The Standards development section provides comprehensive materials linked to the development of National Standards (Nigerian Industrial Standards), and related publications. It is essentially a one-stop access point to information on the rules and procedures for standards development and for the drafting of standards, etc., and to the tools used for the preparation of standards, e.g. the NIS templates.
Elaboration of Standards involves a lot of activities ranging from identification of the need for a standard to the approval of the standard by the SON governing council and eventual publication. The Standards directorate secretariat it responsible for the coordination of the various standards development process and has outlined the following steps involved in the standards development process listed below..
The process of standards development normally starts from identification of needs for standards by any of the stakeholders ranging from government, individuals to public or private Organisations. After the recognition of need for a particular standard, a proposal is articulated from the department and sent to the Director of standards for the Director Generals approval. Thereafter department reviews the proposal and includes it in its work plan. Then a technical secretary and supervisor are appointed to ensure that standard is elaborated within a reasonable period of time
Letter of allocation of standards project to Technical Secretary TS. to be approved by the Group Head
Read more Stage OneIt is very important that the Technical Secretary fully understands the technical details relating to the assigned project. To achieve this, the Technical Secretary needs to review relevant literature on the subject matter and discuss with experts on topics concerning various aspects of the product. He also needs to gather as much relevant data as possible to aid him prepare the draft. He may need to visit factories, research centres and other relevant institutions. Other sources of information may include:
Read more Stage Two
The draft by the secretary is submitted to project supervisor, whom when satisfied, constitute an in-house
review committee in liaison with the Group Head. The in-house review committee reviews the standard and
makes any necessary amendment to the draft before it goes to the Technical Committee.
In-house approved Draft NIS approved by Group in-house committee
After the in-house review the standard is circulated to relevant stakeholders for their
comments with a target date of about one month. The Technical Secretary in preparation for
the Technical COmmittee meeting collates the comments.
Enquiry draft Collated stake holders comments is approved by Group Head and Supervisor
After in-house committee review and subsequent circulation of the standard to stakeholders fro comment,
the work is passed to the Technical Committee. The standard and collated comments are circulated to the
members of the Technical Committee for consideration in preparation for a formal meeting.
At the meeting the standard is deliberated upon to come up with a consensus document that will be acceptable
to all stake holders. The meeting can be repeated as many times as required to reach a consensus.
During the meeting, need may arise where a subcommittee as a working committee may be constituted to
carry out some specific assignments. The committee is to work within the guidelines specified by the main committee.
Where need be copies of the final draft are again circulated to members for ratification before forwarding for approval.
After all the necessary corrections and amendments, a final draft is then prepared for council consideration.
Final Draft NIS approved by Technical Committee
Final Draft NIS approved by SON management committee
The final draft from the Technical Committee is presented to the Governing Council for approval. The Technical Committee chairman formally presents the standard to the governing council. After the approval by the council, the document becomes Nigerian Industrial Standard (NIS), ready for public and sales to interested stakeholders after the allocation of a unique number by SON Library.
Read more Stage SevenNigerian Industrial Standards catalogued by SON Library and made available for public use.
Read more Stage EightThe standards directorate is made up of the following groups and units, with each group headed by a group head who oversees the activities of the group and reports to the director of standards.
Most international and national standards including Standards Organisation of Nigeria adopt the layout outlined below.
The title of the standard should be unambiguous. It should clearly defined the subject matter (e.g. Standard for ball pen and not standard for writing material)
The foreword should describe in brief the essence of the standard and what prompted the need to have a standard on the subject matter. The foreword should state clearly the objective of the standard. It should also give relevant information on the Technical Committee that worked on the standard.
The scope of the standard should describe the boundary of the standard i.e. the limits of the standard. In addition, where applicable, the scope should state the the various parts of the standard i.e. whether it is in 2, 3, 4, etc. parts and should list the parts.
Symbols, abbreviations and terminologies used in the standard which are not common or which may have peculiar meaning as it applies to the standard should be defined.
This should give details of various requirements that need to form features of the product and related issues for the product to be a quality product i.e. detail of the requirements for design, material, construction, performance, assembling, handling, transportation etc. as applicable.
This will state how the product will be given unique identification for traceability including manufacturers identification and product information like manufacture date, batch number, expiry date etc.
Appropriate sampling methods should be defined to ensure valid result when tasted. The sampling size should be defined that will adequately represent a lot to avoid under or over sampling.
The acceptable level of compliance to the requirements should be defined e.g. when for instance 10 samples are tested and only one failed, then the lot shall be accepted as having met the requirements.
The appropriate method of testing the sample should be defined. The method should be described in detail including the equipment and material required for the test and the testing procedure. The procedure should specify any special requirement for the test e.g. environment conditions.
The required characteristics of the product and any other requirements that are to be complied with should be clearly stated.
Depending on the product, the standard may specify the number of products that may be packed together and other packaging requirements.
The comments from stakeholders are also considered by the Technical Committee to achieve the project objective.
The standards elaboration process gives you the opportunity to interact with the Technical Secretary in charge of a particular standard, and submit your input by making relevant comments or suggestions to the standard being developed or reviewed as it affects you. The Technical Secretary in liaison with the in-house committee compiles the resolutions to make any necessary amendment.
You can contribute to the standards development process by sending in your views now. Start by going through the projects listed below, then click on a particular project that interests you.
what the hell were you guys thinking, 24 May 2015 10:18AM
what the hell were you guys thinking, 24 May 2015 10:18AM
This standard is long overdue and then you guys are just starting work on it now, 28 Apr 2015 12:28PM
This standard is long overdue, 28 Apr 2015 12:26PM
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