05/03/2024

ISO/IEC Directives Part 2 (Edition 9.0, 2021) –

Principles and rules for the structure and drafting of
ISO and IEC documents
“How to write a document of international standard technically?”

Prepared for:
Kompetisi Standardisasi Tingkat Nasional SMA/SMK 2024
Jakarta, March 5th, 2024

By: Putri Irvanna, Standardization analyst – BSN

putri.irvanna@bsn.go.id

Overview
Introduction How to write?
• ISO/IEC Directives Part 2 at a glance • Language used
• The content of ISO/IEC Directives Part 2 • Verbal expression
• Examples of international standards • Structures
• Definition of Standard • Title
• Categorizing standards • Table of contents
• Stages of ISO standard development • Foreword
• International harmonized stage codes • Introduction
• Principles of Developing Standards • Scope
• Normative reference
• Bibliography
• Terms and definition
• Writing numbers
• Quality requirements
• Test methods
• Annexes
• Online browsing platform (OBP)

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Introduction

ISO/IEC Directives Part 2 at a glance

Providing detailed drafting and editorial rules for

ISO and IEC standard documents.

Common principles and rules to ensure that the

documents are drafted clearly, precisely and
unambiguously.

Prepared by the ISO/IEC Joint Directives

Maintenance Team (JDMT) and approved by the
ISO Technical Management Board (ISO/TMB) and
the IEC Standardization Management Board
(IEC/SMB).

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The content of ISO/IEC Directives Part 2

General principles Subdivisions of the document
• Objective of standardization • Title
• Principles • Foreword
• Organization and subdivision of the • Introduction
subject matter • Scope
• Verbal forms for expressions of • Normative references
provisions • Terms and definitions
• Language, spelling, abbreviated terms, • Symbols and abbreviated terms
style and basic reference works • Measurement and test methods
• Numbers, quantities, units and values • Marking, labelling and packaging
• Referencing • Annexes
• Bibliography

The content of ISO/IEC Directives Part 2 (2)

Components of the text Policy

• Clauses and subclauses • Patent rights
• Lists • Use of trade names and trademarks
• Notes • Copyright
• Examples • Aspects of conformity assessment
• Footnotes • Aspects of quality management
• Mathematical formulae systems, reliability and sampling
• Figures • Management Standards (MS) and
• Tables management systems standards (MSS)

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Examples of international standards

Definition of Standard
“Document established by consensus Multi-stakeholders

and approved by a recognized body Must have relevance

that provides for common and repeated use,

Relevance & Frequency
rules, guidelines or characteristics for activities

or their results aimed at achieving

the optimum degree of order Benefits/Value creation

in a given context”

(ISO/IEC Guide 2:2004, clause 3.2)

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Categorizing standards
Dimension systems – e.g. paper formats, threads, classification systems.
- IEC 60904-9:2020, Photovoltaic devices - Part 9: Classification of solar simulator
characteristics
Performance – e.g. breaking strength, energy performance, safety, ergonomics,
noise.
- ISO/TR 7015:2023, Ergonomics — The application of ISO/TR 12295, ISO 11226,
the ISO 11228 series and ISO/TR 23476 in the construction sector (civil
construction)
Methods/testing – e.g. test schemes, chemical analysis, documentation of
performance.
- IEC 62893-2:2017, Charging cables for electric vehicles of rated voltages up to
and including 0,6/1 kV – Part 2: Test methods
Management systems – e.g. quality, risk, energy or environmental management.
- ISO 50001:2018, Energy management systems – Requirements with
guidance for use

Categorizing standards (2)

Symbols – e.g. pictograms, symbols for machines.
- ISO 11532:2018, Aircraft ground equipment — Graphical symbols
Terminology – e.g. definitions of main terms within different fields.
- ISO/IEC TR 20000-10:2016, Information technology — Service management —
Part 10: Concepts and terminology
Products – e.g. toys, electrical equipment, construction products.
- ISO 80601-2-67:2020, Medical electrical equipment — Part 2-67: Particular
requirements for basic safety and essential performance of oxygen-conserving
equipment
“Basic” standards – e.g. SI units (International System for units).
ISO 80000-1:2022 Quantities and units — Part 1: General

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Stages of ISO standard development

https://www.iso.org/deliverables-all.html

International harmonized stage codes

https://www.iso.org/
stage-codes.html

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Principles of Developing Standards

• Planning and preparation
– outline
• Aim-oriented approach
– The choice of characteristics to be standardized depends on the aims of the
document
• Fitness for implementation as a regional or national standard
– The content of a document shall be written so that it can be applied and
adopted without change as a regional or national standard
• Performance principle
– Whenever possible, requirements shall be expressed in terms of
performance
• Verifiability
– Requirements shall be objectively verifiable

Principles of Developing Standards (2)

• Consistency
– The structure of document, identical wording, same terminology
• Avoidance of duplication and unnecessary deviations
– Documents should avoid duplication.
– Referencing for available standards
• Accommodation of more than one product size
– Only sizes that are likely to be in international use in the reasonably
foreseeable future
• Characteristics not specified in a document
– A standard may list characteristics that can be chosen freely by the
supplier. The characteristics chosen shall be stated, e.g., a nameplate, label
or accompanying document.
– Not applicable in the case of health and safety requirements

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How to write?

Plain & clear language

Standards shall be written with the reader in mind,

clearly and concisely. Key terms, which are not self-
understood, shall be defined, use of vague expressions
and synonyms shall be avoided.

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Plain & clear language (2)

Before After

Verbal expression [IMPORTANT]

The following verbal forms are used in ISO documents:
• Requirements – shall, shall not
• Recommendations – should, should not
• Permission – may, may not
• Possibility and capability – can, cannot
• External constraint – must

Note:
• Be clear about what is a requirement and what is a recommendation or other type of statement.
• “May not” is ambiguous. Alternatively, it can be written to state what is permitted, or as a
requirement/recommendation not to do something.
• External constraint: constraints or obligations defined outside the document
• Do not use "must" as an alternative for "shall".

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Verbal expression (2)

Examples
ISO 14067:2018 Greenhouse gases — Carbon footprint of products — Requirements
and guidelines for quantification

O = Requirements (mandatory/compulsory)
O = Permission (optional)
O = Recommendation (optional)

Verbal expression (3)

Examples
ISO 20245:2017 Cross-border trade of second-hand goods

O = Requirements (mandatory/compulsory)
O = Permission (optional)
O = Recommendation (optional)

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Structures: Main divisions

Structures: Major subdivisions of a document

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Structures: Fixed structure of a standard

All documents must start with the following fixed structure:

1 Scope
2 Normative references
3 Terms and definitions

Structures: Fixed structure of a standard (2)

Usual case vs empty clauses

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Structures: Fixed structure of a standard (3)

Usual case vs empty clauses

Structures: Title
Maximum of three elements:
(1) Introductory
(2) Main
(3) Complementary

ISO 26000, Guidance on social responsibility

(2)
ISO 9001, Quality management systems – Requirements
(1) (2)
ISO 10218-2, Robots and robotic devices – Safety requirements for industrial robots –
(1) (2)
Part 2: Robot systems and integration
(3)

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Structures: Table of contents

Generated automatically to three levels

Structures: Foreword

Generic text

Copyright and
patent
information

Specific text

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Structures: Introduction
• Optional but encouraged
• Background information or commentary
• Concise; don’t duplicate the Scope
• No requirements (‘shall’)
• Patent rights
Background information

Structures: Introduction (2)

Patent information

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Structures: Scope
• Mandatory element, explains what the standard does • Concise
• Applicability of the standard
• Only uses statements of fact
• No requirements, recommendations or permissions

O: ‘establishes’. ‘specifies’, ‘gives guidelines for’, ‘defines terms’

O: Applicability

Introduction vs Scope

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Structures: Normative references

• Clause 2 is always for normative references
• References not cited normatively listed in the Bibliography
• Normally ISO and IEC documents (see ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2, 10.2)
• Only publicly available documents
• ‘There are no normative references in this document.’

Structures: Normative references (2)

In-text citation:

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Structures: Normative references (3)

Other standards1- 4 (or parts of them) are incorporated and have to be used in
conjunction with standard0. They constitute requirements of standard0.

Structures: Normative references (4)

‘Documents referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of the standard.’

‘shall’:

or equivalent normative language:

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Structures: Dated/undated references

ISO 8351-2: non-specific undated reference to the complete document

ISO 8351-1:1994: reference to a specific element (Clause 9) in a specific edition (1994)

Rule applies to both normative (Clause 2) and informative (Bibliography) references

Structures: Bibliography
Bibliographies are normally
structured in numerical order:
• ISO standards followed by other
international standards
• Regional standards
• National standards
• Literature references

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Structures: Bibliography (2)

• Documents that provide additional/background information
• Guidelines for bibliographic references in ISO 690, Information and documentation —
Guidelines for bibliographic references and citations to information resources
• Avoid listing too many references
• Be consistent in how you cite references in the text

Normative reference vs Bibliography

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Structures: Terms and definition

• Clause 3 is always for Terms and definitions
• Classify according to hierarchy of concepts, if possible
• Define terms that are necessary for the understanding of the document (i.e. used
in the document, not self-explanatory or common dictionary terms)

Best practice for vocabularies and terminologies available at:

https://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink/Open/18570065

Structures: Terms and definition (2)

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Structures: Terms and definition (3)

Structures: Terms and definition (4)

Definitions replace the term in context:

‘Determine the time necessary for 90% of the kernels to pass from their
natural state to the gel state, t90, for rice kernels during cooking.’

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Structures: Symbols, abbreviated terms and notation

Structures: Writing numbers

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Structures: Quality requirements

Example
ISO/IEC 7816-3:2006, Identification cards — Integrated circuit cards — Part 3:
Cards with contacts — Electrical interface and transmission protocols

Table 1 — Electrical characteristics of VCC under normal operating conditions

Structures: Test methods

Example
ISO/IEC 10373-3:2018, Identification cards — Test methods — Part 3: Integrated
circuit cards with contacts and related interface devices

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Structures: Test methods (2)

Structures: Test methods (3)

(See 4.7.1)

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Structures: Annexes
How an annex is referenced in the main body of the document determines
whether it is normative or informative.

Structures: Annexes (2)

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Structures: Annexes (3)

Structures: Annexes (4)

Informative annexes can contain requirements – they apply if the user applies that annex

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Online browsing platform (OBP)

https://www.iso.org/obp

Online browsing platform (OBP) (2)

• Publicly accessible repository of front sections of ISO standards:
- Table of contents
- Foreword
- Introduction
- Scope
- Normative references
- Terms and definitions
- Bibliography
• Search by:
- Standards
- terms and definitions
- graphical symbols
- country codes
• Various filters (by language, committee, publication year, etc.)

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Additional literatures
Template
https://www.iso.org/iso-templates.html
https://www.iec.ch/standards-development/writing-and-formatting#template

Good practice in Drafting and Editing IEC Standards

https://www.iec.ch/system/files/2020-07/Drafting_and_editing.pdf

ISO Drafting made efficient

https://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink/fetch/2000/2122/4230767/ISO_Drafting_made_efficient.pdf?n
odeid=21826159&vernum=-2

The ISO House Style: the ISO best drafting practice

(including plain language guidance)
https://www.iso.org/ISO-house-style.html

How to write standards – ISO YouTube Channel

https://youtu.be/PozCvQO9X1A?feature=shared

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