ISO/TC 334 Standards and technical reports provide procedures for maximizing the benefit of the use of reference materials in these applications.
The ever-increasing need for new reference materials, in existing and new fields of measurement and testing, continues to lead to the emergence of new producers and new challenges to existing producers. The production of a new reference material requires a strong knowledge of metrology, material handling and preparation and estimation of measurement uncertainty, in addition to the knowledge on the targeted property, the measurement methods involved, and the associated problems with obtaining the best estimate of the quantity value or 'qualitative property' to be certified for a particular material. ISO/TC 334 Standards and Technical Reports are a source of this understanding and knowledge. Equally important is that these documents lay out the “generic characteristics” of reference materials.
The list of ISO/TC 334 publications is as follows:
ISO 33400:2026 Reference materials — Vocabulary
ISO 33401:2024 Reference materials — Contents of certificates, labels and accompanying documentation
ISO/TR 33402:2025 Good practice in reference material preparation
ISO 33403:2024 Reference materials — Requirements and recommendations for use
ISO 33405:2024 Reference materials — Approaches for characterization and assessment of homogeneity and stability
ISO 33406:2024 Approaches for the production of reference materials with qualitative properties
ISO 33407:2024 Guidance for the production of pure organic substance certified reference materials
ISO 33408:2025 Guidance for the production of pure inorganic substance certified reference materials
ISO/TR 79:2015 Reference materials - Examples of reference materials for qualitative properties
ISO/TR 10989:2009 Reference materials — Guidance on, and keywords used for, RM categorization
Joint Publications:
ISO 17034:2016 General requirements for the competence of reference material producers, with CASCO
