IEC GUIDE 108:2019

IEC GUIDE 108 ®
Edition 3.0 2019-11
GUIDE
colour
inside
Guidelines for ensuring the coherence of IEC publications – Horizontal
functions, horizontal publications and their application

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IEC GUIDE 108 ®
Edition 3.0 2019-11
GUIDE
colour
inside
Guidelines for ensuring the coherence of IEC publications – Horizontal

functions, horizontal publications and their application

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 01.120 ISBN 978-2-8322-7257-2

– 2 – IEC GUIDE 108:2019 © IEC 2019
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3
INTRODUCTION . 5
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references . 6
3 Terms, definitions and abbreviated terms . 6
3.1 Terms and definitions . 6
3.2 Abbreviated terms . 7
4 Horizontal publications . 7
4.1 General . 7
4.2 Categories of horizontal publications . 8
4.3 Types of horizontal publications . 9
5 Assignment or change of horizontal functions . 9
6 Responsibilities of Advisory Committees related to horizontal publications . 11
7 Responsibilities of committees with a horizontal function . 11
7.1 Informing relevant committees . 11
7.2 Requests from product committees for new work . 11
8 Responsibilities of product committees using horizontal publications . 12
8.1 General . 12
8.2 Application of horizontal publications . 12
8.3 New work item proposals to committees with a horizontal function . 12
Bibliography . 14

Figure 1 – Different categories, types and aspects of horizontal publications . 8
Figure 2 – Flow chart showing the assignment process for a horizontal function
involving an AC . 10

INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
______________
GUIDELINES FOR ENSURING THE COHERENCE OF IEC PUBLICATIONS –
HORIZONTAL FUNCTIONS, HORIZONTAL PUBLICATIONS
AND THEIR APPLICATION
FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote
international co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To
this end and in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications,
Technical Reports, Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as "IEC
Publication(s)"). Their preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested
in the subject dealt with may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-
governmental organizations liaising with the IEC also participate in this preparation. IEC collaborates closely
with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by
agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all
interested IEC National Committees.
3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
Committees in that sense. While all reasonable efforts are made to ensure that the technical content of IEC
Publications is accurate, IEC cannot be held responsible for the way in which they are used or for any
misinterpretation by any end user.
4) In order to promote international uniformity, IEC National Committees undertake to apply IEC Publications
transparently to the maximum extent possible in their national and regional publications. Any divergence
between any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in
the latter.
5) IEC itself does not provide any attestation of conformity. Independent certification bodies provide conformity
assessment services and, in some areas, access to IEC marks of conformity. IEC is not responsible for any
services carried out by independent certification bodies.
6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.
7) No liability shall attach to IEC or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts and
members of its technical committees and IEC National Committees for any personal injury, property damage or
other damage of any nature whatsoever, whether direct or indirect, or for costs (including legal fees) and
expenses arising out of the publication, use of, or reliance upon, this IEC Publication or any other IEC
Publications.
8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of
patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
This third edition of IEC Guide 108 has been prepared, in accordance with
ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, Annex A, by the Standardization Management Board.
This third edition cancels and replaces the second edition published in 2006.
The main changes with respect to the previous edition are as follows:
1) adoption of common terminology for use in the aspect-specific Guides;
2) addition of the task of the Advisory Committee in charge of supporting a horizontal
publication;
3) addition of categories, types and aspects of horizontal publications;
4) addition of responsibilities for the different Advisory Committees and technical
committees.
– 4 – IEC GUIDE 108:2019 © IEC 2019
The text of this IEC Guide is based on the following documents:
Four month's vote Report on voting
SMBNC/1/DV SMBNC/2/RV
Full information on the voting for the approval of this Guide can be found in the report on
voting indicated in the above table.
This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
In this document, the following print types or formats are used:
– requirements and normative annexes: in roman type;
– notes/explanatory matter: in smaller roman type;
– terms that are defined in Clause 3: bold.
A bilingual version of this publication may be issued at a later date.

IMPORTANT – The 'colour inside' logo on the cover page of this publication indicates
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INTRODUCTION
This Guide defines rules for dealing with horizontal functions and horizontal publications.
This Guide is to be used in conjunction with the ISO/IEC Directives and with the
aspect-specific Guides.
The fundamental concept of a horizontal publication is that it is an international publication
(not a TS or a PAS) that is widely applicable and to be used by all relevant committees and
that has undergone an enhanced approval process as described in this document.
In this Guide:
– the term "committees" includes technical committees, project committees, subcommittees
and systems committees.
– the term "publication" includes International Standard, Technical Report, Technical
Specification, Publicly Available Specification and Guide.
– the term "product" is used to refer to individual products, processes, services and
combinations thereof, commonly known as "systems".

– 6 – IEC GUIDE 108:2019 © IEC 2019
GUIDELINES FOR ENSURING THE COHERENCE OF IEC PUBLICATIONS –
HORIZONTAL FUNCTIONS, HORIZONTAL PUBLICATIONS
AND THEIR APPLICATION
1 Scope
This Guide defines and describes:
– the concept of horizontal functions and horizontal publications;
– the relationship between horizontal publications and product publications;
– the optional use of types and categories of horizontal publications;
– the procedures for the designation of horizontal functions to a technical committee;
– the responsibilities of a technical committee with a horizontal function;
– the interaction between technical committees with horizontal functions and product
committees;
– the interaction between Advisory Committees and technical committees with horizontal
functions;
– the responsibilities of Advisory Committees related to horizontal functions and
horizontal publications;
– the responsibilities of product committees using horizontal publications.
Note: The IEC Standardization Management Board (SMB) has decided that Guides such as
this one can have mandatory requirements which shall be followed by all IEC committees
developing technical work that falls within the scope of the guide, as well as guidance which
may or may not be followed. The mandatory requirements in this Guide are identified by the
use of “shall”. Statements that are only for guidance are identified by using the verb “should”.
(See IEC Directives Supplement Part 1, A1.1)
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document.
For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition
of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1:2019, Procedures for the technical work
3 Terms, definitions and abbreviated terms
3.1 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following
addresses:
• IEC Electropedia: available at http://www.electropedia.org/
• ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp

3.1.1
aspect
specific way of treating a product in an area of application
Note 1 to entry: The areas of application dealt with in relevant Guides a
...