EN 15038:2006 European Quality Standard for Translation Services

EN 15038 Certification - Adding Value for Translation Service Providers

Effective since August 2006, the new European standard EN 15038 regulates the requirements for translation services and replaces the old 2345 from 1997. TÜV SÜD AG is accredited for certification under the new standard.

The occupation of "translator" is not a protected term, so there are only a few ways of establishing the ability of translation services. Now the provisions of the new EN 15038 standard define human and technical resources, contractual framework conditions, workflow documentation, quality and project management, and conditions for proofreading by a 'second set of eyes' .

In addition to the requirements of the new standard, TÜV SÜD's inspection program includes random testing of auditing and service provision, definition of procedures and processes in line with the original English version and a documented procedure addressing compilation, verification, approval, retention, and destruction of internal documents.

TÜV SÜD America provides EN 15038 certification through the TÜV SÜD Product Service GmbH division of our parent company, TÜV SÜD AG. Certification of your translation services is valid for three years (1st year: certification audit; 2nd and 3rd year: surveillance audit comparable to ISO 9000 certification). The cost of certification depends on the size of your company.

About EN 15038
EN 15038: 2006 was developed by the European Committee for Standards (CEN) to establish and define the requirements for the provision of quality services for translation service providers (TSPs). The standard encompasses the core translation process including commissioning, translation, proofreading, review, project management, quality control, traceability, and delivery. It helps describe and define the entire service and offers a set of procedures and best practices involved in all aspects of the translation process. The EN 15038 standard is not applicable for interpretation service providers.

Benefits of EN 15038 Certification
The EN 15038 standard aims to unify the terminology used in the translation field, define basic requirements for language service, and create a framework for the interaction between customers and service providers in terms of their rights and obligations.

Other benefits of certification include:

• Higher client confidence
• Continuous improvement of services
• High-quality results thanks to well-organized workflows
• Certification mark serves as unique selling proposition (USP) in corporation communications.