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Current Board Priorities

Priorities:

  • Ensuring new & existing BS, EN & ISO standards meet water industry requirements – to enable the long term sustainable protection of its service to customers & the environment;
  • Ensuring WIS & IGNs’ continued relevance;
  • Identifying & securing archived WIS & IGN;
  • Supporting the role of standards in addressing emerging industry needs;
  • Filling Standards Representative vacancies;
  • Encouraging the engagement of water companies & their supply chain with standards.

The Board faces Strategic, Tactical and Operational Challenges.

Strategic

  • Addressing the age of many WIS & IGN since last review;
  • Ensuring long-term, sustainable representation of the water industry on BS, EN & ISO standards’ development.

Tactical

  • Identifying risks and opportunities facing the sector for which gaps in standards provision may exist
  • Broadening and de-risking standards’ representation by a carefully managed transition from experienced consultants to water industry experts;
  • Broadening awareness & understanding of the requirements of the European Utilities Directive and the Construction Products Directive in the specification and procurement of products for the water industry – and the role of standards in those tasks.

Operational

Strategic Responses

The Board is currently reviewing the library of Water Industry Standards and Industry Guidance Notes under its ‘WIS & IGN Review Project’.  This project will review 27 WIS and IGNs and may, subject to final consultation, result in changes to their status or content.  Any document withdrawn will be added to an expanding library of ‘archived’ documents no longer considered current (or in some cases relevant) but which have value when considering previously installed water industry assets.

Tactical Responses

The Board has a standing agenda item to review industry risks and opportunities in which standards’ development or maintenance may have a role.

The Board’s replacement of its former webpages with this new ‘microsite’ provides greater opportunities for informing water industry employees about the role and complementary value of WIS & IGN standards’ development when set against the requirements of both European Directives and the UK National Standards Body (BSi) in product specification & procurement.

It is hoped that, by informing the many, some will be attracted to the role of Standards Representative. The site’s functionality now allows the Board to advertise BSI committee vacancies where the incumbent WUK Representative is scheduled to step aside – after an overlap period for mentoring of the incoming water company employee. Enquirers now have a direct route to explore and evaluate individual roles with the Board’s Technical Secretary and the relevant incumbent.

Operational Responses

The site’s functionality also permits the advertising of both current Standards Representative vacancies and likely opportunities arising from succession planning.