Mountaineering Equipment Acronyms

There are a number of acronyms which pop up every so often in connection with mountaineering equipment. For instance, what is the UIAA label? The following may help.

UIAA:

Union International des Associations dāAlpinism, The International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation. Both the name as well as UIAA are registered. It is the organization that represents several million mountaineers and climbers, worldwide, on international issues. It has adopted the name World Mountaineering and Climbing at the beginning of 1998, but is still maintaining the acronym. Its Safety Commission produces standards for climbing equipment.

CEN:

ComitŽe EuropŽen de Normalisation, European Committee for Standardization. This is the general equivalent for the European Union (EU) of the Canadian Standards Association in Canada. It is responsible for creating and maintaining standards.

CE:

This mark or logo is found on products which are produced to a certain standard set by CEN, for instance on crampons. It may only be applied to products that have been independently type tested and approved by an accredited body (Notified Body). Since 1995, within the EU, all climbing and mountaineering products which protect the climber from falls from a height have been classed as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and must carry the CE logo.

EN 892:

All standards created by CEN start with EN (European Norm) followed by a number. This particular number, 892, refers to the standard for Dynamic Mountaineering Ropes. Most standards for mountaineering and climbing equipment were first developed within the Safety Commission of the UIAA. Many members of the Commission then became members of the CEN working groups who developed the standards for CEN. The CEN standards were then adopted by the UIAA, but are often enhanced with additional requirements.

prEN:

When the EN is prefixed with "pr" it means that the standard is preliminary and has not been officially approved by CEN.

UIAA 101:

All UIAA standards start with UIAA, followed by a number. The number 101 refers to the standard for climbing ropes, the very first standard created by the UIAA almost 50 years ago. UIAA standards apply worldwide, while the CE logo is only required within the EU. As mentioned above, the UIAA standards are mostly similar to the CEN standards but in some cases call for additional requirements. Once a product has been certified as satisfying the UIAA standard, it may carry the UIAA label, frequently seen on climbing ropes.

ISO 9000:

Refers to a series of quality management systems standards. A company has to be registered/certified under ISO 9000. An organization known as a "quality systems registrar" performs initial assessment and on-going audits to verify compliance with ISO 9000 within a company. The ISO 9000 series applies to organizations of any size, in any industry (manufacturing and service-oriented). It is not possible to register to ISO 9000. Instead, a company must choose to register to one of the three quality systems standards: ISO 9001, ISO 9002 or ISO 9003. The choice depends on what types of products or services the organization provides. Starting January 1st, 2000, the UIAA label will only be awarded to a product which is manufactured according to a quality system, applicable to the product group, independently certified at least as conforming to ISO 9002.

Canada has been a leader in this field.. The Standards Council of Canada holds the chair and secretariat for the ISO technical committee responsible for the ISO 9000 series. It also is the accreditation body for quality systems registrars in Canada.