• Procedure for Requesting an Interpretation
• IEEE Standards Interpretations

After approval and publication of an IEEE standard, questions may occasionally arise regarding the meaning of portions of standards as they relate to specific applications. Such requests for interpretations should seek clarification of the exact nature of the contents of the standard.

Requests for interpretations are reviewed and evaluated by members of the committee who wrote the standard. This officially-formed interpretations subgroup creates and circulates a draft interpretation among its members. It transmits a final interpretation to the party initiating the request only after consensus has been achieved. The interpretation is also given to the working group for consideration when it is preparing an amendment, corrigenda, or revision.

Interpretations explain and clarify the intent of the standard. They do not constitute an alteration to the original standard or supply consulting information. The interpretations subgroup cannot make new rules to fit situations not yet covered in the standard, even if the investigations of the subgroup lead it to conclude that the requirement is incomplete or in error. Changes to the standard are made only through revisions or supplements to the standard.

It is recognized that requests are often received that are really requests for information rather than requests for an interpretation. It is inappropriate to issue an official interpretation to answer such requests. The interpretations subgroup may, however, find that the actual printed standard text is not identical to that approved by the working group and may issue an editorial correction (erratum), a separate posted document not part of the interpretation.

The original requests for interpretations on the IEEE Standards Interpretations webpage have been lightly edited to remove extraneous material irrelevant to the problem presented. Other than this exception, requests are in the form received. With that in mind, it is recommended that the template be used for interpretation requests — this will ensure consistency of style among all posted interpretations and ensures that the request and response can be easily and quickly posted.

REQUESTS FOR INTERPRETATIONS ARE INTENDED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE AND SHOULD NOT BE ACCOMPANIED BY DISCLAIMERS RESTRICTING THEIR DISTRIBUTION. ALL REQUESTS MUST BE GENERIC— NAMES OF COMPANIES AND/OR PRODUCTS ARE NOT TO BE USED AND WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE POSTED INTERPRETATION.

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Procedure for Requesting an Interpretation

When requesting an interpretation, please download the template and insert the the required information. Email the completed request to the Manager, Governance. The request will be forwarded to the appropriate working group chair or subcommittee members. If not using the template, please include the following information in the email request:

1. The specific designation of the standard, including the year of publication (e.g., IEEE Std 1234-2010).
2. The specific subsection being questioned (e.g., Clause I 1 Overview; or Figure 6; or Subclause 1.2.1 Scope).
3. Describe the reason for the request, any special conditions, and any other pertinent information to help the working group understand the issue.

If graphics need to be submitted with the request for interpretation, please insert or attach the figure(s) in JPEG, EPS, TIFF, or PDF.

If suitable for consideration, requests for interpretations will be sent to the interpretations subgroup responsible for that particular standard. After consideration by the subcommittee, which may involve many exchanges of correspondence, the requestor will be notified of the decision of the subgroup. Once the interpretation request and response are edited, formatted, and posted to this page, both the requestor and the responder will be notified. Any necessary corrections will be re-posted to this page.

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Available IEEE Standards Interpretations Online

• IEEE Std C37.06-2000/INT
• IEEE Std C37.013-1997/INT
• IEEE Std C37.13-2008/INT
• IEEE Std C37.20 Series/INT
• IEEE Std C37.20.1-1993/INT
• IEEE Std C37.23-1987/INT
• IEEE Std C37.60-1981/INT
• IEEE Std C37.74-2003/INT
• IEEE Std C57.12.00-2000/INT
• IEEE Std C57.12.10-1997/INT
• IEEE Std C57.12.20-2005/INT
• IEEE Std C57.12.28-1999/INT
• IEEE Std C57.12.44-2005
• IEEE Std C57.12.90-2006/INT
• IEEE Std C57.12.91-2001/INT
• IEEE Std C57.13-1993/INT
• IEEE Std C57.19.00-2004/INT
• IEEE Std C57.91-1995/INT
• IEEE Std C57.111-1989/INT
• IEEE Std C63.4-2000/INT
  
• IEEE Std C95.1-2005/INT
  
• IEEE Std 18-2002
• IEEE Std 45-1998/INT
• IEEE Std 45-2002/INT
• IEEE Std 80-1986/INT
• IEEE Std 80-2000
• IEEE Std 344-1987/INT
• IEEE Std 383-1974/INT #1-6
• IEEE Std 387-1995/INT
• IEEE Std 421.5-2005/INT
• IEEE Std 450-1995/INT
• IEEE Std 450-2002/INT
• IEEE Std 485-1997/INT
• IEEE Std 493-1997/INT
• IEEE Std 515.1-1995/INT
• IEEE Std 535-2006/INT
• IEEE Std 605-1998/INT [PDF]
• IEEE Std 743-1995/INT
• IEEE Std 754-1985/INT
• IEEE Std 802.1AB-2005/INT
• IEEE Std 802.1AE-2006/INT
• IEEE Std 802.1ag-2007/INT
• IEEE Std 802.1ah-2008/INT
• IEEE Std 802.1D-1999/INT
• IEEE Std 802.1D-1999/IEEE Std 802.1Q-1998/IEEE Std 802.3, 2000 Edition
• IEEE Std 802.1Q-1998
• IEEE Std 802.1Q-2005
• IEEE Std 802.3, 2000 Edition
• IEEE Std 802.3, 1998 Edition/INT
• IEEE Std 802.3, 2000 Edition/INT
• IEEE Std 802.3-2002/INT [PDF]
• IEEE Std 802.3/INDEX
• IEEE Std 802.3-2005
• IEEE Std 802.3ab-1999/INT, 2000 Edition
• IEEE Std 802.3ae-2002/INT [PDF]
• IEEE Std 802.3af-2003/INT
• IEEE Std 802.3ah-2004/INT
• IEEE Std 802.11-1999/INT
• IEEE Std 802.11-2007/INT
• IEEE Std 802.11a-1999/INT
• IEEE Std 802.11b-1999/INT
• IEEE Std 802.11d-2001/INT
• IEEE Std 802.11g-2003/INT
• IEEE Std 802.11h-2003/INT
  
• IEEE Std 802.11i-2004/INT
• IEEE Std 802.16-2004/INT
• IEEE Std 802.16.2-2001/INT
• IEEE Std 841-1994/INT
• IEEE Std 980-1994/INT #1,#2, and #3
• IEEE Std 1003.1-1990/INT
• IEEE Std 1003.1-2001/INT
• IEEE Std 1003.1b-1993/INT
• IEEE Std 1003.1c-1995/INT
• IEEE Std 1003.2-1992/INT
• IEEE Std 1003.5/INT, October 1995 Edition
• IEEE Std 1003.5/INT1999 Edition
• IEEE Std 1015-1997/INT
• IEEE Std 1048-1990/INT
• IEEE Std 1050-1996/INT
• IEEE Std 1184-1994/INT
• IEEE Std 1224.2 /IEEE Std 1327.2/INT, October 1995 Edition
• IEEE Std 1290-1996/INT #1 and #2
• IEEE Std 1362-1998/INT
• IEEE Std 1410-1997/INT
• IEEE Std 1482.1-1999/INT
• IEEE Std 1584-2002/INT
• IEEE Std 1588-2002/INT
• IEEE Std 1588-2008/INT
  
• IEEE Std 1613-2003/INT
• IEEE Std 1680-2006/INT
• IEEE Std 2003.1-1992/INT