Standards affect everyone, every day. They influence how our products are made, how services are delivered, and how organizational risks are managed. They help ensure safety, quality and consistency, often without us even noticing.
Because standards affect us all, they work best when they reflect a broad range of voices, lived experiences and expertise. Everyone can get involved in the standards development process, and one of the simplest and most impactful ways is through participating in a public consultation.
In this blog, we’ll explain what the public consultation process involves, how to comment on a draft, and the impact your comments could have.
What is a DPC and public consultation?
Firstly, let’s go over some definitions:
A draft for public comment (DPC) is a draft version of a British Standard that’s made available for public feedback. A DPC is expected to be a mature draft, reflecting at least the proposed technical content of the standard.
In addition to inviting comments on the text, DPCs can be used to pose specific questions to seek opinions from a wider community on particular points.
The public consultation refers to the set period during which this draft is live and open for comment. This typically lasts one month for Publicly Available Specifications (PASs) and two months for national standards and occurs during the standards development process.
Public consultations are a common feature of many processes, from local council planning proposals to government policy. Standards are no different. Opening drafts up for public input helps ensure the final version is more transparent, inclusive and relevant to the people it may impact.
Once the committee responsible for drafting the standard is satisfied with its content, the DPC is published online. It’s free to access, and anyone can comment. This stage of the process helps confirm that the draft is fit for purpose and can highlight additional perspectives or practical considerations that strengthen the published standard.
There are three different types of comments you can make when reviewing a DPC:
- General comments on the standard as a whole or on aspects that are neither technical nor
editorial. - Technical comments on the technical content of the standard.
- Editorial comments such as corrections to spelling or rewording to express the technical point
more clearly.
Why do public consultations matter?
Public consultations are a fundamental part of the standards development process. Not everyone has the capacity to join a committee or panel to create a standard, but it’s still important that their voice is heard. Maybe you're a consumer with lived experience. Maybe you're in industry and see emerging risks firsthand. By commenting on a draft, your insight could surface challenges, perspectives or improvements that make a real difference.
Your comment could:
- Improve the clarity of key guidance.
- Highlight a practical issue the committee hadn’t considered.
- Ensure the language used is more inclusive or accessible.
The more varied the perspectives, the stronger and more relevant the standard becomes.
What happens after a public consultation
Once the public consultation closes, all comments are reviewed by the relevant panel of experts and BSI staff. Each one is carefully considered, and many lead to changes that improve the draft. Even where no change is made, the reasoning is documented to ensure transparency throughout.
If the consultation process results in fundamental changes to the draft standard, for example, a major change to the scope which introduces an entirely new topic area, it would go through a second consultation once those changes have been made.
The draft then continues to be refined until the panel reaches consensus. Only then can it progress to publication as a formal standard. It’s a collaborative process that draws on technical expertise, lived experience and public insight to create guidance that is credible, practical and widely supported.
Ready to have your say?
Standards shape the world, and your voice helps shape standards. All draft standards open for public consultation can be viewed and commented on our Standards Development Portal. You can browse by topic, or view the latest DPCs. For further support on using the platform to comment on a DPC, please refer to our user guide. Standards affect everyone, every day. They influence how our products are made, how services are delivered, and how organizational risks are managed. They help ensure safety, quality and consistency, often without us even noticing.
Because standards affect us all, they work best when they reflect a broad range of voices, lived experiences and expertise. Everyone can get involved in the standards development process, and one of the simplest and most impactful ways is through participating in a public consultation.
In this blog, we’ll explain what the public consultation process involves, how to comment on a draft, and the impact your comments could have.
What is a DPC and public consultation?
Firstly, let’s go over some definitions:
A draft for public comment (DPC) is a draft version of a British Standard that’s made available for public feedback. A DPC is expected to be a mature draft, reflecting at least the proposed technical content of the standard.
In addition to inviting comments on the text, DPCs can be used to pose specific questions to seek opinions from a wider community on particular points.
The public consultation refers to the set period during which this draft is live and open for comment. This typically lasts one month for Publicly Available Specifications (PASs) and two months for national standards and occurs during the standards development process.
Public consultations are a common feature of many processes, from local council planning proposals to government policy. Standards are no different. Opening drafts up for public input helps ensure the final version is more transparent, inclusive and relevant to the people it may impact.
Once the committee responsible for drafting the standard is satisfied with its content, the DPC is published online. It’s free to access, and anyone can comment. This stage of the process helps confirm that the draft is fit for purpose and can highlight additional perspectives or practical considerations that strengthen the published standard.
There are three different types of comments you can make when reviewing a DPC:
- General comments on the standard as a whole or on aspects that are neither technical nor
editorial. - Technical comments on the technical content of the standard.
- Editorial comments such as corrections to spelling or rewording to express the technical point more clearly.
Why do public consultations matter?
Public consultations are a fundamental part of the standards development process. Not everyone has the capacity to join a committee or panel to create a standard, but it’s still important that their voice is heard. Maybe you're a consumer with lived experience. Maybe you're in industry and see emerging risks firsthand. By commenting on a draft, your insight could surface challenges, perspectives or improvements that make a real difference.
Your comment could:
- Improve the clarity of key guidance.
- Highlight a practical issue the committee hadn’t considered.
- Ensure the language used is more inclusive or accessible.
The more varied the perspectives, the stronger and more relevant the standard becomes.
What happens after a public consultation
Once the public consultation closes, all comments are reviewed by the relevant panel of experts and BSI staff. Each one is carefully considered, and many lead to changes that improve the draft. Even where no change is made, the reasoning is documented to ensure transparency throughout.
If the consultation process results in fundamental changes to the draft standard, for example, a major change to the scope which introduces an entirely new topic area, it would go through a second consultation once those changes have been made.
The draft then continues to be refined until the panel reaches consensus. Only then can it progress to publication as a formal standard. It’s a collaborative process that draws on technical expertise, lived experience and public insight to create guidance that is credible, practical and widely supported.
