In London, 65 delegates from 25 countries meet to discuss the future of international standardisation.
01.1
A network with one member per country
ISO describes itself as “a network of 177 national standards bodies” (as at October 2026), and says each country has only one member, which “represents ISO in its country.” Australia’s member is Standards Australia, listed on ISO’s members page as a member body. Standards Australia’s own history records that when ISO was established in 1947, its predecessor, the Standards Association of Australia, was a founding member.
Membership comes in three kinds, and they differ in what a member may do with ISO’s work.
| Category | In ISO meetings | With ISO standards at home |
|---|---|---|
| Full members (member bodies) | Participate and vote in technical and policy meetings | Sell and adopt them nationally |
| Correspondent members | Attend as observers | Sell and adopt them nationally or within their territory |
| Subscriber members | Keep up to date but cannot take part | Do not sell or adopt them |
That last column matters in Australia. As a full member, Standards Australia may adopt ISO standards nationally, so a standard can carry an Australian designation as well as ISO’s. The guide to Standards Australia and AS ISO explains how to read one.
ISO also explains how it pays for the work: selling its standards funds their development and maintenance “in a neutral environment.”
01.2
A measured history
ISO’s own timeline, with one entry from Standards Australia’s. The first standard is a fitting one for a page about calibration.
- 1946
- 1947
ISO officially comes into existence, with 67 technical committees. The Standards Association of Australia is a founding member.
- 1949
ISO moves into offices in a small private house in Geneva.
- 1951
The first ISO standard, then called a Recommendation, is published: ISO/R 1:1951, Standard reference temperature for industrial length measurements. It has been updated many times since and is now ISO 1:2022.
- 1970
ISO’s Committee on Conformity Assessment, known as CASCO, is created.
- 1987
ISO’s first quality management standard is published. Standards in the ISO 9000 family have since become, in ISO’s words, “some of the most well known and best selling standards”.
- 2026
As at 8 October 2026, iso.org announces a new edition of ISO 9001, ISO 9001:2026, as “just released”.
01.3
Where ISO meets certification
ISO keeps out of certifying, but it does write the rules that certifiers follow. ISO says CASCO has produced several standards on the certification process, and that certification bodies use them. One of them, ISO/IEC 17021-1, sets principles and requirements covering the “competence, consistency and impartiality” of bodies that audit and certify management systems of every type.
ISO’s certification page defines the two key words. In short:
- Certification: written assurance (a certificate) from an independent body that a product, service or system “meets specific requirements.”
- Accreditation: formal recognition by an independent body, usually called an accreditation body, that the certifier “operates according to international standards.”
The difference between the two is the subject of the guide certified or accredited.
01.4
What ISO says about its name and logo
ISO owns registered trade marks for its short name and its logo, and says they are registered in over 100 countries. Its certification page is direct: ISO does not let anyone use the ISO logo “in connection with certification.” Its guidelines for everyone outside ISO, its members and its committees include these points.
Outside ISO’s guidelines
- Using, copying or changing the ISO logo.
- Using “ISO” as, or in, a product or service name.
- Saying that a business, its products or its services are “endorsed, approved or certified by ISO”.
Within them
- Naming ISO, or the International Organization for Standardization, in a way that is “fair and appropriate”.
- Citing a standard by its full reference, such as “ISO 9001:2015”.
- For a mark that shows certification, asking the certification body that issued the certificate.
So a certificate that names ISO as the certifier, or carries ISO’s logo, does not match what ISO says about itself. The guide to checking a certificate covers what to look for instead, and where ISO says to send a complaint.