Type 1, 2, and 3 Technical Reports from International Standards Organization IEC Directives – Part 1: Procedures, 1995

G.3 Technical Reports

G.3.1 The primary duty of a technical committee being to develop and review International Standards, the publication of Technical Reports should be considered only under the circumstances given in G.3.2 below.

G.3.2 The three types of Technical Report, and the circumstances in which they may be produced, are as follows.

G.3.2.1 Type 1

When the required support cannot be obtained for a Final Draft International Standard to pass the approval stage (see 2.7), or in case of doubt concerning consensus, the technical committee or subcommittee may decide, by a simple majority vote of its P-members, that the document should be published in the form of a Technical Report. The reasons why the required support could not be obtained shall be given in the foreword to the Technical Report.

G.3.2.2 Type 2

When the subject in question is still under technical development or where for any other reason there is the future but not immediate possibility of an agreement on an International Standard, the technical committee or subcommittee may decide, by following the procedure set out in 2.3, that the publication of a Technical Report would be appropriate. The procedure for preparation of such a Technical Report shall be as set out in 2.4 to 2.6, except that the decision to publish the resulting document as a Technical Report shall require a simple majority vote of the P-members of the technical committee or subcommittee. The reasons for publishing the Technical Report, and an explanation of its relationship to the expected future International Standard, shall be given in the foreword.

When a Technical Report of type 2 is used for “pre-standardization purposes,” the following text, completed as appropriate, shall be included in the foreword:

“This document is being issued in the Technical Report (type 2) series of publications (according to subclause G.3.2.2 of part 1 of the ISO/IEC Directives) as a ‘prospective standard for provisional application’ in the field of ... because there is an urgent need for guidance on how standards in this field should be used to meet an identified need.

“This document is not to be regarded as an ‘International Standard.’ It is proposed for provisional application so that information and experience of its use in practice may be gathered. Comments on the content of this document should be sent to the ...[ISO Central Secretariat or IEC Central Office]....

“A review of this Technical Report [type 2] will be carried out not later than three years after its publication with the options of: extension for another three years; conversion into an International Standard; or withdrawal.”

G.3.2.3 Type 3

When a technical committee or subcommittee has collected data of a different kind from that which is normally published as an International Standard (this may include, for example, data obtained from a survey carried out among the national bodies, data on work in other international organizations or data on the “state of the art” in relation to standards of national bodies on a particular subject), the technical committee or subcommittee may decide, by a simple majority vote of its P-members, to request the Chief Executive Officer to publish such data in the form of a Technical Report. The document shall be entirely informative in nature and shall not contain matter implying that it is normative. It shall clearly explain its relationship to normative aspects of the subject which are, or will be, dealt with in International Standards related to the subject. The Chief Executive Officer, if necessary in consultation with the Technical Management Board, shall decide whether to publish the document as a Technical Report.

G.3.3 When the majority of P-members of a technical committee or subcommittee have agreed upon the publication of a Technical Report, the draft report shall be submitted in machine-readable form by the secretariat of the technical committee or subcommittee to the Chief Executive Officer within four months for publication.

G.3.4 Technical Reports of types 1 and 2 shall be subject to review by the technical committee or subcommittee not later than three years after their publication. The aim of such review shall be to re-examine the situation which resulted in the publication of a Technical Report and, if possible, to achieve the agreement necessary for the publication of an International Standard to replace the Technical Report.

G.3.5 Withdrawal of a Technical Report is decided by the responsible technical committee or subcommittee.

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