Standards development

How do standards come about? What stages do they go through? And how can you make your voice heard in standards development?

The ins and outs of standards development

Standards are not quickly drafted documents. It takes about three years for a standard to see the light of day. They are developed by the people who use them, in four steps. And each step involves those stakeholders – our ‘experts’.

Standards development: the birth of a standard

Standards development, or standardisation, is the process of arriving at a standard. This process is open, transparent and consensus-based. It takes place in standards committees made up of experts. Standards are thus created in working groups in which specialists within the same field consider a specific subject.

Find out who is involved in this process

The 4 steps of standards development

A standard is created in 4 stages: proposal, draft, public enquiry and publication.

The four steps of standards development
Icon of a hand holding a piece of paper picturing a standard proposal
Standard proposal
The development of a new standard starts with a proposal. Companies, governments, federations, sectors, NGOs, consumer organisations ... anyone can submit a proposal. This is done at CEN, ISO or NBN.
Icon to picture a standard design
Standard design
Is the proposal accepted? Then a standards committee or technical committee considers the standard. It works to create a draft standard, together with the national standardisation bodies. For Belgium, this is NBN, together with its  sectoral operators.

Did you know...

...a standards draft is recognizable by its name: Belgian standards drafts start with the code prNBN, European ones with prEN and international ones with ISO/DIS.

icon of a magnifying glass looking on extracts of paper to picture the public enquiry
Public enquiry
Anyone can provide feedback on the draft standard. The standards committee reviews all comments and modifies the draft standard.

Wondering how to make your voice heard during the public enquiry process?
icon of a brand new piece of paper picturing the publication of a standard
Published
Have all comments been processed and has the draft standard been modified and approved? Next comes the official recognition and publication of the new standard. It is then available in our standards platform.

An overview of standards projects

1. What are standards projects?

Standards projects are the standards committees’ work programmes. They are an overview of the standards the committees are in the process of developing. Standards projects also show which stage of development the standards are at.

2. Where do you find the overview?

As an innovative sensor manufacturer, we are always looking for new technologies to optimize the operation and safety of automatic doors. Our mission during the working group meetings of the international and European standardisation committees? To explain what sensors can do today. In this way, we want to continuously improve existing standards and complement them with new technological solutions.

Laurent Sarlette
Chief Marketing Officer at BEA, an international manufacturer of sensor solutions for automatic door systems

Discover the world of standardization

Would you like to help develop standards yourself? But would you like to learn more about standardisation first? Then our free webinar "Standardisation: The Basics" is your chance to take a first step into this exciting world. Register for the webinar here.

Ready to dive deeper into the subject of standards development and NBN right now? Discover our free e-learning "Introduction to Standardisation." This interactive e-learning allows you to learn at your own pace, when and where it suits you.

Start the e-learning