The DIN website offers practical support with standardization

The website of DIN offers anyone with an interest in standardization a wide range of information coupled with a comprehensive search function. The procedures for standards development and the scope for participation in them are described, as are legal aspects and issues relating to standards policy. A selection of pages which are particularly useful for standardization work are described below.

Procedure

German, European and international standards are drafted on the basis of consensus, in accordance with transparent rules and processes involving a public enquiry procedure. Comprehensive descriptions and diagrams facilitate access to the subject.

Develop Standards ➔ Consensus Based Standardization (➔ How are DIN Standards developed?)

Standards committees

Each DIN standards committee, of which there are approximately 75, has its own website providing more detailed information:

• Subcommittees and contacts
• European and international committees with mirror committees at DIN
• New projects, new draft standards, and recently published standards
• List of all current standards for which the committee is responsible

Develop Standards ➔ Standards Committees

Livelink (in German only)

Experts delegated by the parties with a vested interest work on the standards projects in over 3,000 DIN working committees. Members of the committees have access by means of a password to the Livelink online documentation system. Livelink provides a complete overview of the standards committees and contacts within DIN, together with personal contact details.

DIN - Elektronische Komitees ➔ DIN-Aufteilung der Arbeitsgebiete

Livelink also offers information customized to the user‘s needs. This includes access to all the working documents in the committees of which the expert is a member (draft standards, minutes of meetings, etc.). Of particular importance for experts is the facility by which they can cast their votes online in Livelink during national voting procedures on draft standards.

Meine Abstimmungen

The procedures for the drafting of standards are defi ned in DIN 820, “Standardization“. All parts of this standard can be found in DIN-Normenheft 10, a compilation of rules which can be viewed in Livelink. The Normenheft also contains further basic information on European standardization (CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations, Vienna and Dresden Agreements, etc.), international standardization (structure and procedures, ISO/IEC Directives), and instructions on the application of standards.

Grundlagen der Normungsarbeit ➔ DIN-Normenheft 10 ➔ Grundsätze der Normungsarbeit und Verfahrensregeln

Comments by the public

The public has the opportunity to comment on current standards projects. For this purpose, DIN has grouped all draft standards currently at the public enquiry stage on a dedicated page. A search dialog permits searches for standards. The deadline for comments and the responsible working committee are indicated in the details for each draft standard. In addition, the table of contents of the draft can be viewed and a template for comments downloaded.

Develop standards ➔ Comments Standards ➔ Current Draft Standards

DIN SPEC

A new portal provides information on all DIN specifications which are grouped and published under the new heading DIN SPEC. Here, the user finds procedural rules for the drafting of the various types of specification, and overviews of completed projects and projects currently in progress.

Further information DIN‘s website also hosts a wealth of further information, for example under the headings Consensus Based Standardization (financing of standardization, DIN‘s goals, etc.), Standards and the Law (legal significance of standards, product liability, EC directives, CE mark, etc.) and the dates of seminars and training courses on standardization (for example basic information on standards, DIN standards expert).

Dr. Albert Hövel
albert.hoevel@din.de