Important terms and definitions in the field of standardization

Important terms and definitions in the field of standardization used in the "Rules for National Standardization Activities" in accordance with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations, ISO/IEC Directives and BDS EN 45020:2007

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 implementing standards.
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.

International standardization

standardization in which involvements is open to relevant bodies from all countries

Regional standardization

standardization in which involvement is open to relevant bodies from only one geographical, political or economic area of the world

National standardization

standardization that takes place at the level of one specific country

Subject of standardization

topic to be standardized
NOTE 1: The expression "product, process or service" has been adopted to encompass the subject of standardization in a broad sense, and should be understood equally to cover, for example, any material, component, equipment, system, interface, protocol, procedure, function, method or activity.
NOTE 2: Standardization may be limited to particular aspects of any subject. For example, in the case of shoes, criteria could be standardized separately for sizes and durability.

Field of standardization

domain of standardization (deprecated) group of related subjects of standardization

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 opinions
NOTE: Consensus need not imply unanimity.

Normative document

document that provides rules, guidelines or characteristics for activities or their results
NOTE 1: The term "normative document" is a generic term that covers such documents as standards, technical specifications, codes of practice and regulations.
NOTE 2: A "document" is to be understood as any medium with information recorded on or in it.
NOTE 3: The terms for different kinds of normative documents are defined considering the document and its content as a single entity.

Standard

document, established by consensus and approved by a recognized body, that provides, for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for activities or their results, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context
NOTE: Standards should be based on the consolidated results of science, technology and experience, and aimed at the promotion of optimum community benefits.

Regulation

document providing binding legislative rules, that is adopted by an authority

Reference to standards (in regulations)

reference to one or more standards in place of detailed provisions within a regulation

Mandatory standard

standard the application of which is made compulsory by virtue of a general low or exclusive reference in a regulation

Standards body

standardizing body recognized at national, regional or international level, that has as a principal function, by virtue of its statutes, the preparation, approval or adoption of standards that are made available to the public

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
NOTE: Bulgarian Institute for Standardization (BDS) is the national standards body of Republic of Bulgaria, member of the international and European standards organizations.

BDS Technical Board (BDS/BT)

BDS technical body that manages, coordinates and supports the technical work on standardization

BDS Technical Committee (BDS/TC)/BDS Project Committee (BDS/PC)

BDS working body that is responsible for a specified area of standardization

BDS Standing Working Group (TC/SWG)

working body with activities in more narrow standardization area in the frames of BDS Technical Committee

Task Working Group (TWG)

working body of competent experts that is set up by BDS/TC or BDS/TB for execution of particular task

Stakeholder

person or organization with activities in Republic of Bulgaria interested in a specific area of the standardization and supporting the standardization activities

Standards programme

working schedule of a standards body that lists its current items of standardization work

Standards project

specific work item within a standards Programme

New Work Item (NWI)

item of work in a work programme of a standards body which execution leads to the creation of a new, amended or revised standard or standardization document

Proposal for a new work item (NWIP)

proposal for the preparation of a standard or a series of related standards in the field covered by an existing committee (such as a technical committee) of the organization to which the proposal is made

Proposal for a new field of technical activity

proposal for the preparation of (a) standard(s) in a field that is not covered by an existing committee (such as a technical committee, subcommittee or project committee) of the organization to which the proposal is made

Reference document

document submitted for enquiry through the questionnaire procedure or for discussion in a technical body for adoption as a CEN/CENELEC publication

International Standard (ISO/IEC)

standard that is adopted by an International Standardizing/Standards Organization (ISO, IEC and ITU etc.) and made available to the public

European Standard (EN)

standard adopted by European Standards Organization (CEN, CENELEC and ETSI) and carrying with it an obligation of implementation as an identical national standard and withdrawal of conflicting national standards

Harmonization Document (HD)

CENELEC standard that carries with it the obligation to be implemented at national level, at least by public announcement of the HD number and title and by withdrawal of any conflicting national standards

Harmonized standard (in the context of the New Approach directives)

European standard developed by a recognized European Standards Organization CEN, CENELEC or ETSI, following a request from the European Commission to one of these organizations
NOTE 1: The references of harmonized standards must be published in the Official Journal of the European Union
NOTE 2: Manufacturers, other economic operators, or conformity assessment bodies can use harmonized standards to demonstrate that products, services, or processes comply with relevant EU legislation.

National standard

standard that is adopted by a national standards body and made available to the public

Bulgarian standard (BDS)

standard adopted by the Bulgarian Institute for Standardization and made available to the public

NOTE: Bulgarian standards are:

• Bulgarian standards developed at national level (BDS);
• Bulgarian standard implementing European standard (BDS EN, BDS HD, BDS EN ISO, BDS ETS, BDS ETSI);
• Bulgarian standard implementing International Standard (BDS ISO, BDS IEC, BDS ISO/IEC);
• Bulgarian standard implementing foreign national standard under certain conditions according to an agreement

Standardization Document (SD)

document that is adopted and/or published by Standards Organization that is publicly available, but without statute of a national standard
NOTE: Standardization documents are Technical Specification, Publicly Available Specification, Technical Report, Guide and Workshop Agreement

Technical Specification (TS)

document that is adopted by a standards body for which at preset:

• the required support for approval as a standard cannot be obtained;
• there is doubt on whether consensus could be achieved;
• the subject matter is still under development;
• or there are other reasons preventing its adoption as a standard

BDS Technical Specification (CD BDS/TS)

technical specification adopted by BDS
NOTE: BDS Technical Specification is not allowed to conflict with an existing Bulgarian standard.

Publicly Available Specification (PAS)

document published by ISO or IEC to respond to urgent market needs, representing either by:

• a consensus of organizations external to ISO or IEC, or

• a consensus of experts within a working group

  NOTE 1: A Publicly Available Specification is not allowed to conflict with an existing International Standard.
  NOTE 2: Competing Publicly Available Specifications on the same subject are permitted.

Technical Report (TR)

document adopted by standards body containing informative material, not suitable to be published as a standard or a technical specification

BDS Technical Report (CD BDS/TR)

document adopted by BDS containing informative material, not suitable to be published as a Bulgarian standard or a Bulgarian technical specification

Guide (GD)

document adopted by standards body, giving orientation, advices or recommendations on standardization principles and policies and guidance for standards development

BDS Guide

document adopted by BDS, giving orientation, advices or recommendations on standardization principles and policies and guidance for development of Bulgarian standards

Workshop Agreement (IWA, CWA)

document developed by a workshop (organized by International (only ISO) or European CEN/CENELEC Standards Body) in a way different from the work in Technical Committee and adopted by consensus by identified individuals and organizations that participate in the workshop

Amendment

document that modifies a standard or standardization document through agreed modification, adding or removing certain parts of the technical content

Corrigendum

document which corrects misprints, stylistic errors and other similar errors in the text of a published standard or a standardization document

Conflicting national standard

national standard with the same scope and area of application as EN (and HD for CENELEC) including requirements, which conflict with the requirements of the EN (and HD for CENELEC)

Special national condition

national characteristic or practice that cannot be changed over a long period, e.g. climatic conditions, electrical earthling conditions
NOTE: If it affects harmonization, it forms part of the EN (and HD for CENELEC).

A-deviation

national deviation from an EN (and HD for CENELEC) due to regulations the alteration of which is for the time being outside the competence of the CEN/CENELEC national member

Standstill

Аn obligation accepted by the members of CEN/CENELEC not to take any action for developing a new national standard or revising an existing national standard, either during the preparation of a European standard (EN) (or Harmonization Document (HD) for CENELEC) with the same scope or after its approval that could prevent expected harmonization.

Date of ratification (dor)

date when the Technical Board notes the approval of an EN (and HD for CENELEC), from which time the standard may be said to be approved

Date of availability (dav)

date when the definitive text in the official language versions of an approved CEN/CENELEC publication is distributed by CEN/CENELEC Management Centre

Date of announcement (doa)

latest date by which the existence of an EN (and HD for CENELEC), a TS or a CWA has to be announced at national level

Date of publication (dop)

latest date by which an EN has to be implemented at national level by publication of an identical national standard or by endorsement

Date of withdrawal (dow)

latest date by which national standards conflicting with an EN (and HD for CENELEC) have to be withdrawn

Definitive text

text distributed by CEN/CENELEC Management Centre after approval of the respective CEN/CENELEC publication

Normative element (in a standard)

element that describes the scope of the document or sets out provisions

Informative element

preliminary informative element, supplementary informative element

Provision

requirement, recommendation or statement in normative document
NOTE: For the expression of different provisions particular verbal forms are used.

Requirement

expression in the content of a document conveying criteria to be fulfilled if compliance with the document is to be claimed and from which no deviation is permitted

Recommendation

expression in the content of a document conveying that among several possibilities one is recommended as particularly suitable, without mentioning or excluding others, or that a certain course of action is preferred but not necessarily required, or that (in the negative form) a certain possibility or course of action is deprecated but not prohibited

Statement

expression in the content of a document conveying information

State of the art

developed stage of technical capability at a given time as regards products, processes and services, based on the relevant consolidated findings of science, technology and experience