How does the ISO standards development process work?

ISO standards are developed according to the principles of industry-wide, voluntary consensus. This means the views of all interested parties are taken into account, including manufacturers, vendors and users, consumer groups, testing laboratories, governments, engineering professionals, and research organizations. Because the development process is industry-wide, standards are created to satisfy industries and customers worldwide. And because the process is voluntary, international standardization is market-driven and therefore based on voluntary involvement of all interests in the marketplace.

There are actually six stages within the ISO standards development process which can be summed up in three main phases: the new work item phase, the consensus-building phase, and the formal approval section.

The need for a standard is usually expressed by an industry sector, which communicates this need to a national member body. This body then proposes the new work item to ISO as a whole. Once the need for an international standard has been recognized and formally agreed upon, the first phase of development focuses on defining the technical scope of the future standard. This phase is usually carried out in working groups which comprise technical experts from countries interested in the subject matter.

Once agreement has been reached on which technical aspects are to be covered in the standard, the second phase is entered: Countries negotiate the detailed specifications within the standard. This is the consensus-building phase.

The final phase culminates in the formal approval of the resulting draft International Standard – this must be approved by two-thirds of the ISO members that have participated actively in the standards development process, and by 75 % of all members that vote). Finally, the agreed-upon text is published as an ISO International Standard.