CCMC Editors' Blog for the Standards Drafters' Community: Post 23: Annexes

Use and layout of annexes in a European deliverable

Annexes are a conditional element that can be found at the end of the document before the Bibliography. They shall appear in the order in which they are cited in the text and shall be designated by a heading comprising the word “Annex” followed by a capital letter in serial order, beginning with “A”, e.g. Annex A. The annex heading will be followed by the indication “(normative)” or “(informative)”, depending on how it is cited in the text, and by the title of the annex, for example:

As mentioned in our previous posts on Figures and Tables, the numbers given to clauses, subclauses, tables, figures and formulae in an annex shall be preceded by the annex letter and a full stop, e.g. Table A.1, Figure B.1, Formula (C.1). Annexes can be divided into clauses, subclauses, paragraphs and lists and, as with clauses in the body of the text, a clause shall not be created unless there is at least one further clause in the annex (e.g. do not create a clause D.1 if there is no D.2).

Annexes shall be listed in the table of contents followed by their indication “(normative)” or “(informative)” and title.

Annexes can be used for a variety of reasons, including to provide information on special national conditions, A-deviations and, in the case of CENELEC documents, normative references. In a revised version of a document, the list of changes from the previous version, if too extensive to include in the Foreword, can be included in an annex.

What is the difference between an informative and a normative annex?

An annex can be either informative or normative, depending on how it is referred to in the text. Normative annexes give additional provisions to those in the body of the document. It shall be made clear in the body of the text that the user is required to use this annex in order to comply with the document.

Informative annexes provide additional information that will assist in the understanding or use the document. An annex’s informative status shall be made clear by the way it is referenced in the text. It is important to note that informative annexes may contain “optional requirements” (e.g. a test method that is optional may contain requirements), but there is no need to comply with these requirements to claim compliance with the document.

Annexes for existing special national conditions

Information on special national conditions shall be given in a normative annex introduced by the following text:

Annexes for existing A-Deviations

Information on A-deviations shall be given in an informative annex, introduced by the following text:

a) If the European Standard is under an EU Directive, the introductory text shall be followed by:

b) If the European Standard is not under any EU Directive, the introductory text shall be followed by:

According to CEN-CENELEC IR Part 2:2011, E.2.3, the exact identification of the regulation of the relevant country shall be quoted (title, date and where possible the relevant clause).

For CENELEC only: European annexes on normative references

Where a European Standard is an endorsement of an International Standard, a normative annex giving a list of the normative references, together with the references of the European publications to be used instead, shall be added. The list of references shall be preceded by the following text: