Effective 03 April 2006

These conventions serve as a guideline to some of the internal procedures that NesCom observes as part of its review and recommendations concerning IEEE-SA PARs. For more in-depth information on the IEEE-SA standards development process, please see the IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual.

1. PAR Submissions: For reasons of accountability and in accordance with Sections 5.1.1 and 5.1.2 of the IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual, NesCom will only accept PARs approved for submittal by the Sponsor or Sponsor Liaison.

PAR submittals are done through the myProject system. The Working Group Chair shall fax the PAR Copyright Release and Signature Page form to the NesCom Administrator.


2. Approved Sponsors: NesCom shall only accept PARs from Sponsors who have accepted procedures on file with the IEEE-SA Standards Board Audit Committee. If the Sponsor does not have accepted procedures on file, the PAR shall be returned to the Sponsor, for potential subsequent NesCom submission, following AudCom's acceptance of Sponsor procedures.



3. Sponsor Information:  If the sponsor believes that the scope of the project falls under the scope/definition of multiple sponsor groups, the PAR shall include an explanation of the circumstances that justify NesCom approving the project under the proposed sponsor.  In addition, written communication from each of the potentially interested sponsor groups should be provided to the NesCom Administrator.
   
   
4. Membership Verification: The NesCom Administrator shall verify that the Sponsor Chair and Working Group Chair are IEEE-SA and IEEE members of any grade or IEEE affiliates.



5. Clarity in PAR Content and Title: NesCom shall only approve PARs where the title, scope and purpose are sufficiently unambiguous (or can be made so with minor changes suggested by a reliable source during the NesCom meeting) as to be understandable by a NesCom member not from the society that submitted the PAR.
   
   
6. Scope and Purpose of the PAR: The scope and purpose of the PAR shall be written in complete sentences and with proper grammar. The scope and purpose should be distinct and separate statements. References to other standards within the scope and purpose shall include the number, title, date, and source of the referenced standards. For PARs approved after 01 January 2007 for new or revised standards, the scope and purpose (if applicable) must match that of the draft document submitted to RevCom.
   
   
7. Quantification of the Ranges of Numeric Values: For PARs for new projects, standards developers who use general terms to represent ranges (e.g. high, medium, low) within the title, scope, or purpose, shall numerically define such ranges in the title.



8. PARs with Missing Data or Lacking Explanations: NesCom shall not approve PARs with missing data (e.g. unchecked boxes) or when required explanations are not included.



9. Timely Response to Comments:
   
   
   1. Responsibility of Sponsor/Working Group Chair - NesCom encourages the resolution of their comments prior to the actual NesCom meeting. If a NesCom member has a comment, an initial response is due from the Sponsor/Working Group Chair no later than nine calendar days prior to the meeting. If an initial response is not received by this date, the PAR may be deferred to the next meeting or disapproved.
      
      
   2. Responsibility of NesCom member - If a member of NesCom is not satisfied with the response received to their comment, it is their responsibility to contact the responder no later than six calendar days prior to the actual NesCom meeting.
      
   
   
10. Project Deferral: If a PAR/Extension Request is deferred for two quarters without NesCom receiving an adequate response from the Sponsor and/or the Working Group Chair to address NesCom's comments, the PAR/Extension Request shall be disapproved and the Sponsor must submit a new PAR.



11. Notification of Change of Working Group Chair: Any change in the Working Group chair is made by the new Working Group Chair who fills out the Working Group Chair Change Form and faxes it to the NesCom Administrator.   The NesCom Administrator will send the form to the Sponsor Chair for approval.



12. Explanation for PAR Withdrawal: When requesting the withdrawal of a PAR, a brief explanation for the withdrawal shall be given.
    
    
13. Limited Period for use of Previous Version of PAR: The old (or previous) PAR and Extension Request form shall be valid for submission for three months after the adoption of a new form.



14. Extension Requests:
    
    
    1. An extension request shall not be granted for a project if a draft document has not been generated after four years.
    
    
    
    2. If a project is past its 8-year life and has not yet been balloted, the old PAR shall be withdrawn and a new PAR submitted.
    
    
    
    3. Extension Requests may be requested for a period of one to four years.  However, when longer extensions are requested (i.e., three to four years), NesCom requires a detailed justification for the length of the extension
    
    
    
    
15. Modified PARs:
    
    
    1. When submitting a Modified PAR, NesCom requires that the scope reflect the new scope of the standard. NesCom also requires that the purpose reflect the new purpose of the standard (if applicable).
       
       All modified PARs shall include an indication of all changes that are part of the request under "Additional Explanatory Notes" of the PAR form. A change (not of an editorial nature) in the scope of the project may require the withdrawal of the current PAR and the submission of a new PAR.
       
       
    2. Modified PARs shall not automatically result in a PAR extension. If a change in the completion date extends the PAR past its original four-year life, an Extention Request must be submitted. This can be done concurrently.
       
       
16. PARs for the Revision of a Standard:
    
    
    1. When submitting a PAR for a revision of a standard, NesCom requires that the scope reflect the new scope of the standard. NesCom also requires that the purpose reflect the new purpose of the standard (if applicable).
       
       
    2. All PARs for the revision of a standard shall include an indication of all changes being made to the standard under "Additional Explanatory Notes" of the PAR form.
       
    
    
17. PARs for the Amendment of a Standard: Changing the Base Standard:  After the approval of a PAR to amend an existing standard, it may be necessary for the Sponsor to change the base standard (usually, the year of the base standard)  which the PAR is amending.  To change the base standard, the following procedure shall be followed:
    
    
    1. The Working Group Chair submits a request to change the base standard that a PAR is amending to the NesCom Administrator.
    
    
    
    2. The NesCom Administrator seeks approval from the Sponsor for this change.
    
    
    
    3. The change is made in the system by the NesCom Administrator.
    
    
    
    4. The change is placed on the next NesCom agenda as an information item.
    
    
    
    5. After the NesCom meeting, a letter is sent to the Sponsor with a copy to the Working Group Chair to confirm the change.
    
    
    
    6. If, when submitting a PAR for an amendment, the submitter knows which document they will be amending but the document does not yet exist in the system, they should enter this information into the Additional Explanatory Notes section of the PAR.
18. PARs Submitted for the Sole Purpose of Reserving a Number: PARs shall only be submitted when there is a firm commitment to perform the work. Submission of PARs for which there are dependencies that will affect the work shall not be accepted. If a specific number is required for a PAR upon which work is not yet ready to begin, the number can be requested for reservation from the NesCom Administrator by the Working Group Chair.



19. Grandfathered PARs: Any existing PAR activity is grandfathered; however, should the PAR be submitted to NesCom for modification or to revise an existing standard, then the new rules apply.



20. NesCom Mentors: For submittals that do not receive NesCom approval, a member of NesCom may be assigned to the Sponsor as a mentor.
    
    The mentor, acting as a representative of the Committee, will assist the Sponsor in understanding NesCom's reasons for not approving the submittal and will assist the Sponsor in implementing the action(s) that NesCom has suggested.



21. Coordination with Other Bodies : When a PAR is being coordinated with other bodies, a longer timeframe for completion may be granted. For an exception to be granted, the coordination process is to be described under "Additional Information" on the PAR form.