CEN TC12 AH4 N 51

STANDARD CLAUSE re Alternative Designs for INTRODUCTION
developed by CEN/TC12/AH4 and approved by ISO/TC67 and CEN/TC12

Users of this International Standard should be aware that further or differing requirements may be needed for individual applications. This International Standard is not intended to inhibit a vendor from offering, or the purchaser from accepting, alternative equipment or engineering solutions for the individual application. This may be particularly applicable where there is innovative or developing technology. Where an alternative is offered, the vendor should identify any variations from this International Standard and provide details.

The above paragraph has been agreed by ISO/TC67 and by CEN/TC12 to be included as a "Standard Clause" in the Introduction of the relevant ISO Standards, by Resolutions:

ISO TC67 Resolution 17 (Jakarta, 1997)

ISO TC67 agrees to list the Introduction, where present, on the contents page of every standard it produces. In addition the "standard clause" recommended by CEN TC12 AH4 shall, subject to approval of the wording by CEN TC12, be incorporated in the Introduction of every appropriate ISO standard.

CEN TC12 Resolution 9 (Brussels-1998)

CEN/TC 12 confirms the vote by letter (CEN/TC 12 doc N 167) and accepts the standard clause to be included in the introduction of appropriate standards.

The wording and its position in the document have resulted from extensive consultation. The principle concerns raised were: firstly that alternative designs be permitted; secondly that this permission can not be normative; thirdly that the clause will appear in both the ISO Standard and in the 'EN ISO' or 'EN' Standard. All these concerns have been satisfied, as follows:

1. the possibility to offer alternatives in Europe is granted by the Utilities Procurement Directive 93/38, Article 34; not by any Standard. Outside the Public Procurement context, the Standard is entirely voluntary. Therefore it is sufficient to place the clause in the Introduction in order to clarify the situation to the user of the Standard;
2. If the clause were normative, there would be a problem under the Public Procurement Directive in Europe. A letter from the European Commission (Vardakas, 1995-04-27) makes clear that it is unacceptable to have a general exception clause in the Standard stating that the requirements of the standard are not fixed. Such a normative clause would permit purchaser and supplier to agree on any variations, then anything could be said to comply with the Standard. This would permit exclusive or proprietary technical specifications to be claimed to be in conformance with the EN, and the EN would therefore not be a true standard, nor contribute to opening the procurement market. Therefore the agreed clause must not be not normative. The Introduction satisfies this condition.
3. When the ISO Standard is transposed to become an EN ISO Standard, the ISO Introduction is retained automatically. For 'EN' Standards it can be drafted separately.

N51: March 1998

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