BSI B S * O :

PART*L

91

1624669 0256917 A

BRITISH STANDARD

BS O : Part 1 : 1991

A standard for standards

Part 1. Guide to general principles of standardization

,
COPYRIGHT British Standards Institution on ERC Specs and Standards Licensed by Information Handling Services

B S I BSUO:

P A R T * l 91

1624669 0256938 T W

BS O : Part 1 : 1991

This British Standard, having been prepared by a BSI panel, was published under the authority of the &andards Board and comes into effect on 31 October 1991
O BSI 1991

Amendments issued since publication

First published February 1974 Second edition November 1981 Third edition October 1991

Amd. No.

Date

lkxt affected

The following BSI references relate to the work on this standard: Committee reference OC/13 Draft for comment 87/00093 DC ISBN O 680 19267 1

COPYRIGHT British Standards Institution on ERC Specs and Standards Licensed by Information Handling Services

Foreword Guide Section 1. General 1.1 Scope 3 1.2 References 3 1.3 Definitions 3 Section 2. A i m s and principles 2.1 Aims of standardization 4 2.2 Principles of standardization 4 Section 3. Standards and the law 6 3.1 Status of British Standards 6 3.2 Contractual use of standards 6 3.3 Standards and regulations Annexes A (informative) Short guide to international organizations concerned 8 with standards 10 [informative) ISO/IEC code of principles on reference to standards B Inside back cover List of references

Page 2

COPYRIGHT British Standards Institution on ERC Specs and Standards Licensed by Information Handling Services

BSI BS*O: P A R T * % 91 W 1 6 2 4 6 6 7 0 2 5 6 9 2 0 8
BS O : Part 1 : 1991

Foreword

This Part of BS O is published under the authority of the Standards Board of BSI. It supersedes BS O : Part 1 : 1981, which is Withdrawn. BS O is intended primarily for the use of BSI committees and staff , and organizations providing first drafts. Originally published in 1974, it was comprehensively revised in 1981, The revised standard is published in three Parts:
Part 1is an introduction to standardization and the role of standards; Part 2 describes BSI committee procedures; Part 3 gives guidance on the drafting and presentation of British Standards and includes an index to all three Parts. This revision of BS O : Part 1restates the aims of standardization and amplifies the principles. Other changes follow the new IEC/ISO Directives - Part 3 : 1989 Drafting und presentation o f International Standards and the new CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations, Part 3 : 1990 Rulesfm*the drafling a m i presentation o f European Standards, as incorporated in BS O : Part 3 : 1991. The editorial principles, layout and typographical presentation used in BS O illustrate the practice to be followed in British Standards.
Compliance with a British Standard does not of itself confer immunity from legal obligations.

COPYRIGHT British Standards Institution on ERC Specs and Standards Licensed by Information Handling Services

BSI BS*O: P A R T * 1 9 1
Section 1

1624669 0 2 5 6 9 2 3 T

=
BS O : Part 1 : 1991

Section 1. General
1.1 Scope
This Part of BS O describes the general aims and piinciples of standardization and the use of standards in support of contracts and legislation.
1.3.2 standard1) Document, established by consensus and approved by a recognized body, that provides, for common and repeated use, niles, guidelines or characteiistics for activities or their results, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context.
N(YI'E.

1.2 References
1.2.1 Normative references This Part of BS O incorporates, by reference, provisions from specific editions of other publications. These noimative references are cited at the appropriate points in the text and the publications are listed on the inside back cover. Subsequent amendments to, or revisions of, any of these publications apply to this Part of BS O only when incorporated in it by updating or revision. 1.2.2 Informative references This Part of BS O refers to other publications that provide information or guidance. Editions of these publications current at the time of issue of this standard are listed on the inside back cover, but reference should be made to the latest editions.

Standards should be based on the consolidated results of science, technology and experience, and aimed at the promotion of optimum community benefits.

1.3.3 regulation Document providing binding legislative rules, that is adopted by an authority. 1.3.4 national standards body Standards body recognized at the national level, that is eligible to be the national member of the corresponding international and regional standards organizations. 1.3.5 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 concerned and to reconcile any conflicting arguments.
NOTE. Consensus need not imply unanimity.

1.3 Definitions
For the purposes of this Pait of BS O, the definitions given in BS 4778 : Part 1 : 1987 and Part 2 : 1991 apply together with the following, which are taken from BS EN 45020 : 1991.
1.3.1 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.
NOTE 1, In particular, the activity consists of the processes of
formulating, issuing and implementingstandards.

NOTE 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.

') Measurement standards of mass, length, time, etc. (talons in French) are relevant to standardization, but the work of BSI as a national standards body concerns documentaiy standards as defined in 1.3.2 (normesin French).

COPYRIGHT British Standards Institution on ERC Specs and Standards Licensed by Information Handling Services

B S I BS*O:

P A R T S 1 91 W L b 2 4 b b 0 2 5 6 9 2 2 1

BS O : Part 1 : 1991

Section 2

Section 2. Aims and principles

2.1 Aims of standardization
The broad aims of standardization can be summaiked as follows: a) to promote the quality of products, processes and services by defining those features and characteristics that govern their ability to satisfy given needs, i.e. their fitness for purpose; b) to promote improvement in the quality of life, safety (see section 13 of BS O : Part 3 : 1991), health and protection of the environment; e) to promote the economic use of materials, energy and human resources in the production and exchange of goods; d) to promote clear and unambiguous communication between all interested parties, in a form suitable for reference or quotation in legally binding documents; e) to promote international trade by the removal of barriers caused by differences in national practices; f) to promote industrial efficiency through variety control. materials, processes or services; codes of practice (recommendations goveiming actions); various kinds of methods, and glossaries of terms. The drafting and presentation of different types of British Standard are explained in BS O : Part 3, Verification of conformity to specified requirements should always be possible within a realistic time and at a reasonable cost. The implications of this principle for the drafting of Biitish Standard specifications are discussed in annex E of BS O : Part 3 : 1991. 2.2.4 Standards should be impartial Standards should be prepared in order to benefit the whole community. The provisions of a British Standard should not give exclusive advantage to the product or service of any individual supplier. The implications of this principle for the drafting of British Standards are discussed in 14.1 of BS O : Part 3 : 1991. 2.2.6 Standards should be planned The social and/or economic benefits of a standard should be compared with the total cost of preparing, publishing and maintaining it. The responsible committees should consider whether it is likely to be feasible to prepare the proposed standard in a technically and commercially acceptable form in time to be of use. The process of writing standards is essentially one of selection. A standard can contain only what the interested parties are prepared to agree on at the time it is written. Thus decisions are needed on when and how it is appropriate to standardize in a rapidly developing technology or to satisfy new community needs relating to safety or the environment. In areas of rapid development, the balance should be struck between inhibiting innovation by standardizing too soon and proliferating wasteful or mutually incompatible solutions by leaving standardization until too late. If the latter occurs, the cost of subsequent standardization is likely to be much greater. Standards should be reviewed at regular intervals and appropriate action taken. A standard that is not kept up to date with changing circumstances or 1 technological advance may become irrelevant 0 inhibit progress, The review procedure for British Standards is explained in 3.7 of BS O : Part 2 : 1991. 2.2.6 Standards should not be duplicated Standardization can be pursued at different levels: by individuals, firms, associations, countries, regions and worldwide. For economy of total effort, a standard should logically be prepared at the broadest level consistent with meeting the needs of interested parties within an acceptable timescale. The simultaneous preparation, at different levels, of standards on identical aspects of identical subjects should be avoided as far as practicable.

2.2 Principles of standardization

2.2.1 Summary of principles Standardization involves both preparation and use of standards. The main principles of this activity are described in the IS0 book The a i m und principles o f standardization [1 1. These piinciples may be summaiized as follows: a) standards should be wanted; b) standards should be used; e) standards should be impartial; d) standards should be planned; e) standards should not be duplicated. 2.2.2 Standards should be wanted The production of standards relies upon the willingness of all parties concerned to reach voluntary agreement among themselves for one or more stated purposes. 2.2.3 Standards should be used Application of standards relies upon the voluntary commitment required in their preparation being extended to their use. The publication of a standard is of little value if it is not applied. The intended application of a standard should be clearly understood at the start and borne i n mind throughout its preparation. Standards should be designed for ease of reference. They should be concise, clear, unambiguous and arranged and indexed to assist speedy retrieval of required information. Different types of standard are written in different ways for pai-ticular purposes, e.g. specifications for products,

4 COPYRIGHT British Standards Institution on ERC Specs and Standards Licensed by Information Handling Services

For the same reason, any standards body embarking on a new project should take care to avoid duplication of standards, existing or in preparation, under its own or any other authority. The aim of international and European standardization is the adoption as national standards of harmonized documents that ideally are identical, or at least are techriically equivalent in each country (see 4.2 of BS O : Part 2 : 1991). It is BSI policy to derive British Standards from international agreements wherever possible. The United Kingdom is represented through BSI in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) which includes the European Committee for Iron and Steel Standardization (ECISS), and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC). Brief notes on these and other international organizations concerned with Standards are given in annex A.

COPYRIGHT British Standards Institution on ERC Specs and Standards Licensed by Information Handling Services

BSI B S * O :
BS O : Part 1 : 1991

P A R T * l i 91

1624669 0 2 5 6 9 2 4 5

Section 3

Section 3. Standards and the law

3.1 Status of British Standards
3.1.1 Voluntary nature British Standards are publicly available documents voluntarily agreed as a result of processes of public consultation designed to secure public acceptance. However, the publication of a standard by BSI does not, in itself, ensure its use. Its application depends on the voluntary action of interested parties. It becomes binding if it is made mandatoiy by legislation, if a party is contracted to work to it or once a claim of compliance with it has been made, 3.1.2 Legal recognition
NOTE. See also 3.2.

3.1.5 Copyright Copyright subsists in all BSI publications, irrespective of the origins of the material they contain. No part of a British Standard may be reproduced in any form without the prior permission in writing of BSI. This does not preclude the free use, in applying a standard, of necessai-y details such as symbols and size, type or grade designations.

3.2 Contractual use of standards

A specification commonly foims part of a contract or an annex to it. The existence of relevant British Standards facilitates the preparation of contract specifications. Standards or parts of standards invoked in contracts become legally binding on the contracting parties. However, no Biitish Standard can puiport t o include all the necessary provisions of a contract. The usefulness of British Standards for contract specifications depends on how well their scope covers the needs of the contracting parties. Drafting of British Standard specifications is discussed in detail in sections 5 to 7 of BS O : Part 3 : 1991. Many British Standards contain options from which a choice has to be made when drafting a valid contraet. Some British Standards are deliberately drafted in advisory form, i.e. codes of practice, guides and recommendations. Simple reference to them in contracts is therefore insufficient to convert their provisions into contractual requirements.

Support for the application of Biitish Standards, as agreements produced and promulgated in the public interest, is given by the Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1976 [2]. Agreements to use British Standards are specifically excluded from the requirements for registration with the Director General of Fair Trading.
3.1.3 Duty of care A special duty of care is owed by BSI as the publisher of authoritative national documents. Th care exercised in the production of standards is relied upon by their users who themselves owe a similar duty to the public. It remains the responsibility of users to ensure that a particular standard is appropriate to their needs. Within their scope, national standards provide a yardstick of acceptability and may be taken into account by the coui-ts. 3.1.4 Trade descriptions A British Standard forms part of the trade description of a product when cited by number or when compliance with it is claimed. Whether or not a standard specifically requires marking with the British Standard number, manufacturei%and others will often mark their product with it. Such marking constitutes a unilateral claim that the product conforms to all the requirements of the Biitish Standard cited. The person making the claim is responsible for its accuracy under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 [3]. To support their claims, manufacturers may apply to have their products independently cei-tified as conforming to the requirements of Biitish Standard specifications. Several bodies provide third party certification in the UK. A list of members of the Association of Certification Bodies is available through BSI. Unless specifically worded to the contraiy, claims of compliance and contracts referring to particular standards (see 3.2) invoke the standards as effective at the date of the claim or contract.

3.3 Standards and regulations

3.3.1 Reference to standards Standards may be referred to in regulations to avoid the need to include detailed technical provisions in the body of the law and duplication of the task of writing technical criteria. Reference in this way does not mean delegation of responsiblity. The regulatory authoiity is entitled to cancel a reference at any time and to replace it either by another reference or by insei-tion of the necessary technical provisions into the legislation itself. 3.3.2 Strength of reference to standards Reference to standards in regulations may have one of two effects. a) Standards made mandatory. The standard or part of it referred to has to be followed, or a specific result in a standard test has to be achieved in order to obey the statutoiy requirement, i.e. the text of the standard ceases to be voluntary in the context of the legal requirement.

6 COPYRIGHT British Standards Institution on ERC Specs and Standards Licensed by Information Handling Services

B S I BS*O:

PART*l

41

Lb2Ybb4 0 2 5 6 4 2 5 7

=
BS O : Part 1 : 1991

Section 3

b) Stundurds deemed to sutisfy. Compliance with the standard is indicated as one way of fulfilling a regulatoiy requirement. Anyone choosing another route may be required to prove that the alternative solution complies with the regulation.
3.3.3 Precision of reference to standards There are three distinct ways of refei-iing to standards in regulations. a) Dated reference. A specific standard is identified in such a way that later editions of the standard are not to be applied unless the regulation is modified. The standard is usually identified by its number and year. b) Uncluted r e f w m e . A specific standard is identified in such a way that the later editions of the standard are to be applied without the need to modify the regulation. The standard is usually identified only by its number. e) General r e f e r m e . All standards of a specified body and/or in a paitieular field are designated without being identified individually. Dated reference is the usual practice in the UK, where regulations made under a number of Acts of Parliament invoke some 300 British Standards.

3.3.5 Regional implications: Europe Following acceptance by the European Community (EC) of the piinciple of reference to standards, CEN and CENELEC have undertaken to provide, using IS0 and IEC standards whenever. possible, the European Standards needed to support the EC programme of legislation for the elimination of technical barrieis to trade under Article 100 (and now Article 100a) of the Treaty of Rome [4] and for other Community objectives under the Treaty. Once a European Standard is called up in an EC directive, binding on governments in all Member States, the teims of the directive will determine its status. Within the framework of the New u p r o a c h to technical hamnonixation and stundurcls adopted by the EC Council of Ministers in 1985, directives are intended to carry only a general reference to standards that will be deemed to satisfy identified essential requirements. Once available, these standards are cited by dated reference in the

Official

JOZC??ud

of the European Communities.

3.3.4 International implications Intergoveimental bodies have endorsed the value of inteinational standards as the basis of regulations designed to overcome trade barriers. The implications of the regulatory interest have been formulated by IS0 and IEC jointly in a code of principles on reference to standards reproduced in annex B.

COPYRIGHT British Standards Institution on ERC Specs and Standards Licensed by Information Handling Services

BSI BSXO:

P A R T * L 71

m 1624667 O256726

mi
Annex A

BS O : Part 1 : 1991

Annexes
Annex A (informative) Short guide to international organizations concerned with standards
NUiE. The initiais and titles given are those used in English speaking countries. The list is not exhaustive and does not include the many trading and manufacturing associationsthat may be involved to various degrees in international standardization. An extensive list of such organizationswith their acronyms, is given in the publication Is0 Liuisons.

ACOS CISPR

Advisory Committee on Safety International Special Committee on Radio Interference. Set up under the aegis of LEC member committees and other international organizations in the electrical, broadcasting and transport fields

A. 1 Standards organizations IS0 International Organization for Standardization. Founded in 1947. Comprises national standards bodies of 75 countries and 16 correspondent membew. Over 160 technical committees, 650 subcommittees and 1500 working groups. More than 6000 IS0 standards published.

IECQ IEC Quality Assessment System for Electronic Components. Formally established in 1976, the Certification Management Committee acts as the IEC certification body for the initial approval and continuing assessment of the quality of electronic components. Its approved National Supervising Inspectorates perform surveillance duties in 15 of the 24 member countries.

IS0 Council c m m i t t e e s Executive Board. Includes responsibility for finance Technical Board CASCO Committee on conformity assessment COPOLCO Committee on consumer policy DEVCO Development Committee. Aimed at the needs of developing countries INFCO Committee on information REMCO Committee on reference materials STACO Committee on standardization principles
IS0 also provides the secretariat of the International Federation for the Application of Standards (IFAN), comprising official standards user bodies recognized by their national standards bodies.
IEC International Electrotechnical Commission. Founded in 1906. The electrotechnical counterpart of ISO. Comprises national electrotechnical committees of over 40 countries. Over 75 technical committees and 115 subcommittees. More than 1500 IEC standards published. lEC special cornmittees Committee of Action (equivalent to IS0 lkchnical Board) ACEC Advisory Committee on Electromagnetic Compatibility ACET Advisory Committee on Electronics and Telecommunications

IECEE IEC System for Conformity %sting to Standards for Safety of Electrical Equipment. Founded as CEE in 1946 but taken over by IEC in 1985. Acts as LEC certification body for domestic electrical equipment.
CEN and CENELEC CEN and CENELEC follow common rules for the preparation of European Standards (EN) for identical publication nationally, Harmonization Documents (HD) and European Prestandards (ENV), relying whenever possible on IS0 or IEC standards.

CEN European Committee for Standardization. Founded in 1961. Comprises national standards bodies of EC and EFTA countries. About 200 active technical committees.
ECISS European Committee for Iron and Steel Standardization. Steered by Coordinating Commission COCOR, operating since 1986 within the legal framework of CEN. Responsible for work on European Standards for iron and steel (formerly Euronorms). Nineteen technical committees. CENELEC European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization. Electrotechnical counterpart of CEN. Founded in 1973 from union of CENEL and CENELCOM. Comprises national electrotechnical committees of EC and EFTA countries. About 55 technical committees.

COPYRIGHT British Standards Institution on ERC Specs and Standards Licensed by Information Handling Services

BSI B S * O : Annex A

PART*:Ii

91

= Lb24bb

025b927 O

BS O : Part 1 : 1991

CECC CENELEC Electronic Components Committee. Founded in 1970 to facilitate international trade by harmonization of specification and quality assessment procedures for electronic components, and by the granting of an internationally recognized mark and/or certificate of conformity. Comprises 15 national electrotechnical committees. About 20 working groups.

A.2 Intergovernmental organizations UN (United Nations) agencies

CODEX

ECA ECE

ETSI European Telecommunications Standards Institute. Founded in 1988 at the initiative of the European Conference of Postal and Rlecommunications Administration (CEFT). A third partner with CEN and CENELEC in the preparation of standards for Europe.
ARS0 African Regional Organization for Standardization. Founded in January 1977 under the auspices of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). Membership open to the national standards bodies of African countries which are members of ECA and the Organization of African unity. ASMO Arab Organization for Standardization and Metrology. Founded in 1965 to serve as a specialized technical body for the League of Arab States in the fields of standardization, metrology and quality control. COPANT Pan American Standards Commission. Founded in 1961. Comprises national standards bodies of USA and 11Latin American countries. A coordinating organization concerned with the regional implementation of IS0 and IEC standards. PASC Pacific Area Standards Congress. Founded in 1973 to help the Pacific countries participate in international standards activities and promote closer cooperation between its members.

ECLA ESCAP FA0 GATT IAEA IL0 IMO ITU

UNCIAD UNESCO
UNIDO

WHO WMO

Codex Alimentarius Commission. Created to implement the joint FAO-WHO Food Standards Programme Economic Commission for Africa Economic Commission for Europe. Facilitates trade in Europe and notably prepares regulations associated with E mark certification scheme operating for motor vehicle equipment Economic Commission for Latin America Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific Food and Agriculture Organization General Agreement on k i f f s and Trade International Atomic Energy Agency International Labour Organization International Maritime Organization International Telecommunications Union CCIR International Radio Consultative Committee CCIIT International Rlegraph and Nephone Consultative Committee UN Conference on Trade and Development UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UN Industrial Development Organization World Health Organization World Meteorological Organization

COPYRIGHT British Standards Institution on ERC Specs and Standards Licensed by Information Handling Services

BSI B S * O :
BS O : Part 1 : 1991

P A R T S 1 91

l b 2 4 b b 9 0256928 2

Annex B

European Community (EC) There are three European Communities:

EEC

ECSC

EURATOM

European Economic Community. The Common Market founded under the Treaty of Rome, 1957. European Coal and Steel Community founded under the Paris Treaty, 1951 European Atomic Energy Community founded under a second Rome Treaty, 1957

EFTA European Free Trade Association. Founded in 1960. Present members are Austria, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Iceland and Finland.
OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Founded in 1961. Comprises European countries, USA, Canada and Japan.

EC membership comprises Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, UK. Within the framework of the three Treaties, the Communities are managed by six institutions:

0JM.L International Organization of Legal Metrology. Founded in 1955 to resolve the technical and administrative problems of legal metrology raised by the construction, use and checking of instruments of measurement and to facilitate cooperation between states in this field. Compiises 42 member states.
C G P M General Conference on Weights and Measures. Membership drawn from those 41 nations which are signatories to the Metre Convention. The Conference meets at approximately 4-year intervals. The International Committee on Weights and Measures (CIPM) is responsible for implementing decisions of the CGPM and preparing for each Conference. The International Bureau for Weights and Measures (BPM), a metrological laboratoiy under the responsibility of the CIPM, can arrange for the measurement standards of any country to be compared with internationally agreed standards.

Council of Ministers Twelve Ministers, one from each Member State, the actual Minister present depending on the subject in question. Adopts Community legislation on the basis of proposals from the Commission. Presidency held for 6 months in turn by each Member State. Assisted by a Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER). Commission The Commission of the European Communities (CEC) comprises 17 Commissioneis responsible for initiating and executing Community policy adopted by the Council of Ministers. Answerable to the European Parliament. Acts as mediator between Member States and as guardian of the Treaties. The President and Vice-presidents are appointed from the Commissioners for renewable 2-year terms. European Parliament Comprises 518 membeis holding 12 plenary sessions per year, assisted by 18 committees. Gives its opinion on Commission proposals before the Council can make its decision. All major decisions involving expenditure from the Community budget are required to be submitted to the European Parliament for approval. ECOSOC Economic and Social Committee. Compiises 189 membei-s representing employers, trade unions, consumers and other interest groups. Expresses opinion on Commission proposals. The remaining Community institutions are the Court of Justice and the Court of Auditors.
10

Annex B (informative) ISO/IEC code of principles on reference to standards

N m . The following policy statement was issued jointly by IS0 and IEC in January 1974 and is published as ISO/IEC Guide 15.

The advantages of the principles of reference to standards in legislation and regulations are by now well-known among governmental agencies. For example, a document drawn up by a group of experts of the UN Economic Commission for Europe in May 1973 makes clear that if technical requirements are expressed in standards: a) the legislative work is simplified and accelerated; b) the elimination of barriers to trade is facilitated; e) the results of the work of international standards organizations can be more easily taken into account; d) technical regulations can be changed more easily to take account of technological advance;

COPYRIGHT British Standards Institution on ERC Specs and Standards Licensed by Information Handling Services

B S I BS*O:

P A R T * % 91

1624669 0 2 5 6 9 2 9 4

Annex B

BS O : Part 1 : 1991

e) technical requirements are better obseived as technical staff are more accustomed to using standards in their daily work than laws; f) all technical regulations could be arranged within one unified systematic collection, if the method is applied consistently; g) the implementation of national technical regulations is better secured and discordances between the national standards of different countries are avoided if interested pai-ties participate in the preparation of the standards. The standards-making procedures of IS0 and IEC and their members are at the disposal of intergovernmental organizations and national goveinmental agencies wishing to use the principle of reference to standards. With a view to guiding the work of IS0 and E C and their members towards standards which can be referenced in legislation or regulations, the IS0 and IEC Councils have adopted piinciples 1 to 5 below. 1)IS0 and IEC will give special attention to work requested by intergovernmental organizations which plan to recommend enactment of national legislation or regulations making reference to standards. %rget dates for the completion of such work will be established on request. Similar piinciples will be observed by members of IS0 and IEC in relations with national governmental authorities. 2) The national committees and their delegations engaged in the relevant standardization work should be fully representative of the views of all interested parties: government, public authorities, produceix, distributors, users, etc. 3) With a view to ensuring widespread governmental acceptance of IS0 or IEC standards for reference in conjunction with legislation and regulations, IS0 and IEC technical committees will pay special attention to preparing intemational standards which have the widest possible geographical support. 4)IS0 and IEC members shall contribute to the implementation of the relevant international standard, as soon as and as far as possible, either by endeavouring to ensure the closest possible confoimity of the respective national standard with the international standard, or by conferring the appropriate status to the latter directly, within their own ten-itoiy. If deviations from the international standard are necessary, these should be indicated in the national standard, at the time of its next revision.

5) If a regional intergovernmental authority should call upon a regional standards organization for the preparation of standards to which national governments refer in conjunction with regulations, the IS0 and IEC members belonging to that regional organization shall ensure that relevant IS0 and IEC standards are taken into account in the development of a regional standard, preferably, wherever possible, by direct adoption of the IS0 or IEC standard as a regional standard. Successful application of the piinciple of reference to standards requires close collaboration between government and standards bodies. The IS0 and IEC Councils have therefore also drawn up principles 6 to 10 below, setting out certain desiderata for such collaboration. IS0 and IEC membei-s are requested to draw these to the attention of their respective governmental authorities, inviting acceptance of them. 6) When national authorities or intergovernmental organizations wishing to refer to international standards in their regulatoiy work put requests to IS0 and IEC or through member bodies for such standards, undeixtanding should be sought from the beginning on the scope of the standardization work requested. 7) In such cases the interested nadonal authorities or intergovernmental organizations should consider agreeing that during a certain period they would abstain from regulatory action which could hamper 8) The interested national authorities should be willing to offer appropriate assistance in the standardization work thus undertaken; their expei-ts are invited to participate in the work together with the other delegates and should be willing to envisage any appropriate modifications of their national legislation or regulations in the field in question. 9) Wherever international standards exist, national authorities and intergovernmental organizations should refer thereto in their regulatory texts either directly or through haimonized national standards. 10) National and intemational standards are revised in the light of experience and technical progress. When choosing among the various techniques of reference to standards it is desirable that government.al authorities adopt a technique which will take advantage of these revisions with the least delay.

COPYRIGHT British Standards Institution on ERC Specs and Standards Licensed by Information Handling Services

11

BSI B S * O :

PART*II

9%

II624669 O256930 O W

BS O : Part 1 : 1991

List of references (see 1.2)

Normatiye references
BSI standards publications
BRITISH STANDARDS 1NS"UTION. London

BSO: A stundurd f o r stundards Guide to BSI committee proceclures BS O : Part 2 : 1991 Guide to druftiry und presentation of B?<tish Stundurds BS O : Part 3 ; 1991 BS 4778 : Quality vocabulury BS 4778 : Part 1 : 1987 International terms BS 4778 : Pait 2 : 1991 Quulity concepts ctnd reluted definitions Glossu?y of t mf o r stundurdizution und related activities BS EN 45020 : 1991

Informative references
IS0 and IEC standards publications
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR STANDARDIZATIOK (ISO) a n d INTERNATIONAL ELECTRCYECHNICALCOMMISSION ( E C ) , Geneva. (Ail publications are available from BSI Sales.)

IEC/ISO Directives - Part 3 : 1989 Drafting und presentation of International Standards ISO/IEC Guide 15 : 1977 LSO/IEC code of principles o n 'reference to studurds' IS0 Liuisons 1991
CEN and CENELEC standards publications
EUROPEAN COMhUlTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION (CEE) and EGROPEAK C O ~ ~ FOR ~ ELECROTECHNCAL E E STANDARDIZATION (CENELEC), Brussels. (AU publications are available from BSI Sales.)

CENKENELEC Internal Regulations Part 2 : 1990 Common mclesf o r standards w w k CENZENELEC Internal Regulations Part 3 : 1990Rulesf o r the druftiry und presentation o f European Standards Other references [1 1 SANDERS, T.R.B. ed. ir7ze aims und principles o f stunclardixution. Geneva: International Organization for Standardization (ISO), 1972. [2] GREAT BRITAIN. Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1976. London, HMSO. [3] GREAT BRITAIN. Trade Descriptions Act 1968. London, "30.

[4] EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES. Treaties establishing the European Communities; Treaties amending these Treaties; Single European Act. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 1987.

COPYRIGHT British Standards Institution on ERC Specs and Standards Licensed by Information Handling Services

BSI B S * O :

P A R T * i I 91 W i1624669 0256933 2 M

BS o : Part 1 : I991

BSP - British Standards Institution

BSI is the independent national body responsible for preparing British Standards. It presents the UK view on standards in Europe and at the international level. It is incorporated by Royal Charter.
Contract requirements

A Biitish Standard does not purport to include all the necessaiy provisions of a contract. Users of British Standards are responsible for their correct application.
Revisions

British Standards are updated by amendment or revision. Users of British Standards should make sure that they possess the latest amendments or editions. Any person who finds an inaccuracy or ambiguity while using this British Standard should notify BSI without delay so that the matter may be investigated swiftly.

BSI offers members an individual updating seivice called PLUS which ensures that subsci.ibers automatically receive the latest editions of standards.
Buying British Standards

Orders for all British Standard publications should be addressed to the Sales Depaihnent at Milton Keynes.
Information on standards

BSI provides a wide range of information on national, European and international standards through its Libraiy, the Standardline Database, the BSI Information Technology Service (BITS) and its Technical Help to Exporters Service. Contact Customer Information at Milton Keynes: -1: 0908 221166. Subscribingmembers of BSI are kept up to date with standards developments and receive substantial discounts on the purchase price of standards. For details of these and other benefits contact the Manager, Membership Development at Milton Keynes: B I : 0908 220022.
Copyright

Copyright subsists in all BSI publications. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the prior permission in writing of BSI. This does not preclude the free use, in the course of implementing the standard, of details such as symbols and size, type or grade designations. Enquiries about copyright should be made to the Copyright Manager, Publications at Milton Keynes.

BSI 2 Park treet London W1A 2B BSI Linford Wood Milton Keynes MK14 6LE
9110- 2- 6k- B

OW13

COPYRIGHT British Standards Institution on ERC Specs and Standards Licensed by Information Handling Services