9. Maintenance of IEEE standards
Sponsors are required to undertake a maintenance action on a standard within five years of its IEEE-SA Standards Board approval date. Subsequent maintenance actions on active standards are required within five years of the IEEE-SA Standards Board approval date of the previous maintenance action. For standards with amendments or corrigenda, the maintenance schedule for all components of the standard is based on the schedule for the base document. Standards that meet the criteria for stabilization (see 1.2) can be transferred to the stabilized standards process, where the document is subject to the requirement of maintenance action every ten years.
A maintenance action on an active standard can
be an approved PAR for revision; an initiated
reaffirmation ballot; an initiated Sponsor withdrawal
ballot; or a request to stabilize. If the Sponsor
does not undertake a maintenance action by the
end of a standard's five-year maintenance cycle,
or ten-year maintenance cycle for stabilization,
the RevCom
Administrator shall notify the Sponsor that
the standard will be submitted to RevCom with
a default recommendation of withdrawal. RevCom
or the IEEE-SA Standards Board may decide to alter
the default recommendation.
9.1 Reaffirmation
Standards that contain no identified significant obsolete or erroneous information may be submitted by the Sponsor for reaffirmation when accompanied by a ballot indicating approval by at least 75% of the interested and affected parties. When the Sponsor ballots a standard for reaffirmation, the entire document, including amendments, is open to review by its balloters. Objections may indicate the need to revise the standard rather than to reaffirm it.
Sponsors shall not conduct a reaffirmation ballot for standards with three or more amendments. In such situations, the Sponsor shall revise the standard instead. (See 8.1.2.)
9.1.1 Reaffirmation ballot
The ballot shall provide three choices:
- a)
- Approve (Affirmative). This means, in the opinion of the voter, that the standard contains no significant obsolete or erroneous information and is useful in its current form. This vote may be accompanied by comments suggesting corrections and improvements. Action on such comments is left to the discretion of the Sponsor in future revisions.
- b)
- Do Not Approve (Negative). This vote shall be accompanied by
identification of either
- The specific contents that are obsolete or erroneous, along with reasons for the claim, or
- Identification of the specific topics to be added, along with justification why their omission is detrimental to the utility of the standard.
- c)
- Abstain. This vote shall be treated in the same manner as a regular ballot (see 5.4.3.1).
9.1.2 Resolution of reaffirmation comments, objections, and negative votes
The Sponsor shall review all ballots received and shall respond to the negative balloter stating either that the information in the document is not obsolete and/or his or her comment may be considered in the next revision.
All unresolved negative ballots, together with the reasons of the negative voters and the rebuttal by the members conducting the resolution of the ballot, shall be submitted to the members of the Sponsor balloting group, providing each member an opportunity to change his or her ballot. Names of the unresolved negative balloters are to be included with their negative comments in the recirculation of negative comments.
Comments accompanying affirmative votes that advocate changes in the technical meaning of the document may be considered for a future revision of the standard.
9.2 Revision
The Sponsor shall initiate revision of a standard whenever any of the material in the standard (including all amendments, corrigenda, etc.) becomes obsolete or incorrect, or if three or more amendments to a base standard exist three years after its approval or most recent reaffirmation. The Sponsor may initiate revision of a standard when new material becomes available and normal evaluation of need and feasibility indicates revision is warranted. The procedure for revising a standard is the same as for developing a new standard. A revision shall encompass the cumulative scope of the project (including all approved amendments and corrigenda).
In a revision, balloters may register objections to any part of the standard, as the revision process opens the entire document to comment. (The amendment process shall be used when new material and possibly corrections of a limited scope are proposed.)
The draft revision document submitted to the IEEE-SA Standards Board shall be a complete version of the revised document. A complete document shall include both the changed and the unchanged text, with balloted changes incorporated into the document.
When a standard is revised, its approved amendments and corrigenda shall be withdrawn as separate documents. Existing amendments and corrigenda shall either be integrated into the base document or eliminated as indicated in the PAR or determined by the Sponsor balloting process.
9.3 Stabilized standards
A standard meeting the criteria for stabilization (see 1.2) is eligible for stabilization if the standard has been reaffirmed at least once, and at least ten years have passed since the initial approval (in instances where no subsequent changes were made to the standard), or last revision or amendment of the standard.
An initial stabilization ballot is required before the standard can be submitted to the IEEE-SA Standards Board for approval as a stabilized standard. The ballot shall meet all the criteria of 5.4 and shall be conducted so that balloters can confirm that the standard meets the criteria for stabilization. Prior to the initial stabilization ballot, a Mandatory Editorial Coordination review of the document to ensure eligibility for stabilization is required.
If the stabilization ballot is completed successfully, the Sponsor will be able to submit a request for stabilization and applicable ballot results to RevCom, which will make a recommendation to the IEEE-SA Standards Board. Upon approval, notification shall be made informing interested parties of the stabilization action. Stabilized standards are required to be confirmed by stabilization ballot on a routine ten-year cycle.
Recommendations to change the status of a stabilized standard may be submitted at any time by any materially affected and interested party. Any recommendations that are submitted should include a rationale as to why a revision or withdrawal is required. However, a recommendation shall not be dismissed due to the fact that the recommendation does not necessarily suggest a specific revision or change to the standard. All recommendations shall be submitted or confirmed in writing to the Secretary of the IEEE-SA Standards Board, who shall forward the request to the appropriate Sponsor.
If a recommendation is made at any time to revise or withdraw a stabilized standard, then that recommendation shall be considered by a designated group identified by the Sponsor within a maximum of 60 days from receipt. The submitter of such a recommendation shall be responded to in writing by the Sponsor within 60 days of the receipt of the recommendation and advised of the decision relative to the maintenance status of the standard. A copy for IEEE records shall be forwarded to the Secretary of the IEEE-SA Standards Board, together with a list of the members of the designated group that considered the recommendations.
If the Sponsor is unable to reach consensus on a stabilization response, the Sponsor can respond to the requestor that the recommendation will be forwarded for consideration during the next stabilization ballot. Such stabilization ballot shall then be initiated within 60 days of the notification to the requestor that the Sponsor was unable to reach consensus. The stabilization ballot shall highlight the requestor's recommendation and the fact that the Sponsor was unable to reach consensus.
If the stabilization recommendation requires an interpretation, the interpretation process shall be used to develop a response.
If maintenance of a stabilized standard is justified, a revision project shall be initiated. The stabilized standard shall be superseded upon IEEE-SA Standards Board approval of the active, revision standard.
9.4 Withdrawal
Standards that are no longer useful or contain significant obsolete or erroneous information should be recommended for withdrawal by the Sponsor. A recommendation for withdrawal shall be supported by a ballot by the Sponsor (see 5.4) with a 50% return and at least a 75% approval.
When the Sponsor fails to show any action to revise, reaffirm, withdraw, or stabilize an active IEEE standard at the end of its maintenance cycle, the Secretary of the IEEE-SA Standards Board shall, upon the recommendation of the IEEE-SA Standards Board, send a 30-day ballot to the members of the IEEE-SA Standards Board on the question of withdrawing the standard. Notice of the proposed withdrawal shall be sent to all liaison representatives. Withdrawals shall be approved by a ballot of the IEEE-SA Standards Board with at least a 50% return and 100% approval.
A standard remains in effect until it is officially withdrawn by the IEEE-SA Standards Board. When a standard is withdrawn, its amendments and corrigenda are also withdrawn. After a standard is withdrawn, the Sponsor is no longer obligated to respond to interpretation requests concerning it.
