IET Standards Committee. Governance. IET Standards Committee Remit. IET Standards Committee Constitution

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1 IET Standards Committee Governance The IET is governed by a Board of Trustees, to which report five committees and Council. In addition, two main boards Knowledge Management Board and Membership and Professional Development Board manage the activities of the Institution with support from sub-committees, one of which is the IET Standards Committee. You can find a detailed explanation of the IET Governance in the About Us section of the web site. IET Standards Committee Remit The IET Standards Committee meets four times a year: To review and develop the strategic direction of the portfolio of new IET standards To evaluate any risks to the IET posed during the development of new standards To ensure procedures for dispute resolution are in place and implemented To ensure that appropriate committees and resourcing are in place to deliver on the strategic plan IET Standards Committee Constitution The IET Standards Committee is made up of a selection of IET members who have knowledge and experience of technical standards development and reflect the scope of the IET membership. Current members: Professor Graeme Reid (Chair), Chair of Science and Research Policy, University College London Dr David Evans, Independent Consultant in Innovation and Technology Mr Hugh Boyes CEng, FIET, IET Cyber Security Lead and University of Warwick Mr Mark Coles, Technical Regulations Manager, The IET Mr Andrew Jamieson, Chief Executive, Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult Mr Simon Robinson CEng FIET MIMechE MCIBSE MSLL, Technical Director,WSP Group

2 Mr Rob Wallis, CEO, Transport Research Foundation and TRL Ms Amanda Weaver, Publishing Director, The IET Ms Tara West, Business Development Manager, The IET IET Standards Process 1. Introduction These guidelines have been prepared to give a clear understanding of how standards are developed at the IET. 2. Standards and the IET The IET has been developing standards since 1882 when the first edition of the Wiring Regulations was published. The Wiring Regulations became a British Standard (BS 7671) in 1992 and today the IET continues to manage the national standards committee JPEL/64 and to set the standard for electrical installation in the UK and many other countries. The IET also manages JPEL/18, the national committee which prepares standards for electrical and electronic equipment on ships and offshore structures. Building on this competency, the IET has expanded its standards development activity to address a range of emerging technology subjects in the transport, built environment, energy, information & communications and design & production sectors. IET standards publications are consensus-based documents, written and created by committees of key stakeholders to meet market needs. Once published, the IET may license the use of its standards content to training providers and certification bodies to ensure the widest adoption and implementation of its best practice advice. IET standards committees maintain their documents on a regular basis, updating and reissuing publications as technologies mature, and supplementing core documents with additional guidance, reports and assessment tools to meet market requirements over time.

3 All new standards ideas are rigorously evaluated by the team of IET Standards staff that work as Portfolio Development Managers (PDMs). A key role of the PDMs is to develop a detailed standards proposal and submit them for evaluation to the internal IET Publishing Committee. These proposals detail the proposed scope of the standards, details of the intended market and audience, details of the development plan and a detailed P&L. No work can commence on the delivery of the standards until the proposal has been approved although various pre-proposal scoping and market intelligence activities will have taken place. These could include interviews of key industry players, scoping workshops etc. 3. Types of Standards The IET publishes a range of standards documents which fulfil various needs of the market. The documents include: Codes of Practice which contain recommendations and guidance, where the recommendations relevant to a given user have to be met in order to support a claim of compliance. A code of practice usually reflects current good practice as employed by competent practitioners. Guides which primarily contain information and guidance. These may support a Code of Practice. Recommendations may be included in a guide but these are generally not of a nature that would support claims of compliance. Technical Briefs which provide specific technical information on an area. Research Reports which provide market overviews and management recommendations on the implementation of regulations, standards and other technical guidelines. 4. Development of IET Standards 4.1 Overview of development process

4 The main stages of the IET standards development process are shown in Figure 1 and comprise: approval of business case for a new standard (by the IET s internal Publishing Committee) and appointment of the committee and drafting panel initial committee meeting to scope standard and work schedule iterative development of draft by technical drafting panel and committee review draft submitted for public comment (DPC) review of DPC comments and preparation of final draft editing, production and publication of document. Figure 1 IET Standards development process 4.2 Appointment of committee, panels and workgroups Following the acceptance of a proposal for a new standard, formal invitations will be issued to technical committee members, chairman, drafting panel and, where appropriate working groups.

5 4.3 Initial scoping meeting A standard shall be drafted in the most appropriate form for its purpose and the form selected at the outset of the work. Matters to be considered shall include: the area to be standardized the intended users of the standard the types of standard or series of different standards that are required to fulfill the need the time and cost of implementing the standard, and the value or benefits to the immediate and wider communities of its publication and use the relationship between the standard and the wider body of standards material, and with other documents relevant to its use, such as regulations. Before the drafting of a standard can begin it is also necessary to confirm the following; identify all matters to be included establish the title agree the scope identify the structure and division into parts where necessary identify any relationships with other standards. Having considered these matters in the initial scoping meeting the technical committee shall draw up a clear and concise terms of reference for the development of each document it is responsible for. 4.4 Development of draft The committee then reviews successive drafts prepared by the drafting panel. Figure 1 shows three potential iterations but a committee can agree as many stages as required to develop the document to meet the initial specification.

6 The schedule may also include a series of meetings for work groups dealing with specific parts of a standard. Wherever possible, face to face meetings will be minimized and electronic working prioritized to minimize costs. 4.5 Draft for public comment (DPC) When the draft for a standard has been developed sufficiently the IET will offer the draft for public review for a minimum of 30 days and will notify all interested parties via IET publications, specific web sites, relevant lists or other relevant sources. All persons should be provided with the chance to contribute to the development of a standard so that all constituencies, viewpoints and areas of expertise are heard and considered. Impartiality and fairness are key throughout the standards development process. Comments received on drafts through the public review process will be passed to the technical development committee for consideration and all decisions formally noted. 4.6 Approval of final draft Following consideration of the comments received at Draft for Public Comment, a final draft of the standard will be prepared for committee approval. 4.7 Production and publication Publication of a standard or amendment can only proceed once technical committee approval and IET approval has been given. The IET will generally publish documents both in paper and online and will inform all the relevant industry groups and members of the relevant trade associations when the standard is published. 4.8 Maintenance of standards The IET will ensure that technical committees maintain standards for which it is responsible and ensure that those standards are up to date with current practice and free from material error.

7 To ensure standards are up to date with current practice, each standard shall be reviewed by the technical committee responsible, at least every three years. Where errors are identified that could be misleading or have serious consequences in a standard, corrective action will need to be agreed and approved. Sales of the standard may be suspended, a correction may be issued and public notification of the error may be made, depending upon the nature and seriousness of the error. Where technical changes are the subject of an amendment to a standard, initiation of the work shall be announced, the amendment circulated for public comment and an approval to publish shall be obtained. 5 Intellectual property 5.1 Copyright The IET holds the copyright of the publications of the IET standards technical committees. Except as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 no extract may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior written permission from the IET. 5.2 Reproduction of IET standards Under normal circumstances, no part of an IET standard shall be reproduced in any form without the prior written permission of the IET.