Products available from BSI fall into three broad categories:
- Standards products (publications developed and approved by BSI committees)
- Non-standards products (guides, training materials and electronic products)
- Joint products (combinations of standards and non-standards).
There are many types of standards products available. Definitions of standards product types can be found below.
National standards
1. British Standards (BS and CP)
There are five types of British Standard defined in BS 0:
- Specifications
- Methods
- Guides
- Vocabularies
- Codes of Practice.
These all carry the prefix BS and all have the same status and authority.
In the past, Codes of Practice had a different prefix, CP. Over the years they have been renumbered as BS in the 8000 series. However, there are still about 20 current codes that carry the old CP designation. Most are obsolescent – which means they can still be used but are no longer being maintained by a BSI committee.
2. Draft Standards (DPC)
When a BSI committee has agreed a draft of a standard, it is published as a Draft for Public Comment (designated as a DPC) and sold at a low price. People can then buy the draft and send any comments to the relevant committee for them to consider before finalising the standard. The comment period is usually six months, after which the DPC is withdrawn.
3. Drafts for Development (DD)
Occasionally, a committee is unsure as to the suitability of a standard and it is published as a DD. This means it does not have the same status and authority as a BS. People can use the DD as they would a standard but are invited to feed comments back to the committee over a longer time period than a normal DPC. The intention is that the DD will eventually be withdrawn and replaced by a BS, but there is no set time period in which this must occur (DD 2 was published in 1971 and has never been upgraded to a full BS).
Some DDs are simply published as implementations ISO, IEC, CEN or CENELEC Technical Specifications (TS).
4. Published Documents (PD)
This is a catch-all category for standards-type documents that do not have the same status as a BS. Some PDs are adoptions of CEN, CENELEC, ISO or IEC publications that are themselves not standards (e.g. Technical Reports). Others are derived from British Standards that conflict with ENs but are still needed by industry (e.g. PD 5500: Pressure vessels). Others are developed by national committees but for one reason or another do not go through the whole development process in strict conformity with BS.
5. Publicly Available Specifications (PAS)
A Publicly Available Specification (PAS) is a standard developed by BSI British Standards commissioned by an external organization. Such external bodies have included, UK Government, trade associations and private companies.
6. Amendments (AMD)
Standards are supposed to be reviewed every five years. This results in confirmation that they are still satisfactory, or the publication of a revision (which retains the old number, but has a new publication date). However, between revisions it is sometimes necessary to issue amendments. These are notified in Update Standards and given an AMD number.
BSI no longer publishes amendments separately, but immediately edits them into the relevant standards, with the changes indicated by side lining. The BSs are then issued as new editions (incorporating AMD X). If the amendment is fairly substantial, any customer wanting to buy it will be sold the new edition at the normal price. If it is only minor, it would not be justifiable to charge for it, so any customer asking for it will be sent the new edition of the standard free of charge.
Adopted publications - International
7. International standards (ISO, IEC, ISO/IEC)
As a member of ISO and IEC, BSI has the option of adopting any international standard as a British Standard but does not have to do so. These are then republished as BS ISO, BS IEC or BS ISO/IEC (some standards are developed jointly by the two organizations by Joint Technical Group 1 – JTC1). ISO and IEC standards are routinely adopted as BSs unless:
- BSI voted against them when they were being developed
- the subject is irrelevant to the UK.
Other international publications
BSI has the option of adopting other types of international publications that do not have the status of full standards; however, we rarely do so. These are:
8. International Workshop Agreements (IWA)
There is a procedure in ISO for a group of interested parties to get together in a workshop to agree a ‘standard’ without going through the normal committee process or comment period. This agreement is then published by ISO but cannot claim to represent the views of anyone except the participants in the workshop. BSI could theoretically adopt these in the same way as they adopt a standard. This procedure has only been used a couple of times, but this may increase in future.
9. International Technical Agreements (ITA)
This is the IEC version of the IWA. There are none at present.
10. ISO Technical Report (ISO/TR)
These are purely informative documents and do not function as standards. If BSI adopted one it would become a PD.
11. ISO/IEC Technical Specifications (TS)
This is a document representing the technical consensus of a Technical Committee but does not require the full consensus of an international standard. They require the support of two thirds of the participating members.
There are two types of TS:
- ‘Pre-standardization’ publications, where the subject is still under development or it is known from the beginning that a standard will not be possible to attain at this stage
- TSs that were developed as standards but failed to secure sufficient support at the FDIS stage. BSI would adopt a TS as a Draft for Development (DD).
12. ISO Publicly Available Specification (ISO PAS)
These are documents that represent a consensus within an ISO working group, but not the full consensus of a standard or even the degree of consensus required for a TS (e.g. they can be passed by a simple majority of participating members, rather than a two-thirds majority).
In IEC a PAS may also be a ‘dual logo’ standard developed in collaboration with an external organization (for example, one of the American standards bodies, such as IEEE).
13. Draft International Standard (DIS)
This is the inquiry draft of an ISO standard equivalent to BSI’s Draft for Public Comment (DPC). BSI commonly publishes them as DPCs, but may simply distribute them at the same price as an equivalent DPC.
14. Final Draft Standard (FDIS)
When all the comments on a DIS have been considered a final draft is circulated to ISO members for vote. This draft, the FDIS, is not usually sold to customers – ISO 9000:2000 was a rare exception.
15. Technical Corrigenda
ISO and IEC issue corrigenda to correct drafting or printing errors in standards, Technical Specifications or Publicly Available Specifications, if the error affects the understanding of the publication. They are published as separate documents. BSI commonly edits them into the national adoption for the UK and issues a new edition, as we would do with an amendment.
16. Amendments
An amendment is published to add to the previously agreed provisions of a standard. They are published as separate documents but BSI incorporates them in national adoptions for the UK and reissues the adopted standard as a new edition.
Adopted publications - European
17. European Standards (BS ENs)
As a member of CEN and CENELEC, BSI is obliged to adopt all European Standards and to withdraw any UK national standards that might conflict with them (this is why we sometimes change the status of a standard from BS to PD if we want to keep it on the market). They are published in the UK as BS EN.
18. European Draft Standard (prEN)
This is the European equivalent of a DPC or a DIS. It is published by BSI as a DPC.
19. Ratified Text
This is the final text produced by CEN or CENELEC and sent to members for publishing as a national standard (BS EN). Although it is an administrative document, we have sold ratified texts in the past, because of publishing delays.
20. European Pre-standard ENV
These were similar to BSI’s Draft for Development. They were used in areas where a technology was still changing. It was not necessary to withdraw any conflicting national standards. They have been replaced by Technical Specifications.
21. Technical Specifications (TS)
This is a ‘standard’ which failed to achieve sufficient support to be ratified, but is still useful. They often refer to rapidly evolving technologies or to subjects where full consensus could not be obtained but may be achieved in the future when there is experience of the TS in use.
22. Technical Report
Document adopted by CEN/CENELEC containing informative material not suitable to be published as a European standard or a technical specification.
23. Guide
This is a publication by CEN or CENELEC relating to standardization principles or practice. They are often free of charge.
24. Harmonization Document (HD)
These are only issued by CENELEC and have fallen into disuse. They have the status of standards and require the withdrawal of conflicting national standards.
Correspondences
There are no exact correspondences between the different types of publication at national, European and international level, because of differences in their exact definitions.
