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International Classification for Standards

 

 
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International Classification for Standards
 
 
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International Classification for Standards (ICS) is an international classification system for technical standards
Standardization

Standardization is the process of developing and agreeing upon Standard . A standard is a document that establishes uniform engineering or technical specifications, criteria, methods, processes, or practices....
. It is designed to cover every economic sector and virtually every activity of the humankind where technical standards
Standardization

Standardization is the process of developing and agreeing upon Standard . A standard is a document that establishes uniform engineering or technical specifications, criteria, methods, processes, or practices....
 may be used.

Developed and maintained by the International Organization for Standardization
International Organization for Standardization

The International Organization for Standardization , widely known as ISO , is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations....
, the ICS is intended to be a continuous work in progress and is updated when necessary. The latest edition of the ICS can be downloaded free of charge from the ISO web site.

Anyone may submit a proposal for modifications or additions to the ICS.

ICS serves as a structure for catalogues and database
Database

A database is a structured collection of records or data that is stored in a computer system. The structure is achieved by organizing the data according to a database model....
s of technical standards
Standardization

Standardization is the process of developing and agreeing upon Standard . A standard is a document that establishes uniform engineering or technical specifications, criteria, methods, processes, or practices....
 and other normative documents, and as a basis for standing-order systems for international, regional and national standards.

ICS uses an hierarchical classification, which consists of three nested levels called fields (Level 1), groups (Level 2) and sub-groups (Level 3).






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International Classification for Standards (ICS) is an international classification system for technical standards
Standardization

Standardization is the process of developing and agreeing upon Standard . A standard is a document that establishes uniform engineering or technical specifications, criteria, methods, processes, or practices....
. It is designed to cover every economic sector and virtually every activity of the humankind where technical standards
Standardization

Standardization is the process of developing and agreeing upon Standard . A standard is a document that establishes uniform engineering or technical specifications, criteria, methods, processes, or practices....
 may be used.

Developed and maintained by the International Organization for Standardization
International Organization for Standardization

The International Organization for Standardization , widely known as ISO , is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations....
, the ICS is intended to be a continuous work in progress and is updated when necessary. The latest edition of the ICS can be downloaded free of charge from the ISO web site.

Anyone may submit a proposal for modifications or additions to the ICS.

Purpose

The ICS serves as a structure for catalogues and database
Database

A database is a structured collection of records or data that is stored in a computer system. The structure is achieved by organizing the data according to a database model....
s of technical standards
Standardization

Standardization is the process of developing and agreeing upon Standard . A standard is a document that establishes uniform engineering or technical specifications, criteria, methods, processes, or practices....
 and other normative documents, and as a basis for standing-order systems for international, regional and national standards.

Classification principles

The ICS uses an hierarchical classification, which consists of three nested levels called fields (Level 1), groups (Level 2) and sub-groups (Level 3). Each field is subdivided into groups, which are further divided into sub-groups.

All classification levels are designated by a classification code (called notation) and a title. The notation is a set of Arabic numerals.

Top-level items, which have no parent levels, use a two-digit notation, for example:
43 ROAD VEHICLE ENGINEERING


The notations for groups and sub-groups include the parent-level notations. The example below shows a notation for Sub-Group 20 (Level 3), which belongs to Group 040 (Level 2) in Field 43 (Level 1).
43.040.20 Lighting, signaling and warning devices


Level 1 (Fields)


A field is the first level in the International Classification for Standards. It may represent one or a combination of the following:
  • A sector of the economy such as agriculture
    Agriculture

    Agriculture refers to the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of civilization, with the animal husbandry of domestication animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more Population density and Social stratification societies....
    , mining
    Mining

    Mining is the extraction of value minerals or other geology materials from the earth, usually from an ore body, vein or seam. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, Sodium chloride and potash....
    , construction
    Construction

    In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of multitasking....
     or the packaging industry;
  • A technology such as telecommunications or food processing
    Food technology

    Food technology, or Food tech for short is the application of food science to the selection, food preservation, Food processing, packaging, Food distribution, and use of safety, nutrition, and Healthy diet....
    ;
  • An activity such as environment protection, safety
    Safety

    Safety is the state of being "safe" , the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure, damage, error, accidents, harm or any other event which could be considered non-desirable....
     assurance and protection of public health
    Public health

    Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals." It is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based on population health analysis....
    ;
  • A field of science such as mathematics
    Mathematics

    Mathematics is the study of quantity, structure, space, change, and related topics of pattern and form. Mathematicians seek out patterns whether found in numbers, space, natural science, computers, imaginary abstractions, or elsewhere....
     or astronomy
    Astronomy

    Astronomy is the science of Astronomical object and Phenomenon that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere . It is concerned with the evolution, physics, chemistry, meteorology, and motion of celestial objects, as well as the physical cosmology....
    .


At present the classification includes 40 fields.

01 General. Terminology. Standardization. Documentation


03 Sociology. Services. Formation And Management Of Business Entities. Administration. Transportation


07 Mathematics. Natural Sciences


11 Health Care Technology


13 Environment. Health. Safety


17 Metrology And Measurement. Physical Phenomena


19 Testing


21 Mechanical Systems And Components For General Use


23 Fluid Systems And Components For General Use


25 Manufacturing Engineering


27 Energy And Thermal Engineering


29 Electrical Engineering


31 Electronics


33 Telecommunications. Audio And Video Engineering


35 Information Technology. Office Machines


37 Image Technology


39 Precision Mechanics. Jewelry


43 Road Vehicle Engineering


45 Railway Engineering


47 Shipbuilding And Marine Structures


49 Aircraft And Space Vehicle Engineering


53 Hoisting And Conveying Equipment. Materials Handling


55 Packaging And Distribution Of Goods


59 Textile And Leather Technology


61 Clothing Industry


65 Agriculture


67 Food Technology


71 Chemical And Petrochemical Technology


73 Mining And Minerals


75 Petroleum, Natural Gas, And Related Technologies


77 Metallurgy


79 Wood Technology


81 Glass And Ceramics Industries


83 Rubber, Asbestos, And Plastics Industries


85 Pulp And Paper Technology


87 Paint And Coating Industries


91 Construction. Building Materials


93 Civil Engineering


95 Military Engineering


97 Household And Commercial Equipment. Recreation. Sports


Level 2 (Groups)


The ICS second level, the group, is a subdivision of the field.

Level 3 (Sub-Groups)


Sub-groups are used in the ICS to subdivide groups into subjects that pertain to a particular aspect of the subject covered by a given group. Regardless of the subject, virtually all groups include a sub-group No. 01 that covers the complete subject of the respective group. In addition, most of the groups contain a sub-group No. 99 for standards on subjects which do not correspond either to the subjects of the general sub-groups or to the subjects of the specific sub-groups of the respective groups.

Level 4 (Units)


Level 4 subdivisions are not part of the official ICS document. The ICS rules however allow users of the classification system to subdivide the official ICS sub-groups into so-called units, making them a Level 4 component of the International Classification for Standards. This is accomplished by adding a two-digit number to the notation of the sub-group being subdivided. However, instead of a period, new notations use a hyphen
Hyphen

A hyphen is a punctuation mark. It is used both to join words and also to separate syllables of a single word. It is often confused with the dash , which are longer and have different uses, and with the minus sign which is also longer....
 as a separator. For example:
35.220.20-10 Magnetic tapes


Trivia

  • The International Classification for Standards has 99 top-level divisions of which only 40 are presently used. The remaining 59 divisions are reserved for topics that are not yet known.


  • There are three "official" levels in the ICS system, each holding ninety nine (99), nine hundred and ninety nine (999) and ninety nine (99) subsets, respectively.


  • Each field of the ICS is designed to hold a maximum of 999 groups. The number 999 is a Kaprekar number
    Kaprekar number

    In mathematics, a Kaprekar number for a given Base is a non-negative integer, the representation of whose square in that base can be split into two parts that add up to the original number again....
     since its square (999² = 998,001) can be split into two parts, 998 and 001, which add up to the original number again (998 + 001 = 999).


  • Although any group in the ICS may contain no more than 99 "official" sub-groups, the holding capacity of the group can be expanded 99 times by using "unofficial" Level 4 subdivisions, an option that is built into the ICS. Adding Level 4 subdivisions to all sub-groups within a group increases the group's holding capacity to 9 801 subjects. Splitting this number into two parts, 98 and 01, and then adding them produces 99, the maximum number of "official" sub-groups in any given group of the ICS.


  • The expanded version of the International Classification for Standards is capable of covering nearly 1 billion subjects (969,328,701 to be exact). This can be achieved without any restructuring of its numerical coding system. Since there are currently about 780 000 national standards in the world, the number of subjects that the ICS can offer for classification purposes exceeds 1 200 times the total number of documents that are available for classification.


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