This website
The Standards Explained website is designed to help individuals and organizations understand how to apply international standards in their work. Standards are intended to be exact and unambiguous in their use of language and are often, although not always, accompanied by guidance in some form. Even so, additional explanation can be helpful. The aim of the Standards Explained website is to assist in the interpretation and application of standards, their requirements and supporting guidance. There is no intention, neither should any inference be drawn to this effect, that the content of this website should or could substitute for any standard referenced herein.
International standards
An international standard provides rules, guidelines, or characteristics for activities or their results, aimed at achieving the optimal degree of order in a given context. They take many forms, including product standards, specifications, test methods, codes of practice, guideline (or guidance) standards, management standards and management systems standards.
In the context of this website, international standards means primarily those developed and published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), an independent, non-governmental international organization, but does not preclude the inclusion of standards developed and published by other non-governmental organizations. ISO has a membership of 170 national standards bodies. Members are national standards bodies (NSBs) or similar organizations that represent standardization in their country. It is common for NSBs to adopt ISO standards and republish them bearing their national prefix. Note that organizations applying or certifying ISO standards cannot be members of ISO.
Standards Explained is neither affiliated with, nor endorsed by, ISO as the developer and publisher of international standards or, indeed, any other body or organization acting in a similar capacity. The content in this website is offered on the basis that it might prove useful to individuals and organizations considering using such standards or seeking explanation of particular elements of a standard.