IEC - certificate
Search green products
Search green companies
IEC - certificate
How we work
The Standardisation Management Board is responsible for the overall management of the technical work.
The standards work of the Commission is carried out through technical committees and subcommittees, composed of representatives of the Full Member National Committees, each dealing with a particular subject.
Technical committees are created or disbanded by the Standardization Management Board (SMB). They may delegate part of their scopes to subcommittees, in accordance with the Directives.
Each technical committee has a chairman and a secretariat, both appointed by the SMB amongst representatives of Full Member National Committees.
Project management
The programme of work of a technical committee or subcommittee comprises all projects allocated to that technical committee or subcommittee, including maintenance of published standards.
In establishing its programme of work, each technical committee or subcommittee shall consider sectoral planning requirements as well as requests for International Standards initiated by sources outside the technical committee, i.e. other technical committees, advisory groups of the technical management board, policy level committees and organizations outside ISO and IEC.
Projects shall be within the agreed scope of the technical committee. Their selection shall be subject to close scrutiny in accordance with the policy objectives and resources of ISO and IEC.
Each project in the programme of work shall be given a number and shall be retained in the programme of work under that number until the work on that project is completed or its deletion has been agreed upon. The technical committee or subcommittee may subdivide a number if it is subsequently found necessary to subdivide the project itself. The subdivisions of the work shall lie fully within the scope of the original project; otherwise, a new work item proposal shall be made.
The programme of work shall indicate, if appropriate, the subcommittee and/or working group or project team to which each project is allocated.
The agreed programme of work of a new technical committee shall be submitted to the technical management board for approval.
Target dates
The technical committee or subcommittee shall establish, for each project on its programme of work, target dates for the completion of each of the following steps:
- completion of the first working draft (in the event that only an outline of a working document has been provided by the originator of the new work item proposal);
- circulation of the first committee draft;
- circulation of the enquiry draft;
- circulation of the final draft International Standard (in agreement with the office of the CEO);
- publication of the International Standard (in agreement with the office of the CEO).
The following time limits may be used as guidance when establishing target dates (following approval of the work item):
- availability of working draft (if not supplied with the proposal): 6 months
- availability of committee draft: 12 months
- availability of enquiry draft: 24 months
- availability of approval draft: 33 months
- availability of published standard: 36 months
All target dates shall be kept under continuous review and amended as necessary, and shall be clearly indicated in the programme of work. Revised target dates shall be notified to the technical management board. The technical management board will cancel all work items which have been on the work programme for more than 5 years and have not reached the approval stage.
Additional Information
- trademark: "International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)" / Switzerland /