Many European Translation companies have long felt the need for a reliable method of demonstrating the quality of the services they provide to their customers. Many sought ISO 9001 certification as a demonstration of their commitment to quality management systems. However, as the ISO 9001 standard does not address the sort of translation-specific processes which many translators consider important in determining quality outcomes, this standard did not become widely accepted as a "guarantee of quality" in the industry. In 2006, a quality standard, specifically written for the translation industry, EN 15038, was published by CEN, the European Committee for Standardization. This was a serious attempt to provide certification of translation-specific quality management using independent, on-site audits by recognized certification bodies. This standard is gaining acceptance worldwide and the European Union has begun including it as a benchmark in its tender specifications.
There have been a number of initiatives in Europe to create a universal quality standard that could benchmark the quality of the translation services and gain recognition through independent audit certification. This includes the Italian UNI 10574 Standard, the Austrian Önorm D 1200 and Önorm D 1201 Standards, the Dutch Taalmerk Standard and the German DIN 2345 Standard. In 1999 the EUATC (European Union of Associations of Translation Companies) saw the need for developing an industry specific quality standard. This initiative built on previous standards which had been established by some national associations of translation companies. This standard was the first European wide initiative. In 2003 the EUATC took this standard to the next level. They started working with CEN, the European standards body, in April 2003 with the aim of creating a certifiable quality process standard for translation. The public consultation period started in September 2004 and EN 15038 was published by May 2006. The EUATC is made up of national associations of translation companies throughout Europe and these national associations have been translating the standard into their own language and cooperating with their national standardisation bodies for publication and certification by independent third party auditors.
The area not covered by EN 15038 is the interpreting and service matrix. While the committee developing the standard recognised the value of including Interpretation within the scope of the standard, it was felt that managing interpreting quality would make developing the standard more difficult and it would extend the process.
Within the translation industry many words are used to describe different processes from one company to another. It is very important for anyone who intends to implement EN 15038 that they understand the meaning of the terms and definitions used in the standard. The standard also uses the terms ‘should’ and ‘shall’. When the word ‘shall’ is used, it is obligatory while ‘should’ is used for recommended.
The following are some of the terms which are defined in the standard:
The EN 15038 standard set out the:
The appendices provide additional information on project registration, technical pre-translation process, source text analysis, style guides and a non exhaustive list of added value services.
This section outlines the level of competence required by translators and others working on the project, the need for the right technology and communication equipment and the need for a documented quality management system.
The standard sets out steps in the Client – TSP relationship. These include:
This section of the standard is divided in three subsections which deal with Project Management, Preparation and Translation.
The standard states the TSP shall have documented procedures in place for handling translation projects, contact with the client, quality assurance and compliance with the client – TSP agreement.
The sub-section on preparation deals with project registration, project assignment, technical resources, pre-translating process, source text analysis, terminology work and the style guide.
The standard specifies the following steps in the translation process: translation, checking, revision, review, proofreading and final verification.
If a TSP offers any added value service, it should make every effort to apply the same level of quality to those services as to the services covered by the standard.
The EN 15038 is published as the following national standards.
EN-15038:2006 is a specific European standard for translation services which covers the core translation process and all other related aspects involved in providing the service, including quality assurance and traceability. This standard offers both translation service providers and their clients a description and definition of the entire service. At the same time it is designed to provide translation service providers with a set of procedures and requirements to meet market needs.
EN-15038 was approved by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) on 13th April 2006 and was officially published in May 2006. CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy (UNI-EN-15038:2006), Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (UNE-EN:15038:2006), Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom (BS-EN-15038:2006).
Broadly speaking, the standard's most outstanding features are firstly, that it defines the translation process where quality is guaranteed not by the translation which is just one phase in the process, but by the fact of the translation being reviewed by a person other than the translator and secondly, it specifies the professional competences of each of the participants in the translation process, mainly translators, reviewers, revisers and proofreaders.
Any translation service under EN-15038 must include as a minimum, translation and review.
Translators who take part in translation projects under EN-15038:2006 must demonstrate the professional competences specified in the standard by meeting at least one of the three requirements.
In addition to complying with one of the above three requirements, reviewers must have translation experience of the subject in question.
The client may also contract other services as part of the translation process such as revision, proofreading, also contemplated in the standard and other added value services such as sworn translation, terminology database creation and management, desktop publishing, etc.