The collective voice of EEMUA brings members’ views directly into over 60 international, national and regional engineering-related standards committees including ISO, IEC, CEN and BSI.
Formal standards are a key focus for EEMUA and its members. As world trade and business activity becomes increasingly interconnected and global, the role of standards becomes ever more important. Good standardisation can make the difference between high quality plant being installed and operated safely and cost effectively; to problematic equipment being procured and installed, which may become unsafe or highly costly to operate and maintain.
Standards apply in a broad range of areas that affect EEMUA members and others in industry. There is a role for standards right through the industrial asset management life cycle. They can be helpful from the initial stages of equipment design and materials selection, through to its safe and optimal operation, inspection and maintenance and its eventual decommissioning and removal.
Ensuring that standards are applied in the right areas and influencing and shaping their development are vital for EEMUA’s members. Well-designed standards can help ensure quality and consistency of activity and ensure that plant can be designed and operated optimally for long periods of time.
Both members of EEMUA’s technical team and experts from within its member companies closely follow and interact with standards bodies. EEMUA is active nationally, in Europe and further afield on standards designed to be applied worldwide. Our representatives interact regularly with over 60 international, national and regional engineering-related standards committees including the International Standards Organisation, the International Electrotechnical Commission, the European Committee for Standardisation, and the British Standards Institute.
Brexit update
On 10 October 2018, EEMUA attended an event arranged by the British Standards Institution (BSI), the UK’s National Standards Body, on Brexit and Standards.
Much of the discussion centred around Notified Bodies (NoBos), and the areas where certificates of conformity are required, in order to show compliance with EU directives. The short term status of certification issued by UK registered NoBos post Brexit is still heavily dependent on whether there is a “hard” or “soft” Brexit.
In the longer term there is expected to be a UK conformity mark, but the level of reciprocity between this and EU versions is a matter for future trade negotiation, rather than the immediate withdrawal agreement. Many UK Notified Bodies have set up, or are setting up, EU registered operations, and BSI recommended that their customers contact them to see what post Brexit contingencies they were putting in place.
Click here for EEMUA's Statement on Brexit.
EEMUA joins UKAS
EEMUA became a member of the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), the UK National Accreditation Body (NAB), in October 2018. UKAS is a not for profit company, limited by guarantee, and therefore has ‘Members’ instead of ‘Shareholders’. The Members represent those who have an interest in all aspects of accreditation - national and local government, business and industry, purchasers, users and professional bodies.
Accreditation directly affects the status of goods and services available for member companies across Europe. While UKAS is the UK national body, the status of UK registered accredited notified bodies is of importance across the EU27, and EEMUA has noted Member concerns about provision after Brexit. Many NABs are run solely as arms of government, and there is little scope for input into the process; membership of UKAS is another opportunity for EEMUA to fulfil its role as the voice of the user.
Standards in practice
EEMUA has developed more than 200 engineering guides, handbooks and other publications. International standards bodies, such as the ISO and IEC, have frequently used EEMUA’s publications as the basis of formal standards, or adopted them in their entirety as new standards. Further information is available via the links below.
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