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 Chair or Sponsor Liaison. 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.
   
   PAR submittals are done through the myProject system.
   
   
2. Approved Sponsors: NesCom shall only accept PARs from Sponsors who have
   procedures accepted by, or deemed “visibly under development” by the IEEE-SA
   Standards Board Audit Committee. If the Sponsor does not have accepted procedures or
   procedures “visibly under development”, the PAR shall be returned to the Sponsor, for
   potential subsequent NesCom submission, following AudCom's acceptance of Sponsor
   procedures, or categorization as “visibly under development”.
   
   
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 indicate joint sponsorship.
   
   
4. Clarity in PAR Content and Title: NesCom shall only approve PARs where the title,
   scope and purpose are sufficiently unambiguous, as to be understandable by a NesCom
   member not from the society that submitted the PAR.
   
   
5. 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 (if appropriate), 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 the scope and purpose clauses of the draft document
   submitted to RevCom. Since neither ISO, IEC nor ISO/IEC JTC 1 standards contain a
   purpose clause, for projects undergoing adoption/joint development with these organizations,
   the purpose on the PAR shall state “This document will not contain a purpose clause".
   
   
6. 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 where they first appear
   (title, scope, or purpose, as applicable).
   
   
7. 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.
   
   
8. Timely Response to Comments:
   
   a. Responsibility of Sponsor/Working Group Chair - It is important that comments
   be resolved during the “Open Review” period, and prior to the actual NesCom
   meeting. If a NesCom member posts a comment, an initial response should be
   provided by the Sponsor/Working Group Chair within one week, and in no event
   later than the closing date for the “Open Review” period. If the Sponsor/Working
   Group Chair fails to respond to NesCom member comments during the “Open
   Review” period, the PAR may be deferred to the next meeting, or disapproved.
   
   b. Responsibility of NesCom member - Each NesCom member shall post vote and
   comments during the “Individual Review” period (typically, one week interval).
   Each NesCom member shall review comments and dialog during the “Open
   Review” period (typically, about three weeks) as needed, and at least prior to the
   closing date for the “Open Review” period.
   
   
9. 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.
   
   
10. Explanation for PAR Withdrawal: When requesting the withdrawal of a PAR, a brief
    explanation for the withdrawal shall be given.
    
    
11. Extension Requests:
    
    a. An extension request shall not be granted for a project if a draft document has not
    been generated after four years.
    
    b. If a project reaches 8-years after the date of original PAR approval and has not
    yet been balloted, the existing PAR will not be granted an extension and the
    PAR shall be withdrawn.
    
    c. Extension Requests may be requested for a period of one to four years. Extension
    requests shall include sufficient information to provide reasonable confidence that the
    project will be completed with the additional time requested in the extension. The usual
    extension approval is for one to two years. When longer extensions are requested (i.e.,
    three to four years), sufficient extenuating circumstances must be provided to justify the
    length of the extension.
    
    
12. Modified PARs:
    
    a. When submitting a Modified PAR, the scope and purpose (if applicable) must
    match the scope and purpose clauses of the draft document submitted to RevCom.
    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 (other
    than 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.
    
    b. Modified PARs shall not result in a PAR extension. If a change in the completion
    date extends the PAR past the expiration date of the existing PAR, an Extension
    Request must be submitted. This can be done concurrently.
    
    
13. PARs for the Revision of a Standard:
    
    a. When submitting a PAR for a revision of a standard, the scope and purpose (if
    applicable) must match the scope and purpose clauses of the draft document
    submitted to RevCom.
    
    b. All PARs for the revision of a standard shall include an indication under
    "Additional Explanatory Notes" of the PAR form of any changes to title, scope or
    purpose.
    
    
14. 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.
    
    
15. Grandfathered PARs: Any existing PAR activity is grandfathered for extension requests;
    however, should the PAR be submitted to NesCom for modification or to revise an
    existing standard, then the new rules apply.
    
    
16. 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.