Acronyms and Language explained

Headache? Confused by the jargon and arcane language? You are not alone! This page tries to 'translate' the basics for "standards". If what you seek is not here, please send email to

For oil & gas industry terms, the following public information sources may help:

ANSI	American National Standards Institute (HQ: New York)
CEN	European Committee for Standardisation (HQ: Brussels)
API	American Petroleum Institute (HQ: Washington DC)
ASME	American Society of Mechanical Engineers (HQ: New York)
BSI	British Standards Institution (HQ: London)
EEMUA	Engineering Equipment and Materials Users Association (HQ: London)
Europia	European Petroleum Industry Association (HQ: Brussels)
IP	Institute of Petroleum (HQ: London)
ISO	International Organisation for Standardisation (HQ: Geneva)
OGP	International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (HQ: London) (formerly known as the E&P Forum)

AG	Advisory Group
AH	Ad Hoc Group
AHWG	Ad Hoc Working Group
CMC	CEN Management Centre (formerly known as CEN CS)
CS	Central Secretariat - the group in Geneva (ISO) or Brussels (CEN) with the final say on editing and publication
Convenor	In ISO, a Convenor is the chairman of a WG. The Convenor determines when consensus is reached. A Convenor may also be a Project Leader for one or more ISO projects.
Council	ISO Council is the group of some 20 ISO member body representatives that govern ISO.
Delegate	A person nominated by a P-Member (or O-Member) to represent that Member at a TC or SC meeting.
EC	Executive Committee - established by ISO/TC67 as being its MC members plus the SC chairs.
Expert	A person nominated by a Member to participate in a Working Group to work on a Project. Note that although the expert does not represent the Member, it is important for the expert to ensure that Members' (national) interests are addressed in order to secure positive voting at the CD and DIS Stages.
JWG	Joint Working Group - between two different TCs. A JWG is responsible to only one of the TCs
MC	Management Committee - established by ISO/TC67 to review and assist in improving the work programme.
Member (of ISO)	National Standards Body - e.g. AFNOR, ANSI, DIN, BSI etc.
O-Member	Observer Member of an ISO (or CEN) TC or SC
P-Member	Participating Member of an ISO (or CEN) TC or SC - a Member with an obligation to attend meetings and to vote on draft standards when circulated, and with the right to nominate experts to Working Groups.
Panel	Informal term used in TC67/SC7 to describe a functional unit reporting to a WG
PG	Project Group - a group that may be formed to work an a single project. In ISO/TC67, a WG may contain several PGs, or the WG may choose to work on all its projects itself.
Project	In ISO, a project is a work item in progress i.e. a standard being written.
Project Leader	In ISO/TC67, the ISO Project Leader is responsible for completing a technically-acceptable standard to agreed target dates. The Project Leader may convene a PG. The Project Leader may also be the Convenor of the responsible WG. Further guidance on responsibilities may be found in ISO Directives Part 1 and in TC67 N 435 "TC67 Policies and Procedures"
SC	Subcommittee - in ISO and CEN, an SC reports to a TC and an SC may have one or more WGs. In API, an SC reports to a Committee
Secretariat	Administrative function for a TC or SC, includes the Secretary and his/her surrounding organisation. This term is sometimes used to also include the TC or SC Chairman.
TC	Technical Committee - the fundamental unit of ISO and CEN. A TC may have one or more SCs and WGs reporting to it.
TF	Task Force - a term used in API to describe the group of people working on a Standard.
TMB	ISO Technical Management Board. All ISO TCs report to the TMB.
WG	Working Group - a term used in ISO and CEN. A WG reports either to an SC or to a TC.

second language	English, French and Russian are the official languages of ISO. Russian is normally not required, but if a document is prepared in one of either English or French, it is normally required to be translated into the other prior to DIS Enquiry, unless a waiver is granted by the appropriate national body or bodies.
DIS Enquiry	the 5-month DIS circulation to all the Members of ISO for review and ballot
Frozen	Process Clarification for "Freezing" and "Unfreezing" Work Items (link to html page)
Registered	In ISO, a document is "registered" when the ISO CS decide that it has reached a "Stage" and make an entry in their database. Note (1) a document may not be registered for several months after it is sent to ISO CS; (2) a document may not be issued or published for several months after it is registered.
Stage	The basic project management system adopted by ISO is a six-Stage system (link to pdf file)

This page is a part of ASWS and is maintained by

This page 'acrolang.htm' was last updated on 25 February 2006.

AWI	Approved Work Item
CD	Committee Draft
DIS	Draft International Standard
FDIS	Final Draft International Standard
NP	New Project
NWI	New Work Item
NWIP	New Work Item Proposal
PWI	Preliminary Work Item (work started but not Registered with ISO CS)
WD	Working Draft
	ISO Project Stages and Timescales (link to pdf document)
	TC67 Project Planning with Stages and Timescales (link to html page)