From EN 15038 to ISO 17100

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Standards are the result of agreements between various participants on
the market. They do not replace any legislation, nor are they binding.
However, they do define a common standard on which agreements
can be based.
Standards can be used to define the characteristics of products or to
implement processes, for instance with the EN 15038 and ISO 17100
standards.
As a process standard, the ISO 17100 does not define the quality of the result
but creates a framework for a specific process through which it can then be
expected that the result (in this case a translation) will reach a certain quality.
In this sense, the ISO 17100 is not the standard which must or should be
applied to every translation process, but it is an option which clients and
contractors can use to agree on suitable requirements.
ISO 17100 will make it easier for clients and language service providers to
manage agreements and to compare services and prices.
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Standards are issued by standardisation organisations but creating a
standard is carried out by interested parties or working groups. These are
individuals or representatives from organisations that are interested in the
standard due to their participation on the market and their professional
expertise. The standardisation organisations support these interested parties
in the formal processes for creating a standard, especially when cooperating
with other standardisation organisations and their interested parties.
To get the support of the standardisation organisations, the interested parties
need to pay a contribution to the standardisation organisations.
If enough participants are willing to take part in a standardisation project
(and to pay) and the standardisation organisation recognises a general
interest in the project, then a committee will be set up to support the
standardisation work by the standards body.
Overall, the quality of the standards relies on the commitment, skills and
the composition of the interested parties.
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In DIN, involvement in the ISO 17100 was through the standard terminology
committee (NAT) in the NA 105-00-03 AA Translation and interpreting services
sub-committee.
Here interested parties gathered together made up of representatives from
various groups in industry, representatives from translation services and
several representatives from industry.
One setback in attracting more participants is the fee that interested parties
are obliged to pay for the services of the standard committee in supporting
the standardisation process.
But the quality of a standard strongly relies on the qualification, the motivation
and the personal goals of the interested parties in a committee.
The standardisation organisations only check the formal requirements of the
standard.
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The EN 15038 was already an international standard of CEN. In the process
of developing an international standard, the standardisation committees from
the national standards organisations cooperate with each other until a broad
consensus has been reached. This procedure ensures that the interests of all
parties are heard and taken into account, but it also means that all parties
involved must be willing to compromise.
For ISO 17100, this has meant that global standardisation committees
have contributed their ideas and requirements to the new standard.
This procedure is very time consuming as various stages of the draft need
to be scrutinised. First, each draft is discussed in the individual national
standardisation committees and commented on. The comments of the various
standards committees are then compiled and prepared by the leading
standardisation committee, then submitted to all the standardisation
committees involved to be voted on.
This multistage process is repeatedly carried out until a consensus is
reached.
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Why the EN 15038 became the ISO 17100.
In the Vienna Agreement, the standardisation organisations agreed that
standards should only ever be issued at the highest
or most international level.
A standard which is defined for translation processes is clearly going to be
a very international standard.
The challenge of defining an international standard is formidable.
A consensus needs to be reached by all the countries involved, which
have very different requirements and expectations.
This can be a long process with a lot of discussion which necessitates the
involvement of a wide variety of professional and committed people from
each country.
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The EN 15038 was released in 2006. Standards are subject to a regular
review every 5 years. At this time, there was an initiative from the British
standards organisation, BSI, to develop an ISO standard based on EN 15038.
The first draft was practically verbatim to EN 15038.
At the same time, an interested party got together at DIN and reactivated the
former standards committee for EN 15038.
That same year, work began on the ISO 17100.
The current draft of ISO 17100 in English is the result of prolonged discussion
and voting.
It seems likely that this draft will be released with a few minor changes as
ISO 17100 in the near future.
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The structure of ISO 17100 has changed compared to EN 15038 and
focusses more heavily on conventional translation processes.
Besides the actual standard, there are also attachments which explain certain
aspects of the standard by means of examples or graphical displays to help
visualise the processes.
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This first section on scope is often skipped over but is still important. The ISO
17100 is not the standard by which all future translation processes should be
run. Even within the standard, it can be designed flexibly enough so that
processes are in line with the respective requirements. The basis for
designing the translation processes are specifications which are agreed on
or stipulated by clients or contractors and any other additional standards or
regulations. The ISO 17100 sets minimum standards, such as the
requirement for translations to be subject to revision by a second person.
The ISO 17100 is not suitable for processes involving machine translations
or for interpreting services.
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Compared to the EN 15038, the resource requirements for translation process
are specified in more detail. In addition to the technical and organisational
resources, particular attention is paid to the qualification of translators,
reviewers and proof-readers.
A new requirement has been added regarding appropriate qualifications in the
subject area. Here the translator, proofreader and reviser all need to have
sufficient knowledge in the field of the texts to be translated to understand and
deal with any problems. This aspect of the standard has been widely and
controversially discussed whilst in development. The formulation found in the
standard does not require proven expertise in the specific subject area but is
limited to the availability of appropriate knowledge in the general subject area
and an ability to pick up detailed knowledge.
The ability to acquire the necessary detailed knowledge comes from the
requirements on the translating and technical competence together with
research competence.
To prove competence, there is also the new option of a qualification
recognised by government bodies, as at least in some countries, there is no
direct specific training for translators at university level.
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New requirements have also been added here regarding the competence of
project managers. The requirement of the standard specifically states that the
translation service provider must ensure that the project managers have the
necessary skills at hand without defining them explicitly.
This means that the translation service provider has to make sure what
competences its project managers need for the required processes and then
ensure that the project managers have and retain these skills.
This principle can also be found in other parts of the standard. On the one
hand, this ensures that the ISO 17100 is implemented properly in a range of
different situations, plus it increases the complexity and responsibility of those
involved in the process to deal with the requirements.
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The work involved in the preparation of translation projects has been
considerably extended. Here, the responsibility does not just rest with the
contractor. Organising successful translation projects needs the client and
contractor to work together. The translation service provider is responsible for
incoming requests regarding feasibility, dealing with problems and checking
the availability of resources and time.
However, all this can only be done properly if the translation service provider
has all the relevant requirements and information. For instance, it is not
sufficient to just send in a document containing PDF files which need to be
translated in the original source format using an unknown translation memory
and unverified terminology specifications.
It is equally important that all the relevant requirements are defined and
agreed on in advance, for example, the quality of the target text, the nature
and scope of quality assurance, the use of style guides, and the client's
involvement during the translation project.
Thus, the translation service provider is required to create an offer that
becomes the basis for the agreement between client and contractor. In turn,
this approach allows the client to be able to realistically compare other offers
from different providers.
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The actual implementation of the translation projects essentially corresponds
to the existing requirements of EN 15038.
The obligatory revision performed by a second person also remains in the
ISO 17100.
Performing a review remains optional.
The translation service provider has to ensure that a final verification of the
translation project is performed before it is delivered.
Revision: the translation is checked
Review: the subject matter is checked
Proofreading: the target language is checked before publishing
Verification: the process is checked in accordance with the agreement
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A new addition to the ISO 17100 is a section for following up translation
projects. This includes the requirement for feedback and dealing with it.
Feedback is used to find out the actual quality and the perceived satisfaction
of the client. It should also be passed on to the translators directly.
Feedback is also the basis for improvement processes, as it is in the ISO
9001.
Explicitly, the translation service provider is now also responsible for the
proper archiving of translation projects.
And finally, the ISO 17100 now also states that data protection requirements
must be adhered to. Here it should be mentioned that these aspects were
included in the draft before the current discussion arose on systematic spying.
Translations are confidential and often involve very sensitive information from
the client.
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In addition to some extensions and clarifications in the new ISO 17100, the
standard particularly reinforces the requirements for client and contractor to
design the translation processes through more detailed specifications and
agreements. This will result in clients having to deal with the issue of
translations more intensively themselves.
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The ISO 17100 standard is a process that should be the basis for agreements
between the client and contractor. Consequently, both sides will need to put
far more emphasis on the preparation of translation projects.
Flat-rate offers or framework agreements without any reference to the actual
translation projects result in translation projects which do not conform to the
standard.
This can also be seen in terms of internal quality management requirements
at the client.
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Proof of official qualification (3-level)
Either a university degree or training with two years professional experience or
five years professional experience
Additional proof
Translation competence / linguistic and textual competence in source and target languages
/ research competence / cultural competence / technical competence and area of expertise
Further contractual agreements
Cooperation agreement / freelancer agreement / declaration of confidentiality / agreed
security guidelines, etc.
Mutual obligations
The freelancer should inform the translation service provider of any new skills and
equipment without having to be asked so that his profile is kept up-to-date and loss of any
possible assignments from “job profiling” can be avoided. In turn, the translation service
provider must find out and update current qualifications at regular intervals, as described in
their processes. This is especially relevant in cases where “technological security”
requirements from other standards (e.g. ISO27001 ) and legal guidelines apply to
translation orders commissioned from “sensitive” areas.
Particularly interesting for both sides is the extended requirement for feedback and
improvement processes regarding the freelancer/cooperation partners. This means that in
future all translations will also be subject to a performance evaluation within the defined QA
loop. This could sometimes be automated (for example using ErrorSpy). A higher frequency
of full evaluations will also be necessary. In future, the translator will receive quality
feedback for each job. The translation service provider and freelancers can then derive any
improvements from this continuous "QS curve" if necessary. Freelancers benefit here from
having more proof of the quantity and quality of their work for any new clients
(provided they are able to maintain the required standard).
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As in the EN 15038, the ISO 17100 also provides translation service providers
with the opportunity to submit a declaration of conformity.
DIN Certco is offering the so-called registration once again. This corresponds
to a declaration of conformity. It should be noted here that there is no external
review carried out by DIN Certco but anyone that pays the registration fee will
be entered into the database and is then permitted to use the logo and the
registration number. Although this procedure has already been the cause of
some confusion with the EN 15038, DIN Certco is sticking to it for economic
reasons.
However, there will also be regular certifications by accredited certifiers for the
ISO 17100. An external review of the translation service will be carried out by
the certifier in line with internationally recognised standards. We anticipate
that all certifiers will also offer the option of
transferring EN 15038 certificates to ISO 17100.
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The question as to whether a freelance translator can be certified according to
ISO 17100 keeps coming up.
The answer is quite clear. Freelance translators are self-employed. If they
want to provide translations according to ISO 17100 and want to become
certified, their work must be subject to a revision by a second person. It could
be that a reviewer is commissioned to do this.
The standard itself does not stipulate the size of a translation service
provider, instead it focuses exclusively on the implementation of certain
processes.
In addition, one of the criticisms of the ISO 17100 is that it would penalise
freelance translators as, supposedly, they would not be in a position to accept
work from direct customers once the standard is introduced. There is nothing
to worry about here. Firstly, every freelance translator has the opportunity to
work in line with ISO 17100. Secondly, the standard is not a mandatory set of
rules for clients who will only be allowed to give contracts to certified
translation service providers. In particular, major clients with their own
resources in the translation sector will also work directly with qualified
translators in future, thereby assuming the position of the translation service
provider itself.
However, we can assume that opportunities for translators with insufficient
qualifications will continue to decline.
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From EN 15038 to ISO 17100

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