Standard Elements: Details about Identification Number
The Standard Development Organization (SDO) name in acronym form is always the first part of a standard identification number. Sometimes a standard is approved by many different SDOs. In this case, all organizations will be included. For example, ISO/IEEE 11073-10201:2020 Health Informatics - Device Interoperability Links to an external site. is a standard that was approved by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The standard identification number includes both of these organizations.
The date of the standard is very important. As an engineer, you should use active standards. As technology and human needs change, older standards need updating, and new standards need to be developed. In the standard identification number, the date is always included. This way the reader knows the year in which the standard was published. In the example below, the year of revision is 2016.
Approving SDOs |
Standard Number |
Year of Issue or Revision |
Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| ANSI, AAMI, and ISO |
13485 |
2016 |
ANSI/AAMI/ISO 13485 Medical devices - Quality management systems - Requirements for regulatory purposes
Note: The link above goes to the BSOL Standards Online (Links to an external site.) Links to an external site. database, which provides access to British Standards Institution (BSI) equivalents of many ISO standards.
Finally, the title of the standard gives you a clue to what the standard is about. In the example above, the title tells you that this standard deals with regulatory requirements for quality management in medical devices.