Here’s another example of a new ISO release being adopted as an EN standard, replacing a European document in the process. EN 473 (sold in the official English language edition as BS EN 473), “Non-destructive testing. Qualification and certification of NDT personnel. General principles,” has been withdrawn in favor of the new EN ISO 9712. The new BS EN ISO 9712:2012, “Non-destructive testing. Qualification and certification of NDT personnel,” is available now from Document Center Inc.
The text of ISO 9712:2012 has been approved by CEN as a EN ISO 9712:2012 without any modification. However, the text of the EN adoption does differ from the ISO publication because it has the addition of Annex ZA, “Relationship between this European Standard and the Essential Requirements of EU Directive 97/23/EC.”
This BS EN ISO 9712 table provides the user with the relationship of the Essential Requirements (ERs) of Directive 97/23/EC and the Clause(s)/sub-clause(s) of this European Standard. In other words, it provides the link between the directive and the implementation via the standard, clause to clause.
As noted in previous blogs, there is a concerted effort on the part of the EU to harmonize the EN standards with ISO and IEC publications by the adoption process. While admirable in intent, the proliferation of these republications by the various countries in Europe does lead to confusion on the part of U.S. users. Additionally, the decision to the purchase of the International (ISO and IEC) versus regional (EN) publications for certification purposes is another challenge for U.S. companies.
In any event, the standards can be purchased from Document Center Inc. on our website, www.document-center.com. Or contact us by phone (650-591-7600), fax (650-591-7617) or email (info@document-center.com). We hope that these blogs shed light on the questions you have about standards. Our staff can assist you with similar issues for documents you use that we have not already commented on.