ISO 17100: quality certification

International standard ISO 17100 (former EN 15038) specifies the basic requirements, resources and other conditions necessary to provide a quality translation service.

It establishes the professional qualifications and competencies of translators, revisers (bilingual editors), proof-readers (monolingual editors) and project managers, and requires proof of regular refreshing and updating of the required competencies.

It also identifies the steps in the service and value-added activities:

• Pre-production processes and activities. The standard describes in detail the requirements for handling requests for quotations, feasibility investigations and assessments, the agreement between the customer and the translation provider, handling of customer information pertaining to the translation, administrative activities, technical aspects of preparing the project, language specifications and other relevant factors.
• Production process. We differentiate between the various stages of the production process: project management of the translation service, translation and verification by a professional translator, in-depth reviewing by a second linguist (bilingual editing), subsequent correction (monolingual editing) by a specialist in the field and proof-reading (review of the contents in the target language and correction before printing) if the customer chooses these two added-value services, with final verification and delivery of the translation by a qualified project manager.
• Post-production processes. Standard ISO 17100 highlights the importance of interacting with the customer, both in agreeing on the initial translations services, where all the features of the project are gathered, and in the management of any changes, complaints, feedback, evaluation of customer satisfaction and finalisation of administrative paperwork.

INTRA is ISO 17100 registered with the DIN CERTCO Institute under no. 7U361: further added value, which once again makes the difference.