ISO are to facilitate trade, exchange and technology
transfer through:
- Enhanced product quality and reliability at a reasonable price;
- Improved health, safety and environmental protection, and reduction of
waste;
- Greater compatibility and interoperability of goods and services;
- Simplification for improved usability;
- Reduction in the number of models, and thus reduction in costs; and
- Increased distribution efficiency and ease of maintenance.
The adoption of ISO standards is voluntary, but users tend to have more
confidence in products and services that conform to International Standards.
Assurance of conformity can be provided by manufacturers’ declarations, or by
audits carried out by independent bodies.
C1.2 National standardisation bodies
The members of ISO (national standardisation bodies) are often
government-run or supported in part, in recognition of their work in
supporting free competition, trade and public order. Their key tasks are the
production of national standards where this will support the national
economy and/or protect citizens, and the promotion of the use of relevant
international standards – with the growth of global trade, the latter role
is increasingly important and fewer national official standards are being
produced. They are generally encouraged to cover part of their costs
(including the costs of participating in ISO activity and creating national
standards) through selling materials, offering certification services, etc.
C1.3 Other international standardisation bodies
ISO works closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission
(IEC), particularly through their Joint Technical Committee (JTC) 1. A
number of other international standardisation bodies exist, the most
relevant of which for surveyors, in particular valuers and real estate
advisers, is the
International Valuation Standards Committee (IVSC).
The IVSC was founded in 1981 and its membership comprises professional
valuation associations from around the world, with 52 countries currently
represented. IVSC’s objectives are to formulate and publish, in the public
interest, valuation Standards and procedural guidance for the valuation of
assets for use in financial statements and to promote their world-wide
acceptance and observance; to harmonise Standards among the world’s States; and
to make disclosures of differences in standards statements and/or applications
of Standards as they occur.
The IVSC is an NGO member of the United Nations, having been granted Roster
status with the UN Economic and Social Council in 1985. The IVSC maintains
liaison with other international agencies (for instance, the Organisation for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Bank, the International
Monetary Fund and the WTO), and with standardisation bodies such as the
International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC), the International
Federation of Accountants (IFA) and the International Organisation of Security
Commissions (IOSCO). It also maintains contact with the European Group of
Valuers’ Associations (TEGoVA).
The IVSC is an NGO member of the United Nations, having been granted Roster
status with the UN Economic and Social Council in 1985. The IVSC maintains
liaison with other international agencies (for instance, the Organisation for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Bank, the International
Monetary Fund and the WTO), and with standardisation bodies such as the
International Accounting Standards Board, the International Federation of
Accountants (IFA), the International Organisation of Security Commissions
(IOSCO) and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.
The IVSC also collaborates with the Open Standards Consortium for Real Estate
International (OSCRE) and its two regional members viz. OSCRE Americas, and
PISCES (Property Information System Common Exchange Standards), the regional
member for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. OSCRE and PISCES have developed
an open industry Standard for real estate related e-commerce data exchanges. The
IVSC in addition also maintains contact with the European Group of Valuers’
Associations (TEGoVA).
In 2005 the IVSC published the seventh edition of the International
Valuations Standards (IVS 2005), and there are ongoing revisions to the
Standards.
The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is a United Nations
specialised agency which issues conventions, ratified by countries, to regulate
worldwide maritime safety. As part of this activity, it establishes reference
standards for electronic chart display and information systems (ECDIS) used by
regulated shipping. These conventions reference standards created by the
International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO), a scientific and technical
organisation which creates international minimum standards covering hydrography
and nautical charting. IHO is an intergovernmental organisation (IGO) not
affiliated to the UN. The secretariat of IHO is called the International
Hydrographic Bureau (IHB). The IHO publishes a Transfer Standard for Digital
Hydrographic Data (commonly known as S57).
C1.4 Regional standardisation bodies
During the creation of this Guide, four regional standardisation bodies
have been identified:
- Comité Européen de Normalisation (CEN);
- The Pacific Area Standards Congress (PASC);
- The European Group of Valuers’ Associations (TEGoVA); and
- The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
CEN has become an important organisation with the growth of
pan-governmental activity at the European level – many of its standards are
referenced by European Commission documents. The procedures of CEN are similar
to those of ISO, with similar outputs. ISO and CEN have worked closely together
for some considerable time, and the Vienna Agreement sets out arrangements for
each to ratify the other’s work. Nearly half of all European standards are
direct adoptions of ISO standards under these arrangements.
PASC is less developed than CEN, but in a similar way attempts to
coordinate the development of standards in the countries around the Pacific. Its
objectives include the following:
- To exchange information and views and initiate necessary actions to help
ensure that international standardisation activities are properly coordinated
on a consensus basis to meet world needs and foster international trade and
commerce;
- To provide a geographically convenient forum for the countries and
territories of the Pacific area to develop recommendations for communication
to the international standards bodies, particularly ISO and IEC; and
- To form a consultative liaison with international and regional standards
bodies to help them meet world needs in standardisation through communication
of recommendations of PASC members.
The European Group of Valuers’ Associations (TEGoVA) is an NGO based
in Brussels and is a European umbrella organisation of national property
valuation associations. Its main objective is the creation and dissemination of
harmonised standards for the practice of valuation, for education and
qualification of valuers, as well as for corporate governance and ethics. TEGoVA
aims to support its member associations in the countries of the European Union,
as well as in the emerging markets in central and eastern Europe, in the
introduction and implementation of those standards.
NATO issues STANAGs (standardisation agreements) which have mandatory
status for military authorities in the organisations’ member countries. One of
these, for instance, defines the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinate
reference system, which is widely used throughout the world. Another – number
7074, developed by the Digital Geographic Information Working Group (DGIWG) –
sets the Digital Geographic Information Exchange Standard (DIGEST).
In general terms, the globalisation of trade and the world economy is
reducing the role of such regional bodies. In addition, FIG and its Member
Associations will be focusing at international and national level respectively;
regional standardisation bodies are therefore not considered in any detail in
this Guide. Further information on them can be found from the sources listed in
Section E.
C1.5 Governments
Moving to the field of legal standards, national governments, in their
role as protectors of the right to hold land (on which so much economic
development and stability depends), are an important source of regulations
for cadastral surveyors. As with official standardisation activities, such
laws can lag significantly behind technical developments and, through
setting input controls, can inhibit effective use of resources.
A whole raft of other legislation affects surveyors as business people and
employers, for instance legislation on health and safety, taxation, etc. This
Guide does not attempt to cover this type of regulation, where lobbying of
government is most effectively completed at a national level.
Inevitably, the move to globalisation has also affected legislation, with the
role of the European Union being the prime example and the requirements of the
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) being another. At a global level,
the OECD attempts to spread good practice around the world. In the surveying
field, a number of organisations attempt to ensure that organisations and
nations work together to best effect. An example of this is EuroGeographics,
which coordinates the work of European National Mapping Agencies.
C1.6 Companies
Commercial firms are becoming increasingly important in the development
of de facto standards. Microsoft (MS) is a classic example – other software
manufacturers need to ensure that their programs interface successfully with
Windows and other MS products if they are to be successful. There are many,
many other organisations setting, wittingly or not, de facto standards.
Again, it is impossible for this Guide to cover these in any detail.
C1.7 Other international bodies
A number of other international bodies have an interest in
standardisation activities. Of particular interest in the surveying arena
are:
- The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), a commercial body
representing the manufacturers of GIS hardware and software and the providers
of geographic data. As its name suggests, the OGC is working towards the
adoption of open standards, allowing the flow of data between different GI
systems. In doing so, OGC works closely with other official standardisation
bodies;
- The International Cost Engineering Council (ICEC), which has for a
number of years been working in the area of standards and best practice –
material on its website includes downloadable versions of standards-related
documents developed by national associations and others; and
- The International Association of Geodesy (IAG) and the
International Cartographic Association (ICA), which have both in recent
years increased their focus on standardisation activities and adjusted their
structures accordingly, and the International Society for Photogrammetry
and Remote Sensing (ISPRS).
C1.8 The World Trade Organisation
In all of the above discussion, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is a
very interested party. The WTO, based in Geneva, has more than 145
governments as members, between them accounting for over 90% of world trade.
It is the only international organisation dealing with the global rules of
trade between nations. Its main function is to ensure that trade flows as
smoothly, predictably and freely as possible. It does this through the
creation of trade agreements, which are ratified by members’ parliaments.
The result is assurance: consumers and producers know that they can enjoy
secure supplies and greater choice of the finished products, components, raw
materials and services that they use. In addition, producers and exporters
know that foreign markets will remain open to them. The result is, in
theory, a more prosperous, peaceful and accountable economic world.
Decisions of WTO are made by its members, at the highest level in a
Ministerial Conference which meets at least once every two years; decisions
are generally made by consensus (the more cynical would also point to the
role of political horse-trading).
The missions of ISO and WTO point to their needing to co-operate – standards
underpin free trade and they need to work together to achieve this. This is
formalised in the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), which sets out
how international standards should be used by governments to facilitate trade.
In practical terms, ISO and WTO jointly hold workshops such as those on
standards in service industries in 1998.
C1.9 Publications
This Guide does not list all of the official and de facto
standards which are of relevance to surveyors – if nothing else, the list
would be out of date by the time it was completed. A few key standards are
listed in Section E of this Guide, along with some sources of further
information. The FIG website will be used to reference more current listings
of key standards documents.
C2. Interpreting and promoting published
standards
Standards will inevitably tend to be fairly dry documents, with lengthy
glossaries and definition sections. The ISO figures quoted in section A2
give the average length of a standard (excluding some of the terminology
lists) as about 35 pages. It is unlikely that the average person in the
street or even the average professional has read any standards, or is aware
first hand of their requirements.
Much more likely is that people encounter standards through either their
practical manifestations (products created to conform to particular standards)
or through advisers, part of whose role is to interpret standards. In recent
years, a large industry has evolved to interpret the ISO9000 quality standards
for businesses. We have also seen very large numbers of publications addressing
what is a very concise standard. This shows both how complex standards can be
(or be made – as with laws, the practical implications often emerge through
‘case law’), and that there is no shortage of interpreters, as long as you are
willing to pay money for their services.
It is also important to note that, in most circumstances, a practitioner has
the choice of whether to follow a particular standard or not. In many
circumstances, a standard’s detailed provisions will not be appropriate. One
example of this was the ISO standards which existed on the calibration and
testing of EDM total stations and other surveying equipment. The detailed
requirements of the standards might have been appropriate for industrial
metrology-type applications, or for the calibration of equipment by
manufacturers and national laboratories, but they were almost certainly not
relevant for the average land surveyor to undertake on a regular basis. To
address this, FIG Commission 5 produced FIG Publication No 9 Recommended
procedures for routine checks of electro-optical distance meters (EDM) to
outline the tests that practitioners should carry out on their instruments. The
spirit of this work has been taken forward in the revised standards in the ISO
17123 series, which define two sets of tests – one for the practitioner and the
other for the calibration facility.
The moral of the above summary is that individual practitioners or firms
should not generally attempt to interpret the implications of an official
standard from first principles. In very many cases (as with de facto
standards), businesses will be able to purchase products certified as meeting
the requirements. This will be of particular relevance where legislation, for
instance health and safety laws, requires certain standards to be conformed to.
In more specific cases, the services of a specialist adviser may need to be
hired, if the implications of failing to meet requirements will have very
significant consequences for the firm (for instance, possible law suits taken
out by clients).
Alternatively, the surveyor’s national professional association could be
turned to. Such associations often have technical departments responsible for
interpreting standards for their members, either as part of the membership
subscription or for an additional fee. In turn, they will often look to
international bodies to provide guidance to them, and so FIG and in particular
its Commissions will need to ensure that they are fully aware of key standards
and are able to provide timely guidance to FIG’s Member Associations on
necessary activity and priorities. In this way, FIG can provide a service to its
Member Associations, can avoid duplication of effort at a national level, and
will be well-placed to feed back suggestions for improvement to the relevant
standardisation body.
Another role for national and international professional associations is the
pooling of best practice, which may often be ahead of the content of standards.
For instance, many professional institutions produce best practice material
which can be used by all practitioners and clients as a basis for defining
requirements. FIG is keen to spread knowledge of such documents, developed by
individual member associations, throughout its membership. At an international
level, the 1998-2002 work of FIG’s Working Group 3.3 in compiling a HABITAT Best
Practice Database is another example of this type of activity. The FIG
Surveyors’ Reference Library is also now building a readily-available repository
of information.
This element of FIG’s work in standardisation will continue largely to be led
by its Commissions and PIs, appropriately coordinated internally, with Member
Associations and with standardisation bodies. This coordination is vital in
ensuring effectiveness of activity in terms of content and timing.
C3. How FIG can influence the existing
work programme of ISO
Annex A to this Guide provides further information
on the operation of ISO. This section explains how FIG can influence the
standardisation process to best effect; it cross-references to Annex A as
necessary.
As explained further in Annex A2, the engine house of ISO is its Technical
Committees (TCs). International organisations such as FIG can gain Liaison
status (this status is explained further in Annex A4) and appoint individuals as
Experts to relevant TCs and thus influence activity. It is vital, however, that
liaison bodies are active – although the Internet is increasingly being used in
the work of developing standards, the bulk of the decisions are still made when
a Working Group of Experts meets in the same room. This means that FIG must be
willing to fund Experts for the necessary travel (or source Experts who already
have funding available), that Experts must have a realistic expectation of being
able to prepare for and attend the meetings, and that FIG must prioritise key
TCs rather than try to spread its budget of cash and Experts too thinly. To
achieve this, the FIG Council, in consultation with other relevant NGOs
representing surveyors, will need to continue to oversee and coordinate the
process of choosing which Experts should be funded for which activities, basing
decisions on the importance to FIG and the surveying profession. The FIG
Standards Network will advise the Council on such decisions.
The ISO TCs to which FIG currently has Class A Liaison status are:
- TC59 Sub-Committee 4 – Dimensional Tolerances and Measurements (currently
dormant);
- TC172 Sub-Committee 6 – Geodetic and Surveying Instruments (Lead: Hans
Heister); and
- TC211 – Geographic Information/ Geomatics (Lead: Iain Greenway).
C3.1 Gaining Liaison status
Being accepted as a Liaison organisation to a TC requires a formal
request from FIG to the ISO Secretary-General, who will pass the request to
the secretariat of the relevant TC with an instruction that it be voted on
by full members of the TC. ISO will inform FIG of the result. FIG will then
be required to appoint a named lead contact for the TC. This individual will
have the authority, on behalf of FIG, to participate in plenary meetings of
the TC and in Working Groups. In many cases, the lead contact will wish to
work with a number of FIG Experts to the various activities; s/he can also
nominate a representative to attend plenary meetings as necessary. A short
report of activity is normally expected from Liaisons in advance of each
plenary meeting. The TC will also appoint a lead contact from the TC back to
the Liaison organisation. All TCs will periodically review the activeness
(or otherwise) of Liaisons and will request the ISO Central Secretariat to
delete those Liaisons who have been inactive.
Some TCs have developed additional frameworks for working with key Liaisons –
the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), for instance, has signed a Co-operative
Agreement with ISO TC211. For most of FIG’s purposes, Liaison status provides
all that is required, but other frameworks should be considered by the lead
contact where necessary.
C3.2 FIG Experts
Experts are the central component in developing standards (further
information on their role and responsibilities can be found in Annex A3).
Much of the contact between Experts will be informal, based on the working
relationships developed and attendance at international conferences etc.
It is vital that Experts know what is expected of them when they are
appointed. The following is an outline of the expectations, which should be
tailored as necessary and communicated by the lead contact when seeking Experts:
- To have expert knowledge in the field of work;
- To be willing to attend the relevant Working Group and editing committee
meetings [insert an expectation of how many meetings are likely, and the
likely locations and time period], funded by FIG if necessary [in setting the
level of funding, FIG will wish to take into account other sources of funding
available to the individual for the activity];
- To consult with the FIG Office and relevant FIG officers (in particular
the relevant Commission(s) regularly and fully throughout the process of
developing the standard, both to receive input from others, and also to ensure
that the work of the Commission(s) continues in full knowledge of relevant
standardisation activity; and
- To report [annually] to the lead contact on activity.
It is also vital that each lead contact to a TC remains active, attending
plenary meetings, maintaining email contact with key players in the TC, and
keeping FIG officers and Commissions informed of TC progress or issues. All lead
contacts should therefore report annually to the General Assembly of FIG, with
this reporting being coordinated by the FIG Standards Network.
The FIG Standards Network has the task of maintaining contact, formally and
informally, with the ISO Central Secretariat, to keep them informed of FIG plans
and to understand how FIG can influence ISO activity to best effect.
It takes time for individuals to understand the sometimes arcane ISO
processes and language. It is also vital, if Experts are to have the greatest
possible effect and influence, for them to be involved in the relevant drafting
activity from the beginning (FIG’s influence, in the absence of a vote – see
Annex A3 for the detailed organisation of the standardisation process – declines
as the drafting process progresses). This points to the requirement for the lead
contact to maintain knowledge of possible Experts, and their field of expertise,
and the need to maintain the currency of this knowledge. The relevant
Commissions have an important role in encouraging individuals to become
involved. It is also important that the many FIG members who represent their
national standardisation bodies in ISO activity are aware of FIG’s requirements
and views, as they can input views to the process without the need for FIG
funding. Particular care will be needed where FIG and national needs may
conflict – the lead contact will need to remain aware of this possibility and
take appropriate action, in consultation with the relevant Commission officers
and delegates and heads of Member Association delegations to FIG.
C4. How the IVSC works and how FIG can
influence its work programme
The membership of the IVSC comprises national valuation associations
which represent their respective countries (for participation, a country
must be recognised by the UN).
Management of IVSC’s affairs is by a Management Board which is composed of a
representative of each full IVSC member and of elected Board members. The IVSC
as a whole meets at least once a year to ratify exposure drafts of valuation
standards and related publications submitted by the Management Board, to receive
the annual report of the Management Board, and to receive and ratify the
financial statements relating to the IVSC.
IVSC’s Secretariat is based at its International Bureau in London, while its
operational headquarters are generally located at the offices of the IVSC
Chairman.
International Valuation Standards were first published in 1985 and have since
been amended on a number of occasions. The Management Board ‘continuously
engages in the consideration of new and revised Standards, and in Guidance where
appropriate’. The Board actively solicits comments, questions and
suggestions for future editions. The IVS (the ‘white book’) complements the
related regional and national standards, although in this field we again see a
growing importance of international standards to shape the detailed provisions
of national standards, with the future relative importance of regional standards
not being fully clear.
FIG, through the Commission 9 representative to the Standards Network, has
developed a good working relationship with the IVSC Secretariat; however, the
modus operandi of the IVSC is currently under review and although it is
likely that there will the opportunity for FIG to become more involved with IVSC
standard setting in the future, it will depend upon exactly how any
restructuring evolves.
C5. How FIG member associations can
influence the activity of national standardisation bodies
As explained in section C1.2, national
standardisation bodies are generally partly funded by government. A good
deal of their activity will be taken up with appointing Experts to
international standardisation activities and reviewing developing
international standards. Individual FIG members may be involved in this
work, and it is indeed important for FIG’s influence that it inputs at both
national and international level.
This is an important role for national delegates to FIG Commissions, who
should be made aware of current standardisation activity of relevance to their
Commission, and should seek out the relevant contacts in their national body.
National standardisation bodies will often set up committees shadowing the work
of each ISO TC. The leader of each committee will normally be a specialist in
the field, although also someone with a knowledge of how national and
international standardisation activity works. It is important that the FIG
delegate finds out who this person is, and works with them to gain maximum
influence for practising surveyors. The nature of this interchange will vary
between situations, but the delegate should certainly provide information on the
size of FIG’s membership, the breadth of its work, and its links with key
international bodies like the UN, the WTO and ISO in particular. S/he should
include information on FIG activity in ISO TCs. A repository of such
information, maintained so as to be current, needs to be easily available to FIG
delegates; it will be maintained on the FIG web site, with the FIG Standards
Network being responsible for its maintenance.
Influence at a national level is crucial if FIG is to achieve as much as
possible with its limited budget for standardisation activities. National
activity will generally involve limited travelling expenses, and can double up
with the necessary activities of the member association in influencing
standardisation activities. As mentioned in section C3.2, it will be important
to recognise any potential conflicts between FIG and national positions, and to
take full account of these when determining whether doubling up is appropriate.
It is clear that, at present, FIG is insufficiently linked into this national
aspect of activity. A number of elements need to come together to correct this:
- FIG Member Associations need to be made more aware of FIG’s activities in
standardisation. The lead responsibility here rests with heads of delegations
to the FIG General Assembly, to communicate with the relevant officers and
members of their Member Association;
- National delegates to FIG’s Commissions need to be aware of the particular
areas of standardisation activity which could affect them; the role here is
for FIG Commission officers, both explicitly through their work programmes,
and on an ongoing basis in their newsletters and other communications;
- Similarly, Member Associations need to provide information to FIG’s
Commissions and the FIG Standards Network as to relevant national
standardisation activity, so that FIG can support the Member Association in
influencing this activity;
- A bank of information should be maintained centrally by FIG, to be called
on by delegates; this is the responsibility of the FIG Standards Network.
C6. How FIG can propose new work areas for
international standardisation
This section of the Guide concentrates on ISO, given the relative
complexity of ISO’s operations and procedures; submitting suggestions to
IVSC is a considerably more straightforward process.
Section C1.1 has explained how the work of ISO grew out of manufacturing. It
is therefore of no surprise that the activities of the technical commissions of
FIG (5 and 6 in particular) are well-covered by ISO standards, even if these at
times are out of date or don’t allow for new technology. Recent work around the
world on national and global spatial data infrastructures has catalysed ISO work
(particularly in its TC211) in the area covered by FIG Commission 3. FIG
Commission 4 has a particular link with the IHB, the secretariat of the IHO,
which sets international standards on hydrography and nautical charting.
Commissions 1 and 2 have a more general interest in professional standards (ISO
9000, for instance), where FIG’s influence is likely to be very limited.
Some of FIG’s other Commissions, however, are less well covered by ISO
activity. As explained by sections C1.3 and C4, Commission 9 will have more
interest in the work of IVSC, but Commissions 7, 8 and 10 may well be working in
areas where there are not international standards, and where the Commissions
believe that there should be.
ISO is open to the submission of documents by Liaison bodies (see Annex A4
for further information on ISO and Liaison status) for progressing to become
international standards, as it recognises that the General Agreements on Tariffs
and Trade (GATT) and on Trade in Services (GATS) require standardisation in
other areas. ‘Fast-tracking’ is one particular formal process of taking a
document developed by others and introducing it partway through the normal
process of creating an ISO standard, thus reducing the time taken by the
creation process. More usually, informal contact with relevant ISO Technical
Committees (or, in the absence of a relevant TC, with Central Secretariat staff)
will indicate the most effective means by which to introduce material. Such
introduction will normally at some stage require the formal submission of a New
Work Item Proposal (NWIP) by FIG or another proposer; this stage (explained
further in Annex A3) will require the identification of a suitable person to
lead the project to create the international standard.
Formatting the document to fit the requirements of ISO (as set out in its
Directives – see the ISO web site for details) is not mandatory at submission
stage, but reformatting will then be required during the standardisation
process. A lesson of FIG’s work to date on submitting material has been that
documents created by FIG’s Commissions and Permanent Institutions need to take
into account the requirements of ISO at an early stage of their development,
rather than attempting rewriting/ reformatting at a late stage.
D. Summary of roles within FIG
This Guide has outlined the working of standardisation bodies, and what
FIG needs to do to influence standardisation activities effectively. This
section summarises the responsibilities of particular FIG bodies and office
holders.
D1. Council
- Ensuring that Commission, Task Force and Permanent Institution
activity is coordinated with standardisation activity within FIG and
beyond – this is of particular relevance as workplans are compiled
- Determining the level of annual funding for standardisation activities
and the relative priorities of the different strands of activity
- Maintaining a profile within FIG for standardisation activity
- Ensuring that standardisation activity is covered as appropriate in
MOUs and other links with other NGOs
- Advising the General Assembly of how standardisation activities within
FIG should best be coordinated on an ongoing basis
D2. Standards Network
-
Building and maintaining relations with the secretariats of
standardisation bodies
-
Proposing priorities on FIG’s standardisation activities,
including advising the Council on priorities for spending
-
Setting up necessary Liaison relationships with
standardisation bodies
-
Ensuring that lead contacts to Technical Committees etc are in
place
-
Maintaining an information flow on standardisation to FIG
members, including through the FIG website, and more directly to relevant
Commission Officers
-
Maintaining this Guide, and related material on the FIG website
-
Working with other NGOs, within the framework of the MOUs signed
by the Council
-
Advising FIG’s officers and members on standardisation activities
as necessary
D3. Commission and Permanent Institution
(PI) officers
- Ensuring that Commission/ PI workplans are appropriately linked with
standardisation activities
- Publicising and explaining relevant standardisation work in
newsletters etc
- Preparing advisory and explanatory material on published standards
within their field of specialisation
- Maintaining knowledge of possible Experts to Technical Committees of
standardisation bodies
- Discussing possible Commission/ PI work and outputs with the Standards
Network before proceeding
- Providing a named individual as a member of the Standards Network
D4. Commission/PI members to the Standards
Network
- Reporting regularly, in both directions, on the work of the
Commission/PI and Network to ensure appropriate coordination
- Ensuring that Commission/PI work takes due account of standardisation
activities
- Ensuring that the Commission/PI is represented at meetings of the
Network
- Ensuring that standardisation work is reported on in Commission
newsletters etc
D5. Heads of Member Association delegations to
FIG
- Reporting back to Member Associations on relevant standardisation
activity
- Ensuring that the Member Association makes the necessary links with
relevant national standardisation activities (including the national
delegations to international standardisation activities) and describes FIG
and its work to them
- Reporting on national standardisation activity to FIG’s Commissions
and the Standards Network, and seeking necessary FIG support in
influencing that activity
- Sharing explanatory material created by the Member Association, with
FIG
- Alerting FIG as to the level of knowledge amongst individual members
of standards and standardisation activity, and advising on what
informative and explanatory material is required
D6. National delegates to Commissions
- Maintaining contact with relevant individuals in their country who are
involved with national and international standardisation activities
- Seeking out possible FIG Experts to standardisation activities (using,
where possible, individuals who are already involved in the processes)
D7. FIG lead contacts to Technical Committees
of standardisation bodies
-
Submitting Liaison reports to the Technical Committee as
required
-
Submitting FIG material to the Committee for progressing as
appropriate, under the guidance of the Standards Network
-
Laying down Terms of Reference for FIG Experts to the Committee,
finding relevant Experts, and managing their activity
-
Ensuring that relevant FIG officers are kept informed of
Committee progress, to allow dovetailing of activities
-
Reporting as necessary to the General Assembly, via the Chair of
the Standards Network, at least once a year
E. Further sources of information
A wide variety of further information with regard to standards is
available, with the World Wide Web the key repository. This section
generally confines itself to pointing to other web sites, recognising the
speed with which information can change.
E1. International standardisation bodies
ISO has a comprehensive web site at
www.iso.org. The site includes:
- A listing of all Technical Committees with their scope, working groups and
national membership
- A listing of all national standardisation bodies (with direct links to
their web sites)
- A large amount of material on the ISO 9000 and 14000 series of standards
- Further details of Technical Committees, including their business plans,
via the ‘members’ part of the site (part of which is password protected)
ISO’s postal address can be found on the letters at
Appendix A to this Guide.
IEC’s web site is at www.iec.ch.
IVSC’s web site is at www.ivsc.org.
The site contains a range of relevant information on organisation, officers and
publications. IVSC’s postal address is 12 Great George Street, London SW1P 3AD,
UK.
The IMO’s web site is at www.imo.org.
IHO’s web site is at www.iho.shom.fr;
the postal address of the IHB is 4 Quai Antoine 1er BP445, MC98011 Monaco Cedex,
Principality of Monaco. The website includes the S57 transfer standard.
E2. Regional standardisation bodies
CEN’s web site is at www.cenorm.be.
PASC’s web site is at www.pascnet.org.
It contains a range of information on the organisation and its member bodies.
OSCRE’s web site is at www.oscre.org.
PISCES’s web site is at
www.pisces.co.uk.
TEGoVA’s web site is at www.tegova.org.
NATO’s web site is at www.nato.int.
There is limited information on STANAGs. The Digital Geographic Information
Working Group (DGIWG) can be found separately at
www.digest.org, along with full information on the DIGEST standard.
E3. Other international bodies
All of the organisations listed in Section C1.7 have
web sites, with addresses as follows:
E4. Key ISO TCs and standards
ISO TC211 (Geographic Information/ Geomatics) has a comprehensive
web site at www.isotc211.org. The site
includes the current version of the TC’s work plan, encompassing a list of
all proposed standards and their current state of development, as well as a
Fact Sheet on each standard and a range of presentations on its current
work. The TC211 Outreach Group also produces regular newsletters which can
be accessed via the site. The scope of the TC is stated as ‘standardisation
in the field of digital geographic information’ with the aim of
‘establishing a structured set of standards for information concerning
objects or phenomena that are directly or indirectly associated with a
location relative to the earth.’ The stated objectives of the TC are to:
- Increase the understanding and usage of geographic information;
- Increase the availability, access, integration and sharing of geographic
information;
- Promote the efficient, effective and economic use of digital geographic
information and associated hardware and software systems; and
- Contribute to a unified approach to addressing global ecological and
humanitarian problems.
A related site, www.isotc211fgdp.info,
run by the TC211 Focus Group on Data Producers (FGDP), contains a range of
information, frequently-asked questions etc regarding the TC211 standards and
their implementation.
ISO TC172 SC6 (Geodetic and surveying instruments) does not have
currently have an independent web site but some information on the committee can
be found at the main ISO site. The scope of the SC is stated as ‘standardisation
of terminology, requirements and test methods for geodetic and surveying
instruments, their components and accessories’. The SC is currently working
on a series of standards numbered 17123, with sub-parts dealing with types of
instruments (levels, theodolites, EDM, GPS etc).
Annex A: How ISO Works
This Guide has set out the central importance of ISO in standardisation
activity. This Annex provides important background information and a guide
to the terminology used, so that FIG officers and members can have
confidence in their approaches to ISO. The bulk of the material in this
section is drawn from the ISO Directives, which are available from ISO’s web
site (www.iso.org), and are presented here
in a condensed and (hopefully) digestible form for a lay reader.
1. Technical Management Board
ISO is governed by a General Assembly of its member associations. This is
supported by a Central Secretariat of about 150 permanent staff based in
Geneva. The management of ISO’s technical work is the responsibility of its
Technical Management Board (TMB). The terms of reference and remit of the
TMB include:
- Establishing Technical Committees and appointing their chairs and
secretariats;
- Approving the scope and programmes of work of the Technical Committees;
- Ratifying the establishment of sub-committees by Technical Committees;
- Coordinating the overall technical programme, looking across Technical
Committees;
- Monitoring the progress of technical work; and
- Reviewing the need for work in new fields.
2. Technical Committees
The engine house of ISO is its 190 Technical Committees. These are
created, overseen and (where and when necessary) disbanded by the TMB. The
TMB decides which country (national standardisation body) will supply the
secretariat of each TC, and the secretariat nominates a Chairman who is
appointed by the TMB. The TC’s scoping statement, a key document which
defines (and, by implication, limits) its field of interest, is approved by
the TMB.
The members of each TC are the national standardisation bodies. For each TC,
each national body will choose whether it wishes to be a voting (P) member, an
observer (O), or not to participate. This will be a balance between the costs of
being a member (in terms of the time and costs of being involved in the work)
and the benefits in being involved as the documents are created.
3. The process of creating a standard
Working within its scope and under the overall management of the TMB,
each Technical Committee will determine a work programme for the production
(or revision) of the required standards and will set up Working Groups and
Sub-Committees as necessary. This programme is communicated to the TMB and
certain time limits exist (in particular, three years for completion of
various stages of the work) which can only be over-ridden with the agreement
of the TMB. These timescales are being progressively tightened to ensure the
timeliness of the standards delivered.
New items of work are added to the programme for a TC (subject to its scope)
through a vote by P-members on a New Work Item Proposal (NWIP). Success in such
a vote requires both a majority of votes being in favour, and at least 5
P-members being willing to provide an Expert (a term used by ISO to signify
individuals appointed by national standardisation bodies to create the content
of an international standard) to be involved in the process.
The process of developing or revising standards moves through the following
stages:
- Acceptance of the project as a work item by the TC;
- The creation of a Committee Draft (for consideration by the members of the
TC) by Experts in the field under the leadership of a Project Leader appointed
by the TC (this may require moving through a number of Working Drafts
developed and reviewed by the Experts);
- The commenting and voting on this Committee Draft by the P members of the
TC (again, this stage may take several drafts, until consensus – general
agreement – is reached; the group of Experts will act as an Editing Committee
to resolve the comments received);
- The formal voting and commenting (‘enquiry’) by all national member bodies
within ISO on the Draft International Standard (DIS) which results from the TC
review of the Committee Draft – at this stage, two thirds of votes must be
positive and no more than one quarter negative. Comments may accompany the
votes, and the Chairman of the TC is responsible for attempting to reconcile
as many of the comments as possible 1);
- The formal approval of the Final Draft International Standard (FDIS)
resulting from the ‘enquiry’ stage by all national bodies within ISO; the
approval criteria are as in the vote on the DIS;
- The publication of the document as an International Standard (after
correcting any textual errors found in the FDIS stage).
A key element in this process is the requirement for consensus to be reached
before the document can move to each successive stage – this ensures wide
agreement on the content but generally increases the time required for a
document to progress through to a published standard. This lapse time leaves
open the possibility that key players will have created their own de facto
standards before the official standard is published. The use of fast-tracking of
documents (see also Section C6) created by other organisations significantly
shortens the development process, as such documents enter at the DIS stage.
Another option open to the TC to produce documents in a timely manner is to use
one of the other forms of document described in Section 5 of this Annex.
To assist in the process of developing and finalising International
Standards, Working Groups of Experts will meet as necessary (but will conduct
much of their business by email); and TCs will normally meet in Plenary Session
(for formal business) periodically (often every 6 months during active
development of material). All members of the TC are entitled to attend Plenary
Meetings.
1) If the DIS
vote is 100% in favour, the document moves directly to IS, once the comments
raised in the DIS vote have been resolved.
4. Liaison bodies
To ensure the usability and acceptability of published standards,
international bodies can be involved in the work of the TCs in addition to
national standardisation bodies. These other bodies can gain Liaison status
to TCs. Before this can be achieved, they must be registered with the ISO
Central Secretariat; approximately 580 such bodies (including FIG) are
currently registered. Any organisation on the list can then apply for
Liaison status to a particular TC, with the P-members of the TC voting on
the proposal and a majority of votes in favour being sufficient for approval
of Liaison status. Organisations can apply for Category A Liaison (full
involvement) or Category B (wish to be kept informed by being sent copies of
reports etc). A sample letter for such an application can be found at
Appendix A. Once approved as a Class A Liaison to a TC, the organisation has
the full rights of any other member to participate in working groups and
other TC meetings, and to comment on documents, but not to vote.
As you might expect, the really key players in the development of a standard
are those Experts drafting and editing the document – it is here that most of
the document text is created, defended and changed. Liaison bodies who are able
to provide Experts who have the time and resources to be involved in the
meetings can therefore have a profound impact on the development of standards.
Those Liaisons who do not take an active interest and involvement in the work
will have little impact on the process. This is a far more important factor than
Liaison bodies not having votes.
5. Other publications
ISO has recognised the need to balance the time required to achieve
consensus and develop a full ISO standard with the speed at which technology
develops. In doing so, it has had to take account of the number of
international documents which were becoming de facto standards. ISO
therefore decided in the late 1990s to develop streamlined procedures which
can be used at the discretion of Technical Committees (within certain
procedural constraints) when speed of standardisation is a paramount
consideration. The outputs are as follows:
- ISO Publicly Available Specification (PAS) – in essence the first
Committee Draft stage described in Section 3 of this Annex. A PAS will not
have proceeded through the TC stages of harmonising the Committee Draft, but
will represent the consensus of the group of Experts;
- ISO Technical Specification (TS) – in essence the Draft International
Standard described in Section 3 of this Annex, before the ‘enquiry’ stage when
it is reviewed and voted on by all ISO national member bodies; and
- International Workshop Agreements (IWAs) which contain the result of
discussions of participating parties in an open workshop environment.
PAS, TS and IWA documents must be reviewed by the TC every three years and,
at the second such review, must either be withdrawn or revised to become full
ISO international standards. These arrangements allow early publication of ISO
material to meet market requirements, and also allow wide comment prior to the
creation of a full international standard (something which may be particularly
relevant in an immature market).
In other cases, the TC may feel that research and investigation, which should
be published, is required before even a PAS can be created and published. In
such instances, the TC needs to gain agreement from ISO’s TMB for such activity,
and the publication will be an ISO Technical Report which is purely informative.
The detailed procedures for completing and approving Technical Reports vary
slightly from standards, but the principle of consensus continues to apply.
Note that, until the late 1990s, there were three types of ISO technical
reports. The previous types 1 and 2 no longer apply – they have been subsumed by
PAS and TS. The old Type 3 report is the sole category of Technical Report
remaining.
6. Reviews
ISO is becoming increasingly aware of the large number of standards in
print, and that there have not been particularly stringent checks on the
currency or degree of use of the documents. All standards are therefore
required to be reviewed by the relevant TC every 5 years and a vote taken as
to whether the standard should be confirmed, revised or withdrawn. If a
standard is in use in a very limited number of countries, ISO can take the
decision that its revision as an International Standard is not a priority
activity. ISO is currently attempting to make a stronger linkage between
positive votes for the approval of a standard by a national body, and the
national body promoting the use of the standard.
A - Sample letter applying for
Liaison status
July 1999
Dr Lawrence Eicher
Secretary General, ISO
1 Rue de Varembe
CH-1211 Geneve 20
SWITZERLAND
Dear Dr Eicher
FIG Liaisons to ISO TCs
I write to request Class A liaison status for FIG to ISO TC172 SC6.
FIG (the International Federation of Surveyors) is a federation of
national survey associations, currently consisting of nearly 80 full member
associations from approximately 60 countries; additional countries are
represented by observer and correspondent members, meaning that over 100
countries are represented altogether. Between them, the member associations
represent 230,000 surveyors around the world. I attach a general information
leaflet about FIG, explaining our constitution and so on. I also attach a
copy of our last annual review which gives an overview of the wide range of
work in which we are currently involved.
In its work, FIG has close contacts with many other international NGOs,
and is for instance working at present on building further our links with UN
bodies. Another task force, which I chair, has been coordinating our efforts
in the area of standards (including but not limited to those of ISO), and we
are active liaison members of ISO TC211. We also hold liaison status to TC59
SC4; in this and TC172 SC6, we have been actively represented for some years
by Professor Jean-Marie Becker in his guise as a delegate from Sweden. I
hope that this provides you with sufficient information to process our
application for liaison status to TC172 SC6.
Many thanks for your assistance in this matter; I look forward to hearing
further news of our application.
Yours sincerely
Iain Greenway
Chair, FIG Task Force on Standards
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