IEEE SA Standards Board Operations Manual
9. Review of IEEE standards
9.1 Revision
The Standards Committee should 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. The Standards Committee 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 removed from active status 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 Standards Association balloting process.
9.1.1 American National Standards
For those IEEE Standards that are also American National Standards, the Standards Committee should initiate a revision prior to the standard’s fifth anniversary of approval as an American National Standard (ANS) in order to keep the standard from being withdrawn by ANSI. If this does not occur, the Standards Committee can provide a rationale for extension to the RevCom Administrator, who will communicate the request to ANSI. The request for an extension of time shall be submitted to ANSI prior to the thirtieth day following the fifth anniversary of approval as an ANS. A request for extension shall provide the schedule of work that will lead to revision.
9.2 Removal from Active Status
Standards that are no longer useful or contain significant obsolete or erroneous information should be recommended for withdrawal from active status by the Standards Committee. A recommendation for withdrawal from active status shall be supported by a Standards Association ballot (see 5.4) with a 50% return and at least a 75% approval.
Every IEEE Standard shall be considered for transfer to inactive status by the IEEE SA Standards Board at the beginning of the next calendar year after it is ten years past its approval date (i.e., the standard will be labeled Inactive and reserved for historical reference).
A standard remains active until it is officially transferred to inactive status by the IEEE SA Standards Board. When a standard is transferred to inactive status, its amendments and corrigenda are also transferred to inactive status.