Translation services European norm draft prEN 15038 in English for a Spanish working group of legal and judiciary translators at www.cita.es in Madrid

In EXPOLINGUA , Lisbon 23th october we explained the role of our company in some Spanish an Portuguese law in translation disputes and falseness . Right now we are looking for ways and chances to improve "Legalisation, notarisation, etc, according to the national requirements" in several countries looking for sensitive translation mistakes and criminal falsehood in some extreme cases. In our opinion, the best way is to use EN 15038 draft discussions, and we recommend to read carefully this draft text in order to make proposals as soon as possible.

EUROPEAN STANDARD
NORME EUROPÉENNE
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
DRAFT
prEN 15038
September 2004
ICS
English version
Translation services - Service requirements
Übersetzungs-Dienstleistungen -Dienstleistungsanforderungen
This draft European Standard is submitted to CEN members for enquiry. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee CEN/SS A07.
If this draft becomes a European Standard, CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which
stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration.
This draft European Standard was established by CEN in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.
CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.
Warning : This document is not a European Standard. It is distributed for review and comments. It is subject to change without notice and shall not be referred to as a European Standard.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION
EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG
Management Centre: rue de Stassart, 36 B-1050 Brussels
© 2004 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved
worldwide for CEN national Members.
Ref. No. prEN 15038:2004: E
prEN 15038:2004 (E)
2
Contents Page
Foreword ..........................3
Introduction......................4
1 Scope...................5
2 Terms and Definitions ........................................................................................................................5
3 Basic requireme6
4 Client-TSP (Translation Service Provider) relationship ...................................................................8
5 Procedures in translation services....................................................................................................9
6 Added value services .......................................................................................................................12
Annex A (informative) Project registration details. Project log.................................................................13
Annex B (informative) Technical pre-translation processing....................................................................14
Annex C (informative) Source text analysis ...............................................................................................15
Annex D (informative) Style guide...............................................................................................................16
Annex E (informative) List of added value services...................................................................................17
Bibliography...................18
prEN 15038:2004 (E)
3
Foreword
This document (prEN 15038:2004) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/BTTF
138 “TRANSLATION SERVICES”, the secretariat of which is held by AENOR.
This document is currently submitted to the CEN Enquiry.
prEN 15038:2004 (E)
4
Introduction
The purpose of this European standard is to establish and define the requirements for the provision of quality
translation services.
It encompasses the translation process and all other steps involved in providing the relevant service. One of
the key issues here is quality assurance and the ability to trace its progress.
This standard offers both translation service providers and their clients a transparent description and definition
of the entire process. At the same time it is designed to provide translation service providers with a set of
procedures and standard requirements to enable them to meet market requirements. Certification is
envisaged for translation service providers who satisfy the requirements of this standard.
prEN 15038:2004 (E)
5
1 Scope
This European Standard specifies the requirements for translation service providers (TSP), involving human
and technical resources, quality and project management, the contractual framework, procedures, added
value services and term definitions.
Any third party engaged by a TSP to carry out a project or part of a project shall be regarded as a TSP in its
own right and the relevant requirements of this standard do consequently apply.
This standard does not apply to interpreting.
2 Terms and Definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
2.1 added value services
services that can be provided by a TSP in addition to basic translation services,
2.2 competence
demonstrated ability to apply knowledge and skills
[ISO 9000:2000, definition 3.9.12]
2.3 controlled language
subset of a language which imposes a restricted grammar and a domain-specific vocabulary
2.4 document
information and its supporting medium
[ISO 9000:2000, definition 3.7.2]
2.5 edit examine a target language text for its suitability for the purpose.
NOTE This will include checking the spelling, grammar, punctuation, terminology, register, style, etc. and may involve
rearrangement of the text (alignment of the text to match graphics, illustrations, etc.). It may also include shortening or
extending the text to meet space requirements.
2.6 interpreting
act of rendering spoken information from the source language into the target language in oral form.
2.7 locale
linguistic, cultural, technical and geographical conventions of a given target audience
2.8 localisation
transfer of a concept in the source language, which belongs to a source-language convention, into the
equivalent or an appropriate target-language convention. Software localisation involves taking a product and
making it linguistically, culturally and technically appropriate to the target locale (country/region and language)
where it will be used and sold.
2.9 post-editing
examination and correction of the text resulting from an automatic or semi-automatic machine system
(machine translation, translation memory) to ensure that it complies with the natural laws of grammar,
punctuation, spelling, and meaning, etc.
prEN 15038:2004 (E)
6
2.10 pre-editing
preparation of the text for translation by an automatic or semi-automatic machine system (machine translation,
translation memory)
2.11 proof-reading
printer’s proof-reading as opposed to revision of a translated text.
2.12 service product
defined service, set or package of services which is offered to clients by the TSP
2.13 source language
language in which the source text is written.
2.14 source document
document to be translated.
2.15 target document
result of the translation process in the target language
2.16 target language
language into which the source document is rendered.
2.17 translation service provider (TSP)
person or organisation supplying the client with theagreed translation services
2.18 translator
person meeting the qualification requirements in accordance with subclause 3.1.2
3 Basic requirements
3.1 Human resources
3.1.1 Human resources management
TSPs shall have a documented procedure in place for selecting the people involved in translation projects to
ensurethat they have the requisite skills and qualifications.
Translators shall meet the requirements of professional competence as specified in 3.1.2.
Revisers and reviewers shall meet the requirements in accordance with 3.1.3.1 and 3.1.3.2 respectively.
3.1.2 Professional competencies of translators
Translators shall have the competencies listed below, preferably acquired through:
a formal higher education in translation (recognised degree), or
a university degree or equivalent plus a minimum of two years of documented experience in translating,
or
at least five years of documented professional experience in translating.
prEN 15038:2004 (E)
7
Translating competence: Translating competence comprises the ability to translate texts to a professional
level. It includes the ability to assess the problems of text comprehension and text production as well as the
ability to render the target text in accordance with the client-TSP agreement (see subclause 4.4) and to
explain the reasons for the choices made.
Linguistic and textual competence in the source language and the target language: Linguistic and
textual competence includes the ability to understand the source language and have complete mastery of the
target language. Textual competence requires knowledge of text type conventions for as wide a range of
standard-language and specialised texts as possible, and includes the ability to apply this knowledge when
producing texts.
Research competence, information acquisition and processing: Research competence includes the
ability efficiently to acquire the additional linguistic and specialised knowledge necessary to understand the
source text and to produce the target text. Research competence also requires experience in the use of
research tools and the ability to develop suitable strategies for the efficient use of the information sources
available.
Cultural competence: Cultural competence includes the ability to make use of information about the
knowledge base and locale (i.e. cultural environment), behavioural standards and value systems that
characterise the source and target cultures.
Technical competence: Technical competence comprises the abilities and skills required for the professional
preparation and production of translations. This includes the ability to use current information technology tools
and terminology collections.
3.1.3 Professional competences of revisers
Revisers shall have the competences as defined in subclause 3.1.2, and should have translating experience
in the domain under consideration.
3.1.4 Professional competences of reviewers
Reviewers shall be domain specialists in the target language.
3.1.5 Continuing professional development
TSPs shall ensure continuing professional development of all persons involved in the translation process.
For translators and revisers this continuing professional development shall comprise:
professional competences in accordance with 3.1.2;
fields of specialisation and specialised languages;
issues and technologies relating to the profession.
TSPs shall ensure a regular analysis of training needs and shall adequately document activities regarding
training and ongoing professional development.
prEN 15038:2004 (E)
8
3.2 Technical resources
TSPs shall ensure the availability of:
requisite equipment for the proper execution of the translation projects as well as for safe and confidential
handling, storage, retrieval, archiving and disposal of documents and data;
requisite communications equipment as well as hardware and software;
access to the requisite information sources and media.
3.3 Quality management
3.3.1 General
TSPs shall have documented quality management in place that is commensurate with the size and
organisational structure of the TSP.
3.3.2 Quality control
The TSP shall ensure that quality control measures are taken throughout the entire process chain.
3.3.3 Quality management review
At regular intervals, TSPs shall review their quality management processes to ensure their continuing
suitability in complying with the provisions of this standard and modify the relevant documented procedure
accordingly. TSPs shall regularly review whether the stated quality objectives have been met.
3.4 Project management
Each translation project shall be supervised by a project manager who shall be responsible for carrying out
the project in accordance with the TSP's procedures and the terms agreed on with the client (see subclause
5.3.1).
4 Client-TSP (Translation Service Provider) relationship
4.1 General
The TSP shall have documented procedures in place to handle enquiries, determine the project feasibility,
including human and technical resources, make analyses, and quotations, enter into an agreement with the
client and invoice and record payment.
4.2 Enquiry and feasibility
The TSP shall have a documented procedure in place to analyse the requirements of the service product and
the needs of the client. The TSP shall determine if all the required human and technical resources are
available in order to execute and deliver the service product according to the defined requirements.
4.3 Quotation
The TSP shall submit a quotation to the client indicating price and delivery details.
prEN 15038:2004 (E)
9
4.4 Client-TSP agreement
On the basis of the quotation submitted, the TSP shall enter into an agreement with the client to provide the
service product. The agreement shall include at least the commercial terms and the specifications of the
service product.
The agreement can also include the following issues:
 copyright
 liability
 confidentiality
 settlement of disputes
 quality assurance
4.5 Handling of project-related client information
The TSP shall endeavour to obtain supplementary information and clarification of ambiguities in the source
document by contacting the client.
All information and material received from the client shall be handled subject to the provisions contained in the
TSP´s quality management system (see subclause 3.3).
4.6 Project conclusion
The TSP shall have documented procedures in place for final verification, and for archiving, traceability, follow
up and the assurance of client satisfaction.
5 Procedures in translation services
5.1 General
The TSP shall ensure compliance with the terms and conditions agreed upon with the client through proper
handling of the translation assignment from the receipt of the purchase order to the end of the minimum
archiving period as stated in the TSP’s documentation.
For this purpose, the TSP shall have documented business procedures in place regarding the optimal
deployment of human resources to perform the translation project and allied services.
5.2 Preparation
Preparation shall cover administrative, technical and linguistic aspects appropriate to the specific
requirements of each translation project.
After receiving the actual document for translation, the TSP shall check that it complies with the requirements
agreed upon with the client in accordance with clause 4.
Any and all deviations from the original agreement (see subclause 4.4) shall be agreed by all parties and
documented.
prEN 15038:2004 (E)
10
5.2.1 Administrative aspects
5.2.1.1 Registration
The TSP shall register accepted translation projects and maintain a log throughout.
Registration shall make it possible to identify and trace the service product and to determine its current status
at all times. (see Annex A)
5.2.1.2 Project assignment
The TSP shall assign projects to the appropriate internal and/or external resources in order to ensure that the
specifications described in the agreement (see 4.4) are met. All assignments shall be documented.
5.2.2 Technical aspects
5.2.2.1 Hardware and software
The TSP shall make sure that the technology required for the specific project, according to the feasibility study
(see 4.2) is available.
5.2.2.2 Pre-translation processing
The TSP shall carry out any necessary technical and pre-translation processing tasks in order to prepare the
documents for translation.
Pre-translation processing can include technical aspects such as those included in Annex B.
5.2.3 Linguistic aspects
The TSP shall make sure that information about any specific linguistic requirements in relation to the
translation project is registered. Such information can include requirements of compliance with a client style
guide, adaptation of the translation to the agreed target group, purpose and/or final use, use of existing
terminology, and updating of glossaries.
5.2.3.1 Source text analysis
The TSP shall analyse the source text to anticipate possible translation problems and difficulties (See Annex
C).
5.2.3.2 Terminology work
Where no specific terminology is available for the project, the TSP and the client should agree on the
conditions for terminology work to be carried out before executing the translation.
5.2.3.3 Style guide
In the event that the client does not provide a style guide, the TSP shall use an appropriate or proprietary style
guide (See Annex D).
5.3 Translation process
The TSP shall have documented procedures in place for handling translation projects, contact with the client
during the translation process, and in-house quality assurance to check the correctness and completeness of
the service product as well as compliance with the client-TSP agreement (see subclause 4.4).
prEN 15038:2004 (E)
11
5.3.1 Project management
Project management (see 3.4) shall include:
1) Monitoring and supervising the preparation process (see subclause 5.2)
2) Assigning translators for the project
3) Assigning checkers, revisers and reviewers
4) Assigning any other specialists involved in any added-value services for the project - Issuing instructions to
all parties involved in the project
5) Monitoring and supervising the process timetable
6) Ensuring contacts between all parties involved in the process, including the client
7) Giving clearance for delivery of the completed service
5.3.2 Translation work
The translator shall transfer the meaning in the source language into the target language in order to produce
a text that is in accordance with the rules of the linguistic system of the target language and that meets the
instructions received.
This process can involve added value services described in annex E.
Throughout this process, the translator shall focus on:
a) Terminology: compliance with specific domain and client terminology, or any other terminology provided,
as well as terminology consistency throughout the whole translation
b) Grammar: syntax, spelling, punctuation, orthotypography, diacritical marks
c) Lexis: lexical cohesion and phraseology
d) Style: compliance with the proprietary or client style guide, including register and language variants
e) Locale: local conventions and regional standards
f) Formatting (see Annex D)
5.3.3 Checking
The translator shall check the translation for omissions and confirm that the defined parameters (see 5.3.2)
have been met. The translator shall make the necessary amendments.
5.3.4 Revision
The TSP shall ensure that the translation service product is revised.
The reviser shall be a person other than the translator and have the appropriate competence in the source
and target languages. The reviser shall examine the translation for its suitability for purpose. This shall include,
as required by the project, comparison of the source and target texts for terminology consistency, register and
style.
The TSP shall take the corrective measures necessary to amend the translation or to retranslate, when
applicable, in accordance with the TSP’s procedures.
prEN 15038:2004 (E)
12
5.3.5 Review
If the specifications of the service product (see subclause 4.4) include a review, the reviewer, who shall have
domain competence, shall carry out a monolingual review to assess the suitability of the final translation for
the agreed purpose (e.g. by assessing it for register and to ensure that it respects the conventions of the
domain in question).
5.3.6 Proof-reading
If the specifications of the service product (see subclause 4.4) include monolingual proof-reading, the TSP
shall ensure that the service product is proof-read.
5.3.7 Final verification
The TSP shall verify that the translation service product and its delivery meet the client's specifications (see
subclause 4.4).
6 Added value services
The TSP can offer added value services. For an informative list of such services, see Annex E.
prEN 15038:2004 (E)
13
Annex A
(informative)
Project registration details. Project log
Registration details can include, as appropriate:
 Unique project identifier
 Client’s name and contact person
 Client’s purchase order and any ancillary agreement, including confidentiality agreement
 TSP project team
 Commercial conditions
 Date of receipt of material for translation
 Delivery details, including volume, deadlines and delivery formats
 Source and target language(s)
 Name and description of material to be translated
 Purpose and use of translation
 Existing client or in-house terminology or other reference material to be used
 Client or TSP style guide(s)
 Any modifications in the course of the project
 Reference to agreement details
 Other information with a significant impact on the project.
 Any claims for non conforming products
 Corrective measures taken
 Translation status sheet
prEN 15038:2004 (E)
14
Annex B
(informative)
Technical pre-translation processing
Technical pre-translation processing can include, as appropriate:
 Preparation of document and/or segmentation of text for Computer Assisted Translation (CAT).
 Format and font conversion.
 Document alignment for CAT.
 Style sheets to be applied or created.
 Data Type Definition (DTD) files (XML, SGML).
 Obtaining necessary fonts.
 Agreed text type convention.
 Appropriateness of the controlled language selected
 Collection and preparation of reference material (specific terminology, client’s terminology, techno-didactical
material, Internet links, etc.) in order to improve qualitative compliance with the project’s
requirements.
prEN 15038:2004 (E)
15
Annex C
(informative)
Source text analysis
Source text analysis can include, as appropriate:
a) Extra-textual and intra-textual factors (text type):
 translation brief or client´s specifications,
 context and co-text.
b) Macrostructure (intended audience of source and target texts):
 topic,
 genre and register,
 text function and text type,
 superstructure (rhetorical patterns and moves),
 non-verbal elements (illustrations, graphics, etc.).
c) Microstructure (level of speech):
 pragmatics (presuppositions, implicatures and shared knowledge),
 grammar and syntax (grammatical cohesion, coherence, connectivity),
 lexis and semantics (lexical cohesion, terminology and phraseology),
 suprasegmentals (tone, rhyme and rhythm, alliteration, assonance, prosody, etc.).
prEN 15038:2004 (E)
16
Annex D
(informative)
Style guide
A style guide can include instructions or choices as regards:
 Punctuation: spaces, full stops, commas, semi-colons, colons, dashes, brackets, parentheses, question
marks, exclamation marks, quotation marks, apostrophes and accents, UNICODE/ASCII codes.
 Spelling: capitalisation, conventions, personal names and titles, geographical names, company and
product names, brands, scientific names, numbers (fractions, ranges, Roman numerals, dates, time) and
units of measure, mathematical and scientific symbols, abbreviations and acronyms, loans (foreign words
and phrases), hyphens and compound words, hyphenation guidelines, transliteration and romanisation
systems.
 Formatting, type style and fonts: round, bold, italic, underlining, font choices, general symbols (i.e., ©, ®,
&, %, tm, #).
 Miscellaneous: Lists and tables, paper size, gender-neutral language, verb tenses, footnotes,
bibliographies, citations, diagrams, graphics and illustrations, translation of tags and attributes.
 Adaptations: cultural words and references, forms of address, standing details (price, offers, postal
address, electronic address, fax and telephone numbers, etc.), currency and metric conversions, graphic
elements, other cultural items.
 In the case of software localisation, names of keyboard keys, morpho-syntactic conventions for user
interface components: menus, dialogue boxes and error messages
 Terminological choices, controlled languages, inappropriate wordings, language-specific and client
preferences.
 Common errors to be avoided (e.g., false friends, cognates, language interferences, register mismatches,
etc.).
prEN 15038:2004 (E)
17
Annex E
(informative)
List of added value services
 Legalisation, notarisation, etc, according to the national requirements
 Adaptation
 Rewriting
 Updating
 Localisation
 Internationalisation
 Globalisation
 Terminology data base creation and their management
 Transcription
 Transliteration
 DTP, graphic and web design, camera-ready artwork
 Technical writing
 Language and culture consultancy
 Terminology concordance
 Translation memory alignment
 Pre- and post-editing
 Subtitling
 Voice-over
 Review and/or revision of translations from third parties
prEN 15038:2004 (E)
18
Bibliography
 NORM D 1200 Edition: 2000-12-01 - Translation and interpretation services. Translation services.
Requirements for the service and the provision of the service
 NORM D 1201 Edition: 2000-07-01 - Translation services. Translation contracts. Translation and
interpretation services.
DIN 2345 : 1998 - Translation contracts
UNI 10574. April 1996 -Definition of services and activities of translation and interpreting of enterprises.

For more information about our activities, please read

Testimonios de traductores en http://www.cita.es/traductores
Interpretación judicial y http://www.cita.es/traducir/falsedad
Pruebas de falsedad en http://www.cita.es/para/probar/falsedad
Doctrina sobre la falsedad en España en http://www.cita.es/falsedad
Catálogo de pruebas periciales en http://www.cita.es/para/probar
Laboratorios acreditados en http://www.cita.es/veracidad/laboratorio
Manual para el recién acusado en http://www.cita.es/acusado
Denuncias falsas en http://www.cita.es/denuncias/falsas
Falsedad en documentos electrónicos en http://www.cita.es/digital
Estilemas - estilemática - estilometría - estilómetro en http://www.cita.es/estilema
Asociación para la Veracidad Judicial (AVJ) desde http://www.cita.es/veracidad
Último borrador de estatutos de la AVJ en http://www.cita.es/veracidad/estatutos
Participación en Expolingua en http://www.cita.es/veracidad/expolingua
Legislación portuguesa aplicable a las traducciones en http://www.cita.es/veracidad/expolingua /Portugal

Nota final: Las Oficinas Comerciales de las Embajadas de España (OFCOMES ), y también las Cámaras Oficiales de Comercio, Industria y Navegación de España han sido especialmente informadas mediante lo publicado en http://www.cita.es/veracidad/ofcomes

Miguel Ángel Gallardo Ortiz , E-mail: miguel@cita.es
Curriculum Vitae con foto en http://www.cita.es/conmigo
www.cita.es Apartado Postal 17083 - 28080 Madrid, España (Spain)
Tel.: 914743809, Fax: 902998379, Móvil: 619776475 (atención permanente)

(C) 2004 Cooperación Internacional en Tecnologías Avanzadas en http://www.cita.es