International Standards

In the same way that there are British Standards for the UK, and European standards across the union, there are also three global parent organisations covering standards. These are ISO, IEC and ITU [CS1] who develop International Standards for the world.

[edit] ISO

The ISO began in the 1920s when it was known as the International Federation of the National Standardising Associations (ISA), however it was suspended during World War II. After the war the United Nations Standards Coordinating Committee (UNSCC) approached the ISA with a proposal to form a new global standards body. In October 1946, the ISA and UNSCC delegates met in London at the Institute of Civil Engineers and agreed to join forces to create the new “International Organization for Standardization” which began in 1947. Interestingly, the ISO is not an acronym In French it is “Organisation Internationale de Normalisation”, the name was adopted in reference to the Greek word isos (σος), which means "equal". The BSI is a full member of ISO.

[edit] IEC

The IEC held its first meeting in June 1906, following discussions among the British Institution of Electrical Engineers, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, and others. Lord Kelvin was elected as the first President of the International Electrotechnical Commission. IEC stands for the “International Electrotechnical Commission” (in English) and is an international standards organisation that prepares and publishes international standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies. These combined technologies are also known as “Electrotechnologies” and they are all covered by IEC standards. The BSI is a full member of the IEC.

[edit] ITU

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) was originally the International Telegraph Union and is a specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for issues that concern information and communication technologies. It is the oldest global international organisation founded in 1865 and membership includes almost 200 member states as well as some 900 companies, universities and international and regional organisations. The UK’s date of entry is listed as 1871.

[edit] Examples of International Standards

ISO 14001:2015 Environmental management systems - Requirements with guidance for use.

ISO 14004:2016 Environmental management systems - General guidelines on implementation.

ISO 14005:2019 Environmental management systems - Guidelines for a flexible approach to phased implementation.

[edit] Related articles of Designing Buildings

• British Standards
• Collaboration, standards and their acronyms explained.
• European Standards
• Mandatory environmental impact categories
• Optional environmental impact categories
• Product Environmental Footprint PEF
• Product category rules PCR.
• Sustainable procurement.
• The sustainability of construction works.