Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ISBN 978-0-626-22611-4
SANS 1-1:2009
Edition 2
Standard for standards Part 1: The development of South African national standards and other normative documents
Published by SABS Standards Division 1 Dr Lategan Road Groenkloof Private Bag X191 Pretoria 0001 Tel: +27 12 428 7911 Fax: +27 12 344 1568 www.sabs.co.za SABS
Foreword
This South African standard was approved by National Committee SABS TC 200, Development of standards for standards, in accordance with procedures of the SABS Standards Division, in compliance with annex 3 of the WTO/TBT agreement. This document was published in November 2009. This document supersedes SANS 1-1:2003 (edition 1). SANS 1 consists of the following parts, under the general title Standard for standards: Part 1: The development of South African national standards and other normative documents. Part 2: Recognition of standards development organizations (SDOs) in South Africa. Annex A is for information only.
enter into agreement with, render assistance to, or obtain the cooperation of
a person, a body, an organization, an administration, an authority or a government, in any country or territory outside South Africa.
NOTE The SABS is a member body of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and participates actively in a number of its committees. The SABS also provides the financial and administrative support for South Africa's membership of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), which is responsible for international standards in the electrotechnical field. The SABS is an active member of SADCSTAN, the standards development committee within the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and takes part in other standardization forums such as the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Codex Alimentarius commission (an intergovernmental body responsible for the development of model regulations and standards related to food and agricultural products).
the development, establishment and publication of standards (covering, for example, specifications for products, services or systems, codes of practice, and methods of test); when appropriate, inspection and testing of products and processes for compliance with standards; when required, formal certification by a certification body of the compliance of a product, service or system with one or more standards; when appropriate, the application of standards as Technical Regulations (Compulsory Specifications); and administrative functions related to, amongst others, the maintenance of the national standards database.
Contents
Page Foreword Introduction 1 Scope ............................................................................................................................................. 3 2 Normative references ..................................................................................................................... 3 3 Definitions and abbreviations ......................................................................................................... 3 4 Principles behind the development of South African national standards and other normative documents...................................................................................................................................... 7 5 Committees .................................................................................................................................. 11 6 New projects................................................................................................................................. 14 7 Development stages..................................................................................................................... 15 8 Appeals ........................................................................................................................................ 15 9 Updating and maintenance of standards...................................................................................... 17 10 Copyright ...................................................................................................................................... 18 11 Patents ......................................................................................................................................... 19 Annex A (informative) South African technical reports ..................................................................... 20 Bibliography ....................................................................................................................................... 20
Standard for standards Part 1: The development of South African national standards and other normative documents
1 Scope
This part of SANS 1 describes the underlying principles and the processes of the preparation of South African national standards and other normative documents published by the SABS Standards Division. This part of SANS 1 is intended to guide committee members, chairpersons and SABS Standards Division staff, and provides background information for standards development organizations, interested organizations and members of the public. It is not intended to provide detailed internal procedures since these are generally required only by SABS Standards Division staff. The SABS Standards Division will, from time to time, publish guidance documents that relate to the practical application of the provisions of this part of SANS 1.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies. Information on currently valid national and international standards can be obtained from the SABS Standards Division. SANS 1-2, Standard for standards Part 2: Recognition of standards development organizations (SDOs) in South Africa. World Trade Organization Code of Good Practice for the preparation, adoption and application of standards (annex 3 to the World Trade Organization/Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement). Available from http://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/17-tbt_e.htm
[ARP 763:2008] 3.1.4 coordinating/kordinerende specification CKS South African technical specification written for a specific government institution for use in tender procedures 3.1.5 guide document published by the ISO or the IEC giving rules, advice or recommendations relating to international standardization [ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2]
NOTE 1 The SABS Standards Division usually adopts guides as recommended practices (ARPs). NOTE 2 Guides may address issues of interest to all users of international standards.
3.1.6 normative document document that provides rules, guidelines or characteristics of activities or their results [ARP 763:2008]
NOTE The term "normative document" covers sector technical agreement, standard, technical regulation and technical specification.
3.1.7 provision expression in the content of a normative document that takes the form of a statement, an instruction, a recommendation or a requirement
NOTE These types of provision are distinguished by the wording they employ; for example instructions are expressed in the imperative mood, recommendations by the use of the auxiliary "should" and requirements by the use of the auxiliary "shall".
[ARP 763:2008]
[ARP 763:2008] 3.1.9 secretariat people responsible for the administrative activities of a committee
NOTE In an SABS committee the secretariat could include the committee administrator, standards writer, chairperson and departmental manager.
3.1.10 sector technical agreement STA normative document that does not conflict with, or undermine, the provisions of any national standard or compulsory specification, that has been agreed to by consensus of an identified interest group, consortium or sector, and that can be published by the SABS Standards Division 3.1.11 South African national standard SANS standard that is agreed to by consensus by a committee, subjected to public comment, approved and published by the SABS Standards Division
NOTE Standards should be based on the consolidated results of science, technology and experience, and aimed at the promotion of optimum community benefits.
3.1.12 South African technical report SATR non-normative document that is agreed to by a committee, published by the SABS Standards Division and that contains collected data of a different kind to a normative document as described in this part of SANS 1 (see annex A)
NOTE A technical report cannot be converted into a national standard.
3.1.13 South African technical specification SATS normative document that is not a South African national standard, that does not conflict with an existing national standard, that is agreed to by a simple majority vote for provisional application, that is approved by the SAC, and that is published by the SABS Standards Division, for which there is the future possibility of agreement to be published as a national standard
NOTE It is published provisionally so that information and experience of its application may be gathered.
3.1.14 standard document for common and repeated use, and that provides rules, guidelines or characteristics for products, services, or processes and production methods
NOTE This includes terminology, symbols, and requirements for packaging, marking or labelling as they apply to a product, service, process or production method.
[ARP 763:2008] 3.1.16 standards approval committee SAC internal committee of the SABS Standards Division responsible for the approval and allocation of all new work items and the approval on the basis of due process of all new, revised and amended South African national standards and other normative documents before publication, or the withdrawal of such documents, and for the approval of the formation and membership of new committees 3.1.17 standards development organization SDO organization recognized by the SABS under section 25 of the Standards Act, 2008 (Act No. 8 of 2008) for the development of standards and other normative documents in a defined field, to be approved and published by the SABS Standards Division as South African national standards 3.1.18 subcommittee SC group of representatives that is responsible for the preparation of South African national standards and other normative and non-normative documents within a subfield of the scope of a technical committee and that reflects valid national interests within the subfield 3.1.19 technical committee TC national technical committee group of representatives that is concerned with standardization, that is responsible for identifying the need for, and the preparation of, South African national standards and other normative and nonnormative documents in a defined field and that reflects valid national interests within that field 3.1.20 technical regulation document that, through reference to a South African national standard or parts thereof, lays down product characteristics or their related processes and production methods, and the applicable administrative provisions, with which compliance is mandatory
NOTE Technical regulations are published in the South African Government Gazette.
3.1.21 working group WG group of experts appointed by a TC or SC to deal with a particular project or with a particular aspect of a project
4 Principles behind the development of South African national standards and other normative documents
4.1 General
In addition to SANSs, the SABS Standards Division publishes other deliverables, such as SATSs, STAs and non-normative documents such as SATRs (see annex A), depending on the level of consensus. Figure 1 shows the development routes of these documents, while figure 2 shows the stages at which each deliverable can be published. All normative documents are published in a single numerical series, but with different prefixes. Consensus in representative committees on the technical content of normative documents is reached either in formal meetings or by correspondence. The principle of consensus is applied throughout and an appeals procedure exists (see clause 8) as a last resort for the resolution of disputes. Costeffectiveness, together with proper financial control and commitment to response and deadlines within committees, is essential for the efficient development of normative documents. All SANSs and other normative documents, after having followed the appropriate procedures, are submitted to the SAC for approval. Once approved, the documents are released for publication. No normative document may conflict with, or undermine, the provisions of any SANS or compulsory specification. SANSs or parts thereof may be declared as compulsory specifications by the Minister of Trade and Industry in terms of section 13 of the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications Act, 2008 (Act No. 5 of 2008). SANSs or parts thereof may be declared technical regulations by any Government Department that needs to regulate a product, service, process, procedure or method.
STA route
SABS route
SDO route
STA
CKS/SATR/SATS
SATR/SATS
NWI
NWI
NWI
NWI
NWI
WG
WG
WG
WG
WG
SABS TC/SC
SABS TC/SC
SDO TC/SC
SDO TC/SC
DSS
SAC
Publication
Stage 0 Code 00
PWI
Stage 1 Code 10
NWIP
Stage 2 Code 30
CKS SATR Simple majority No review, or SATS Simple majority Review: 3 years, or DSS
Stage 5 Code 60
Publication of SANS
SANS Consensus by TC/SC to publish Objection from public adequately resolved Review: 5 years
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5 Committees
5.1 General
Committees are the backbone of the standardization process. Committees can be technical committees (TCs), subcommittees (SCs) of technical committees or working groups (WGs).
Decisions taken at committee meetings are available to interested parties for information purposes. However, the discussions within committees are confidential, and therefore members of press and legal representatives of committee members are not allowed to attend committee meetings, except by special permission from the SAC.
5.4 Subcommittees
TCs can form SCs to which they may delegate the responsibility of preparing standards, subject to approval by the SAC. Similarly, TCs may dissolve SCs, subject to approval by the SAC.
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SANS 1-1:2009 Edition 2 5.8 Relations with, and participation in, international committees
Wherever practicable, the committee structure should be in alignment with that of the corresponding international standards organization. The degree of liaison with international committees shall be determined by the national committee and approved by the SAC. In practice, many committees provide input into the development of international standards and subsequently decide to adopt these international standards as SANSs. Delegates to international standards meetings represent the views of the relevant national committee. Official communication with international TCs and SCs shall be routed through the ISO or IEC offices of the SABS.
6 New projects
When a new standards project is under consideration, one of the following two routes can be followed: a) an existing international or regional standard can be adopted, or b) in instances where no international or regional standard exists, an SANS can be developed. The direct adoption of existing international, regional or foreign national standards is advantageous in that it is time-saving, cost-effective and may also bring about international or regional harmonization. This is in line with the WTO/TBT agreement. However, it might not adequately represent the full needs and requirements of the South African market. The advantage of developing an SANS is that it will address South African needs better. It is disadvantageous in that it is time-consuming and costly. The final decision as to which route to follow is taken by the responsible committee. However, the SABS Standards Division is committed, wherever possible, to encourage committees to adopt international or regional standards, since this will ultimately result in global standardization, with all its benefits.
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7 Development stages
NOTE See figure 1.
7.1 Any person or organization may request a new project or standard in writing. The proposer shall supply information justifying the development of the standard. In general, the drafting stages in the development of a standard begin after a new work item proposal (NWIP) has been accepted by the responsible committee and approved by the SAC. The approved proposal may be a project for either a new standard or the revision of an existing standard. The committee shall agree to a target date for publication. 7.2 A standards writer or expert on the subject matter, usually in conjunction with a WG shall be assigned the responsibility of developing WDs and addressing comments received on WDs, which are preliminary documents. 7.3 Once the WG has finalized its task, the secretariat will circulate a CD to the committee (TC or SC) to
begin the consensus-building process, which entails commenting and voting on the document. The CD stage can be repeated until all comments have been resolved by the committee and consensus is reached within the TC or SC to advance the document to DSS. (See 5.7.1.) All comments on drafts received during all stages of the project shall be collated and circulated to the committee. Proposed responses to each comment can be included, but the committee shall take the final decision.
7.4 If consensus cannot be reached within the original time frame specified, the committee shall review
progress and shall decide to publish the document as a lesser consensus document, for example as an SATS, or to continue efforts to obtain consensus or to cancel the project. Cancellation of a project should only be considered as a last resort.
7.5 The DSS is announced on the SABS website for public comment in electronic format both nationally and internationally, and in the case of a document developed by an SC, it is also made available for comment by the committee members of the TC . A comment period of 60 days is normally required in terms of the World Trade Organization code of good practice for the preparation, adoption and application of standards. A 30 days comment period applies in the case of identical adoptions of international standards. Comments received at DSS stage shall be dealt with in exactly the same manner as comments received during the CD stage (see 7.3). The sender of the comment shall be notified of the outcome. The DSS process shall be repeated if technical changes are required to be made to the standard at this stage. If no comments are received, or no significant technical changes are introduced, the standard is deemed to be approved by the public, and is forwarded to the SAC for approval. After approval the document is released for publication.
NOTE In this part of SANS 1 "international standards" mean only standards issued by the Codex Alimentarius commission, the IEC, the ISO and the ITU.
8 Appeals
8.1 General
8.1.1 P-members of a committee have the right to appeal against a decision reached by consensus, to
the TC on a decision of an SC, the SAC on a decision of a TC, or the CEO on a decision of the SAC.
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8.1.2 A P-member of a committee may appeal against any action, or inaction, on the part of a TC or an SC when such member considers that such an action or inaction is
not in accordance with this part of SANS 1, or not in the best interests of national trade and commerce, or such public factors as safety, health or the environment.
8.1.3 All appeals shall be in writing and shall be fully motivated to support the members concern. The complaint shall state the nature of the objection(s), including, as relevant, the following:
any direct and material adverse effects, the section(s) of the part of SANS 1 or the standard that is at issue, actions or inactions that are at issue, and the specific remedial action(s) that would satisfy the appellants concerns.
Previous efforts to resolve the objection(s) and the outcome of each shall be included.
8.1.4 When an appeal is against a decision in respect of work in progress, the work shall be continued up to, but not including, approval of the standard by the SAC.
8.3.2 The documented appeal shall, in all cases, be submitted to the SAC, with a copy to the TC chairperson and secretariat. 8.3.3 The SAC shall within one month take action to consider and decide on the appeal. The SAC shall report the decision taken to the TC chairperson and secretariat, and send a copy to the SC chairperson and secretariat, if relevant, as well as the appellant.
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9.2 Corrigenda
Typographical or editorial corrigenda are issued with the agreement of the chairperson of the responsible committee.
9.3 Amendments
Amendments to published documents are issued when essential for the correction of an error that could be misleading or have potentially serious consequences, or alteration or addition (or both) to previously agreed-upon technical provisions that are approved by the committee responsible for the document.
Any person or organization may propose an amendment. The proposed text of the amendment shall be supported by a motivation. The amendment is incorporated into the document and when approved by the committee the amended document is issued as a consolidated edition carrying a new edition number.
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9.5 Revisions
The revision of a document, which is the same as developing a new standard, resulting in a new edition, shall be considered when a) a change is needed in the basic structure or layout of the document, b) as a result of numerous amendments or for other reasons, the resultant page or clause numbering has become confusing to such an extent that reading of the document becomes difficult, c) the criteria for determining compliance with the document for a product or service have changed to such an extent, either as a result of amendments or as a result of technological changes, that the chairperson or staff members within the standards development organization responsible for that document deem it necessary to issue a new edition of the document, in order to 1) draw attention to these substantially changed criteria, or 2) make the latest version of the document more readily understandable, or d) in the case of adopted documents, a revision of the original document is issued.
10 Copyright
Many sources are used for the drafting of a particular standard, including published documents, internal company documents, research papers, and other standards, which could be international, national or from other standards development bodies. When such sources are protected by copyright, it is essential that the copyright owners have given their agreement to the material being reproduced in whole or in part in an SANS, other normative documents or SATRs. It is the responsibility of persons and representatives of organizations who contribute such material to ensure that the agreement of the copyright owner has been obtained. SANSs and other normative documents or SATRs (see figure 2) are protected by copyright. Where these documents are based, by agreement, on international standards (ISO, IEC, etc.) or the standards of other standards bodies (ASTM, BSI, etc.) the SABS has the duty to protect the rights of these copyright owners within South Africa. The reproduction or dissemination by electronic means of SANSs, other normative documents, SATRs, or other source documents is permitted free of charge exclusively for use in the process of standards development under the auspices of an SABS TC or SC, although they are copyright protected documents, and remain subject to certain other copying and redistribution limitations.
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When committee members submit material that they have originated, and such material is subsequently included in a normative document, the SABS Standards Division recognizes the right of the originator of the material to continue to reproduce the material in the form in which it was originally submitted. However, committee members are reminded that although they might have contributed part of the content of a standard, this does not entitle them to reproduce the entire contents of the published standard without prior permission from the SABS Standards Division, nor may they lay claim to any intellectual property rights.
11 Patents
If technical reasons justify the preparation of a standard or other normative document, which includes the use of items covered by patent rights, the following procedures shall be complied with: a) The originator of a proposal for an SANS or other normative document shall draw the attention of the committee to any patent rights of which the originator is aware and considers to cover any item of the proposal. Any party involved in the preparation of a standard or other normative document shall draw the attention of the committee to any patent rights of which it becomes aware during any stage in the development of the document. b) If the proposal is accepted on technical grounds, the originator shall ask any holder of such identified patent rights for a statement that the holder would be willing to negotiate national licences under his/her rights with applicants throughout the country on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditions. Such negotiations are left to the parties concerned and are performed outside the SABS. c) Whenever a person joins a committee, he/she shall declare the knowledge of the existence of any patents concerning the field of technology covered by the scope of the committee, and shall undertake not to register any patents based on the information gathered during committee activities. A standard and other normative document shall not be published until the statements of the holders of all identified patent rights have been received, unless authorized by the SAC. A statement to this effect shall be included in the foreword of the standard and other normative document. The SABS does not require that patent searches be carried out, but it is expected that all who participate in a particular standards development project draw attention to any relevant patent right of which they are, or become, aware. The SABS Standards Division shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Should it be revealed after publication of a standard and other normative document that licences under patent rights, which appear to cover items included in the standard, cannot be obtained under reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, the standard and other normative document shall be referred back to the relevant committee for further consideration.
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Annex A
(informative)
Bibliography
ARP 763:2008/ISO/IEC Guide 2:2004, Standardization and related activities General vocabulary.
ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2:2004, Rules for the structure and drafting of International Standards.
SABS
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SABS Standards Division The objective of the SABS Standards Division is to develop, promote and maintain South African National Standards. This objective is incorporated in the Standards Act, 2008 (Act No. 8 of 2008). Amendments and Revisions South African National Standards are updated by amendment or revision. Users of South African National Standards should ensure that they possess the latest amendments or editions. The SABS continuously strives to improve the quality of its products and services and would therefore be grateful if anyone finding an inaccuracy or ambiguity while using this standard would inform the secretary of the technical committee responsible, the identity of which can be found in the foreword. Tel: +27 (0) 12 428 6666 Fax: +27 (0) 12 428 6928 The SABS offers an individual notification service, which ensures that subscribers automatically receive notification regarding amendments and revisions to South African National Standards. Tel: +27 (0) 12 428 6883 Fax: +27 (0) 12 428 6928 E-mail: sales@sabs.co.za Buying Standards Contact the Sales Office for South African and international standards, which are available in both electronic and hardcopy format. Tel: +27 (0) 12 428 6883 Fax: +27 (0) 12 428 6928 E-mail: sales@sabs.co.za South African National Standards are also available online from the SABS website http://www.sabs.co.za Information on Standards The Standards Information Centre provides a wide range of standards-related information on both national and international standards, and is the official WTO/TBT enquiry point for South Africa. The Centre also offers an individual updating service called INFOPLUS, which ensures that subscribers automatically receive notification regarding amendments to, and revisions of, international standards. Tel: +27 (0) 12 428 6666 Fax: +27 (0) 12 428 6928 E-mail: info@sabs.co.za Copyright The copyright in a South African National Standard or any other publication published by the SABS Standards Division vests in the SABS. Unless exemption has been granted, no extract may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission from the SABS Standards Division. This does not preclude the free use, in the course of implementing the standard, of necessary details such as symbols, and size, type or grade designations. If these details are to be used for any purpose other than implementation, prior written permission must be obtained. Details and advice can be obtained from the Senior Manager. Tel: +27 (0) 12 428 6666 Fax: +27 (0) 12 428 6928 E-mail: info@sabs.co.za