SP0169 – 2007 Revision Update
The TG 360 Committee has been working hard on addressing the negative ballots from the last vote. The most recent information says at this time the changes are being considered as “editorial”. If this turns out to be true, this means that the document would not have to be re-balloted! It will have to be approved and checked for to be sure it meets all the NACE required wording and format, then can be published as the SP0169 – 2012 version.
I think this is great! Hopefully, that will get us moving forward for a few years without this document being such a focus. No standard will ever be perfect, but I do think the new version (if adopted) will provide the industry with a much better document than it has ever had before for the control of external corrosion on buried and submersed pipelines. Each section has changes and overall improvements. Maybe the new will be out by CORROSION 2012. If something changes, I will let you know, since this is the most important standard (I think) that NACE International has ever published.
The next challenge will be to revise the “Test Method” (TM0497) to meet the newly revised (assuming it will be) SP0169! I will keep you informed and please get on the balloting list when asked if you have input, experiences and knowledge to help the committee with this revision!
NACE and ISO
The issues surrounding NACE/ISO standards and adoption process has been answered by NACE as mentioned in an earlier e-mail. I hope that each of you who had or have concerns about this have read the information provided by NACE and the TCC group. I am a strong believer in NACE International staying heavily involved in the ISO process, but also strongly believe we should keep our documents as NACE International while letting ISO use our documents as needed to develop future corrosion control ISO standards. This allows NACE members to maintain control of our standards while providing input and expertise to the ISO documents.
Please read the information provided by NACE if you have not already done so and form your own opinion about the direction they are proposing, then provide comments and questions if you have any. I will post if you like or you can send them directly to those who are controlling these committees. We as NACE members must provide input into, as well as stay informed about the process to make sure we are taking the path that is best for NACE International.
Again, I want to thank Bob Chalker and all the others at NACE who have provided the below information for our members in an effort to provide understanding of the process and direction/role NACE International intends to proceed regarding ISO standard. Please stay informed and question things as needed. To make sure everyone has the information I have included it below for your consideration and comments on this very critical future path for NACE International.
Let us all work together to this process the best it can be for our industry.
Thank you,
Richard Norsworthy
| December 8, 2011 TCC Chair, Brian Saldanha |
December 8, 2011
Dear NACE members,
Several NACE members have expressed concerns related to NACE’s collaborative work on standards development with the International Standards Organization (ISO). One of the concerns is associated with the adoption of NACE standards by ISO, and the perception that once they are adopted by ISO, NACE would lose control of these standards. As Chair of the NACE Technical Coordination Committee (TCC), it is my intent to try and alleviate some of these concerns as well as share with the NACE membership the Association’s and TCC’s overall strategy for collaborating with ISO. The TCC is an administrative committee of the Technical and Research Activities Committee (TRAC), a Board standing committee that oversees standards development.
In a recent letter to the Board and to TCC, Jim Feather, Chair of TRAC and a past TCC Chair, emphasized that “the Board continues to strongly support the submission of selected NACE International standards to ISO in support of the Association’s strategic objective to grow our presence and influence internationally.” In line with this objective, TCC has incorporated several initiatives in its 2010-2020 Tactical Plan. Some of these include fostering the development and applicability of NACE standards internationally, more involvement of international membership in TCC’s technical activities, expanding NACE’s collaboration with other international technical organizations e.g., ISO, etc.
We certainly recognize that there has been a dramatic expansion of ISO standards use throughout the world, and many countries already recognize ISO standards and reference them in regulations. Further, independent of what NACE has done or is doing in standards development, ISO has authored approximately 200 corrosion-related standards in about 50 committees. Clearly, NACE is the premier Corrosion Society in the world and has more experience and expertise in corrosion than any other organization. While ISO can and has already adopted some NACE standards, we believe because of NACE’s stature that it is also more strategic on a global basis for NACE to have input into ISO work, rather than ISO independently developing standards that compete with NACE. NACE’s influence in this work would definitely benefit industry and users by fostering higher-quality ISO standards that have international impact. The real question is one of NACE being able to sustain and grow its relevance globally in an environment where many countries default to ISO for direction on standards. The World Trade Organization (WTO) considers ISO very relevant to ensuring that countries do not create barriers to trade based on local standards; consequently, many industries specify ISO. Outside the U.S., regulatory bodies are also most likely to use ISO standards.
There appears to be some misconceptions about what TCC’s intent is with respect to collaborating with ISO. It has never been the intention of TCC to stop writing NACE standards, or to lose control of our standards, or to shift our complete focus either now or in the future to ISO activity. We have heard some circulating comments to this effect and it is completely at odds with our goals in TCC. In fact, it should be pointed out that our strategy is to strive to maximize the impact of NACE on ISO corrosion-related standards, and not to reduce it. NACE’s standards development program will not be dictated by ISO; rather, NACE will continue to use its own procedures to develop high-quality technical standards by its membership through the TCC structure. While NACE will always have control over its own documents, it can also have a strong influence on the work of ISO as demonstrated by its members’ representation in ISO TAG activities for more than 20 years.
With the issues cited above, we have two very clear choices with respect to how we may contend with the growth of ISO. One is to continue as a primarily North American based standards-writing organization independent of ISO with the hope that other countries find our corrosion-related standards to be the best in the world. The other option is to try to inject our influence into the relevant corrosion-related ISO standards-development arena. This option would be accomplished by either adopting targeted ISO standards as dual NACE/ISO standards through the NACE technical committee process, and/or submitting certain, not all, strategically-targeted NACE standards that have global impact to the appropriate ISO committees for consideration by ISO to adopt them. These two options, described in detail below, strategically strengthen NACE’s position in influencing the standards work of ISO internationally.
Adopting targeted ISO standards would require the appropriate NACE TCC Task Group membership that corresponds to the standard to review the ISO standard, modify it if needed, ballot it, address negatives etc., just like any other NACE standard. If the standard is approved, the modified adoption process allows this standard to be published as a jointly named NACE/ISO standard just as is done for NACE MR0175/ISO 15156. On the other hand, NACE does not have to adopt an ISO standard if it does not want to.
Submitting strategically-targeted NACE standards to the appropriate ISO committees for possible adoption by ISO is another very positive opportunity. However, it is extremely important to note that NACE will NOT submit a standard without first bringing it to the attention of TCC and the appropriate technical committees. The selected standards would either have global impact, and/or fill in the gaps for weak or non-existent international standards on an important subject area. Further, this does not erase the existing NACE standard, whether it is adopted by ISO in full, or is modified. As ISO does not have dual standards it would simply be an ISO standard with NACE content. This approach would allow us to proactively lead an ISO initiative instead of following one, as well as strengthen the quality of standards used internationally.
I would like to stress that any ballot procedures on standards, whether they are NACE modified adoptions of ISO standards or regular NACE member developed standards, follow the same process as outlined in TCC’s Technical Committee Publications Manual (TCPM). The TCPM contains procedures for developing NACE standards, reports, and other technical committee publications. Further, TCC has developed a written procedure for submitting NACE standards to ISO (Section 3.16 of TCPM), as well as for adopting ISO standards as NACE standards (Section 3.17 of TCPM). These procedures were approved by the TCC and the Technical and Research Activities Committee (TRAC), the designated approval bodies for the TCPM.
So, how does NACE go about adopting ISO standards? Once an ISO standard has been identified for possible adoption by NACE, the standard would go through the normal NACE technical committee voting process before being accepted as a NACE nationally adopted standard. Members of the appropriate STG(s) would then be asked if they wish to vote on the adoption, and then the same process would be followed as for a NACE-generated standard. Decisions on what standards will be submitted are based on the procedure developed by the TCC as outlined in the TCPM.
Likewise, how can NACE influence existing ISO standards, and/or convince ISO to adopt NACE Standards or a modification thereof? Members can have a voice in the adoption and revision of ISO standards, but this requires the member to take the initiative to join the appropriate U.S. TAG in the U.S. or TAG in another country where the NACE member resides, or has a corporate interest. As a TAG member the NACE representative would have the ability to comment and vote on ISO standards. Because of the voting stipulations in ISO of one vote per country (for those countries holding a Participating (P) membership), the key to influencing the technical content of ISO standards is having appropriate involvement of NACE members in the various countries who can represent NACE’s position on that standard and accordingly influence the ISO voting delegation for that country. Hence, as Chair of TCC, I strongly encourage you to contact me, NACE staff, or any of the technical committee leaders if you know of any NACE members who are willing to be more involved in their countries’ participation in ISO efforts.
I must emphasize that the ISO process may in fact change the content of the submitted NACE standard, and this could either weaken or strengthen it. If the NACE committee members wish to maintain the submitted document as close to the original NACE standard as possible they need to participate in the appropriate TAG, attend the WG (Work Group) meetings where the standard will be discussed, and vote for their interests. To the extent that a NACE member participates actively in the ISO process they will have a voice and a vote. It is also important that if such a document is being discussed, and participation is needed by a NACE member, then it should be brought to the attention of the TCC leadership who will make every attempt to identify appropriate representation, and provide necessary support.
The selection of who represents NACE on specific NACE-originated NWI (New Work Items) proposals are made by TCC in conjunction with the leadership of the various NACE technical committees. This is determined by the individual’s interest, ability to travel to foreign meeting venues, subject mastery, and any other intangible factors which may produce a positive result for NACE’s effort.
We realize that some may feel their interests may be threatened or diluted by broadening our international influence and obtaining more input into our standards by the processes defined above. However, we in TCC and the Board feel it is important to maintain NACE’s legitimacy as an international standards organization and its respect as a premier corrosion technical society by incorporating all of the latest worldwide technology and practices whenever possible. For NACE International to remain a North American based organization without reaching out to the international community, I would think it would be less strategic to NACE’s existence than anything we do with ISO. As you may already be aware, NACE International’s mission statement is to “protect people, assets and the environment from corrosion.” “Losing control” of a standard by limiting input to mainly North American interests would not serve us well as an international organization. It should be noted that the NACE Board of Directors agrees with the TCC’s approach to collaborating with ISO, and the Board has certainly endorsed TCC’s initiatives in driving the development, applicability and influence of NACE standards internationally.
These strategies with respect to ISO have been no secret. Over the past three years they have been discussed openly at various TCC technical committee meetings, adopted by TCC with the endorsement of the leadership of the TCC Technology Management Groups (TMG), communicated in the NACE TCC e-newsletters, published in Materials Performance, etc. We have heard suggestions from people that we should disseminate more of this information to the NACE community in general and I am sure you will see this becoming a reality in the very near future.
We feel that broadening our global outreach in various ways, including efforts with ISO, successfully helps NACE further legitimize its stature and influence in the international community. With NACE “International” membership outside of North America constituting one third of overall membership, it is of prime importance that NACE maintains this initiative as one of its highest priorities and strategies, which indeed it is continuing to pursue.
I hope I have addressed some of the central concerns that have been raised by some members regarding NACE involvement in ISO, and I thank you for the opportunity to be able to provide this communication to you. If members would like to be better informed about how the ISO committee system operates I would encourage them to access numerous sources on the internet including the ISO and ANSI Web sites. Further, if you would like to raise any issues or have additional questions, feel free to submit them to me at tcc-chair@nace.org or to Linda Goldberg, NACE Technical Activities Director, at linda.goldberg@nace.org.
Sincerely,
Brian J. Saldanha
Chair, NACE Technical Coordination Committee (TCC)
What is the process for NACE member input on standards submitted to ISO for collaboration?
In mid-2011 the NACE Board of Directors asked the NACE Technical Coordination Committee (TCC), the volunteer group that manages standards development within NACE, to develop a procedure ensuring communication and membership feedback into the selection of NACE standards that will be the subject of collaboration with ISO. The procedure provides for discussion and input on collaboration at the Specific Technology Group (STG) level. The primary responsibility lies with the TCC, but proposals will be discussed with and input requested from the STGs via the Technology Coordinators. Any member can join NACE technical committees and be part of STG meetings, and all STG meetings are open.
The TCC developed a written procedure for submitting NACE standards to ISO and for adopting ISO standards as NACE standards. These procedures were approved by the TCC and the Technical and Research Activities Committee (TRAC), the designated approval bodies for the Technical Committee Publications Manual, which contains procedures for developing NACE standards, reports, and other technical committee publications. These procedures can be viewed here.
Decisions on what standards will be submitted are based on the procedure developed by the TCC.
How does the ISO process work? How do NACE members work within that process?
NACE is a standards development organization (SDO) that is centered on individual voting. ISO is an SDO that develops standards in a similar manner as NACE – but the hallmark of ISO is its one country, one vote structure. Because NACE International Headquarters is physically located in the USA, most official NACE input to ISO will be through the USA country vote.
Just like with NACE committee and balloting requirements for standards, ISO selects a convener for its work groups or subcommittees who is expected to act impartially on a standard. The convener should not have an agenda, or represent a particular country’s or company’s interests. In the case of standards submitted to ISO via the USA, the U.S. would normally propose the name of the convener with the proposal for the standard. The USA activity is usually led by a standards development organization like NACE, and includes participants from other USA organizations relevant to the subject matter.
Because ISO voting is by country, NACE members outside the U.S. also can organize their countries’ ISO votes with subject matter expertise gleaned in NACE activities. Also, because of the growing global composition of NACE technical committees, the NACE position, even if submitted via the USA country vote to ISO, will naturally include an international perspective.
When an ISO working group develops a standard that is based on another SDO’s existing standard, the ISO process can result in changes that strengthen or weaken the original standard. If NACE members want to maintain the submitted document as close to the original NACE standard as possible they need to participate in the appropriate TAG, attend the ISO WG meetings where the standard will be discussed, and vote for their interests. To the extent that a NACE member participates actively in the ISO process, they will have a voice and a vote and much influence.
NACE has many standards approved as ANS without ever submitting them to ISO. The ANS designation indicates that the process used to develop the standard conforms to ANSI Essential Requirements. It is also possible for other countries to adopt ISO standards and many do. The European community adopts many ISO standards as CEN standards.
If NACE publishes a standard, then ISO publishes a standard that is based on a NACE standard, is the ISO standard the new NACE standard?
ISO standards adopted by NACE would go through the normal NACE technical committee voting process before being accepted as a NACE nationally adopted standard. Members of the appropriate STG(s) are asked if they wish to vote on the adoption, and the same process is followed as for a NACE-generated standard.
Members can also have a voice in the development and revision of ISO standards. A member must join the appropriate TAG in the U.S. or in another country where the NACE member resides or has a corporate interest. As a TAG member, the NACE representative has the ability to comment and vote on ISO standards.
The standard is developed by NACE or adopted by NACE. No other country can adopt the ISO standard and call it a NACE standard. NACE owns that trademark. If countries do a national adoption of an ISO standard, they are responsible for maintenance, not NACE. These standards would be identified as BSI/ISO xxxx or DIN/ISO xxxx, for example. NACE does not have to keep up with modifications made by other countries for their adoptions because NACE is only responsible for the NACE standard.
If NACE adopts a standard, it will have a dual NACE/ISO number. The standards might be identical or slightly different depending on whether the NACE STG voting on the adoption makes changes in the ISO standard. If more than just small editorial changes are made, it will be a “modified” adoption and changes will be shown in the NACE-adopted version. It is likely that in each country the document to use will be specified as is done today by the parties involved in the business arrangements and contracts.
General information on NACE collaboration with ISO:
NACE has more experience and expertise in setting corrosion standards than any other organization. ISO can adopt NACE standards and has already done so. ISO has published, without NACE collaboration, approximately 200 corrosion-related standards in about 50 committees.
NACE and most standards users who work in the global marketplace prefer that ISO not independently develop standards that compete with those developed by groups like NACE who focus on a single expertise. However, much of the rest of the world recognizes ISO standards and references them in regulations. Global companies, including many that are active in NACE, prefer, in some instances, single global standards and cooperation. NACE influence in ISO’s corrosion committees benefits industry and users by generating high-quality ISO standards. NACE’s TCC likely would not decide that NACE should collaborate with ISO on a NACE standard that is not viewed as valuable to the global corrosion control community.
ISO is much larger than NACE with upwards of 18,500 standards and 1,100 new standards published each year. Only about 200 published ISO standards are related to corrosion, but the global impact of the work of ISO cannot be diminished; its large body of work gives it credibility. ISO has 162 countries participating and 3,300 technical bodies.
ISO sometimes adopts NACE standards that we propose to them. Our international membership is an advantage in dealing with ISO committees. NACE must remain relevant globally in an environment where many countries default to ISO for direction on standards. The World Trade Organization considers ISO very relevant to ensuring that countries do not create barriers to trade based on local standards, and many industries specify ISO. Outside the U.S., regulatory bodies are most likely to use ISO standards.
Many companies and individuals have invested much time and effort in the various NACE standards and do not feel there is a need to allow another organization to dictate what we do and how we do it. NACE’s standards program will not be dictated by ISO. NACE will continue to use its own procedures to develop standards by its membership. NACE will always have control over its own documents and can have a strong influence on the work of ISO. Additionally, many global companies in NACE do see the need for NACE collaboration with ISO, to help deter development of competing – and confusing – global standards.
At this point in time, three NACE standards have been submitted to ISO for collaboration. All submissions have followed extensive discussions among the volunteer leadership at different levels in the organization. Recently there was some debate on the merits of submitting a particular standard to ISO, which led to the development of the official process for decision-making in 2011.
If you have additional questions, please send them to tcc-chair@nace.org
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