ISO Standard available for billing practices
Billing for water and other services can be a contentious subject and is often the source of many customer complaints.
In order to provide guidance on this subject, ISO established a Technical Committee to develop an ISO Standard. Three Canadians from CWWA participated in the development of the Standard. ISO 14452:2012 Network services billing – Requirements was published in 2012. It serves as a framework for utility services to ensure their customers receive clearly comprehensible, accurate, timely and complete bills. What’s more, it should result in fewer complaints for utility services and, in so doing, reduce operating costs, improve debt recovery, and increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.
This standard is a valuable reference guide for any water service and should be reviewed against current practices.
A new standard on water utility governance
A proposal has been received by ISO TC 224 for the development of a new standard:
"Principles for effective corporate governance of water utilities" from France, Australia and China. The scope of the standard is stated as being:
The guideline defines effective corporate governance in which a water utility operates. These guidelines propose principles with a focus on the roles and responsibilities of the responsible bodies, the Owner and the Management staff, and the decision-making process involving the relevant stakeholders.
The document presents processes and practices that are used for making decisions taking into account the political, institutional and administrative rules. They are to be implemented in any specific context regardless of size or location.
The Canadian Mirror Committee (MC) to ISO TC 224 has indicated that it would support the proposal and participate in its development, but believes that others, who are not currently members of the MC may have an interest in participating in its development. Participating in the MC provides that opportunity, both by reviewing the document as it develops or by attending meetings of the global group of experts actually writing the standard.
Any one interested in joining the Mirror committee for this purpose should contact Duncan Ellison.
More Information on ISO TC 224
Visit the Committee’s own communication website
Canadian Water and Wastewater Association