ISO (International Organization for Standardization)

ISO stands for the International Organization for Standardization. It is an international standards-setting body whose members are representatives of national standards organizations. Its work is to develop and publish international standards that can be used in common across activities, products and services.

Canadian suppliers meet the name ISO in many places, including standards references, technical specifications and the standardization material used by allied defence organizations. Knowing what ISO is, and what it is not, helps a bid team read a solicitation accurately and avoid treating every standard as if it came from the same source.

How ISO is structured and what it produces

ISO is not a single country's agency. It is composed of representatives from national standards organizations, so its standards come out of a body that brings those national members together. The output is international standards: documents meant for common use across a wide range of activities, products and services.

This is the core distinction for a bidder. An ISO standard is an international standard published by a standards-development organization. It is not a Government of Canada regulation, and it is not a departmental policy. If a solicitation names an ISO standard, the standard itself is the reference document, and the solicitation sets out how it applies to the work.

How NATO treats ISO standards

NATO's standardization material offers a clear example of how ISO is positioned among other standards sources. NATO recognizes ISO as a standards-development organization under a Technical Cooperation Agreement. The same material separates ISO standards from NATO standards, which are developed and promulgated through NATO's own standardization process. The NATO standardization document sets out this distinction.

For suppliers working on defence-related opportunities, the lesson is simple. An ISO standard and a NATO standard are different things with different origins. A requirement that cites one does not automatically include the other, so read the exact reference in the solicitation.

Checking terminology in NATOTerm

NATO maintains an official terminology database called NATOTerm. It is kept by the NATO Terminology Office and contains non-classified military terminology as well as non-military terminology relevant to NATO. A bid team that meets an unfamiliar term in allied or defence documentation can consult NATOTerm to confirm how NATO uses it.

Where Canadian federal opportunities are published

Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) is the main procurement arm of the Government of Canada. CanadaBuys is the official source for Government of Canada tender and award notices. PSPC explains how businesses find and respond to opportunities on its page for suppliers of services.

Any reference to an ISO standard in a federal opportunity will sit inside the solicitation documents posted with the notice. Those documents, not a general description of ISO, decide what a bidder must address.

What ISO means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

Treat ISO as a named source of standards, and let each solicitation tell you how it is used. Start with the tender notice on CanadaBuys and read the full solicitation package for any mention of ISO or other standards.

• Identify exactly which standard the solicitation names, and who publishes it.
• Check whether the reference is to an ISO standard or to a NATO standard, since they come from different processes.
• Follow the solicitation's own instructions on what you must submit in response.
• Raise questions through the contact and question process set out in the solicitation if a reference is unclear.

Responding to the wording of the requirement, rather than to assumptions about ISO in general, keeps a bid compliant and easier to evaluate.