Definition Standard vs. Specification - What are the differences / definitions?

Can anybody told me what is the difference betwwen the terms "standards" and " specification" and where are the basically used.

A standard is typically specifications / parameters applicable to many things or types of things. An example of a standard would be ISO 9001 which is applicable to just about any organization. Another example would be ISO 10110-17:2004 (Optics and photonics -- Preparation of drawings for optical elements and systems -- Part 17: Laser irradiation damage threshold) which is applicable to any such devices any company makes (manufactures).

Another way of thinking of a standard which might be more relevant to someone here is the CD-ROM Digital Data standard (CD-ROM, ISO 9660, "High Sierra") which allows different computer systems made by different companies to all be able to read CD-ROM disks:

The standard that describes how digital data are to be recorded on compact disk media went through several different iterations before the format was finalized. The first step was the creation of the original data format standard, called the "yellow book", by Philips and Sony in 1983. This specification was based on the original "red book" format that was the basis for CD digital audio disks.

The "yellow book" specification was unfortunately general enough that it was feared that many different companies would implement proprietary data storage formats using this spec, resulting in many different incompatible data CDs. To try to prevent this, representatives of major manufacturers met at the High Sierra Hotel and Casino in Lake Tahoe, NV, in 1985, to come together on a common standard for data CDs. This format was nicknamed High Sierra Format. It was later modified slightly and adopted as ISO standard 9660.

Today, the terms "yellow book", High Sierra and ISO 9660 are used somewhat interchangeably to refer to standard data CDs, although the most common name is simply: "CD-ROM". This isn't technically precise, but the important thing is that virtually all data CDs that are in use today are standardized and will work in all standard CD-ROM drives, which was the main objective of all of this, of course. We call this format simply "data CD" for simplicity.

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A specification is typically a company specific document which sets parameters for an item. An example of a specification would be geometric, electrical and other parameters for a specific device a specific manufacturer makes. However, a company (or other entity such as a government) may develop a specification for somethng such as a device or part which will be purchased. Thus, a specification may be developed for many companies as a requirement by one company (or a few companies) which is applicable to a device or part procuced by any company accepting a contract.

STD vs SPEC

If the difference is meant between an ISO standard and an ISO specification the following text from ISO can bring a light in the darkness.
quote:
ISO standards are developed according to strict rules to ensure that they are transparent and fair. The reverse side of the coin is that it can take time to develop consensus among the interested parties and for the resulting agreement to go through the public review process in the ISO member countries. For some users of standards, particularly those working in fast-changing technology sectors, it may be more important to agree on a technical specification and publish it quickly, before going through the various checks and balances needed to win the status of a full International Standard. Therefore, to meet such needs, ISO has developed a new range of "deliverables", or different categories of specifications, allowing publication at an intermediate stage of development before full consensus: Publicly Available Specification (PAS), Technical Specification (TS), Technical Report (TR), International Workshop Agreement (IWA).

unquote.

Hope this helps,

Antoine