International Standards
According to ISO/IEC Guide 2:2004 – Standardization and related activities: General vocabulary, a standard is defined as a document that is established by consensus and approved by a recognized body.
This means it is not created by a single individual or organization in isolation, but through agreement among relevant experts, stakeholders, or industry representatives, ensuring that it reflects broad and balanced input.
The document is designed for common and repeated use, implying that it is intended to be applied consistently over time and across different users, products, services, or systems.
A standard provides rules, guidelines, or characteristics—which can relate to processes, materials, measurements, design, performance, terminology, or any element relevant to the subject it covers.
These provisions are aimed at achieving the optimum degree of order in a given context, whether technical, industrial, or social.
In essence, the purpose of standardization is to foster consistency, quality, interoperability, safety, and efficiency, while also facilitating international trade and regulatory compliance.
🏅By establishing clear expectations and requirements, standards help reduce variability, minimize misunderstandings, and ensure that systems and components work together reliably.
- Standards help to make life simpler and to increase the reliability and the effectiveness of many goods and services we use;
- Standards are created by bringing together the experience and expertise of all interested parties such as the producers, sellers, buyers, users and regulators of a particular material, product, process or service;
- Standards are designed for voluntary use and do not impose any regulations. However, laws and regulations may refer to certain standards and make compliance with them compulsory;
- "Voluntary Standards” become mandatory only when they are incorporated into contracts; or they are referenced or adopted by government agencies as part of a regulation to protect public health, safety, and the environment;
- The difference between a standard and a technical regulation lies in compliance. While conformity with standards is voluntary, technical regulations are by nature mandatory.