An International Standard is the result of an agreement between the member bodies of ISO.

An International Standard may be used as such, or may be implemented through incorporation in national standards of different countries.

The first important step towards the development of an International Standard is confirmation of the market requirement for such a standard. This is ascertained by consulting the P-members of the appropriate Technical Committee of Subcommittee (New Work Item Enquiry).

Once the market requirement has been confirmed, the ISO Central Secretariat registers the item in the responsible committee's programme of work and drafting is undertaken in the relevant Working Group.

When consensus has been reached among the experts in the Working Group, the Draft Standard is submitted by the parent Technical Committee or Subcommittee as a Committee Draft (CD).

When agreement is finally reached within the committee, the Committee Draft is sent to the Central Secretariat for registration as a Draft International Standard (DIS); the DIS is then circulated to all member bodies for voting. In many countries, the DIS is made available for public enquiry, thereby, ensuring the widest possible consultations. If 75 % of the votes cast are in favour of the DIS, it is accepted for further processing as a Final Draft international Standard (FDIS) which is circulated to all member bodies for formal adoption by ISO. Again, 75 % of the votes cast must be in favour of the FDIS in order for the International Standard to be published.

Standards require periodic review. Several factors combine to render a standard out of date: technological evolution, new methods and materials, new quality and safety requirements. To take account of these factors, ISO has established the general rule that all ISO standards should be reviewed at intervals of not more than five years.

Ref. http://www.iso.org