UK Defence Standardization (DStan)

For standardization management guidance and electronic copies of Defence Standards free of charge.

Announcement: How to access the DStan Extranet

The DStan Extranet is now available via registered access. Please complete the registration form listed at Related pages on the right. You will be sent an email to activate your account.

Mission: “Achieving Interoperability through Standardization Excellence”

UK Defence Standardization's (DStan's) main purpose is to develop, facilitate and communicate UK MOD standardization policies, standards, procedures and guidance on standardization issues both nationally and internationally.

DStan is part of the Director Safety & Engineering cluster within Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S).

DStan's Responsibilities Include:

To evolve and develop proposals for the improvement of MOD standardization management policy and practice.

To actively seek to harness support in MOD, Industry and internationally for standards; to co-ordinate and identify MOD's developing standardization needs and formulate plans to meet these needs effectively.

To meet the identified needs either through the use of civil standards or where these are not available, through the production of UK Defence Standards (or adoption of other nation's defence standards via the dual-national defence standards process) with the aim of ensuring that suitable and current standards are available for use in Defence Procurement.

To provide and co-ordinate the facilities and infrastructure e.g. guidance, help and Standardization Partnership Agreements (SPAs) to support the drafting of UK Defence Standards.

To monitor and audit the output of SPAs to ensure published Defence Standards meet centrally defined criteria for content and format.

To co-ordinate/represent the MOD's position on national and international standardization bodies, where policy and processes can be decided or influenced within available resources.

To provide and co-ordinate the facilities and infrastructure to support the drafting of NATO Standardization Agreements (STANAGs) and Allied Publications.

To harmonize the international defence standards portfolio by fostering bilateral and multilateral agreements with other nations in the development of dual-national defence standards.

To co-ordinate the production and distribution policy for Defence Standards and NATO publications e.g. STANAGs and Allied Publications and to periodically review the need for, and currency of those documents and other related standards and specifications.

To operate a "Standards Verification Service" for the Ministry of Defence (MOD), in order to mitigate the potentially serious contractual, financial, and legal risks caused by referencing incorrect Standards in their Invitation to Tenders (ITTs) or Contracts.

The DStan Helpdesk can confirm the currency and validity of Standards contained within MOD ITTs or Contracts, but stops short of commenting on the technical appropriateness of Standards for their intended purpose. DStan can however provide assistance with this as a separate issue through the various layers of support available through their Helpdesk. This free Standards Verification Service is a mandatory requirement for all MOD ITTs and Contracts in excess of £5M. The Service is also available for lower value contracts and can be found in the Commercial Managers Toolkit on the Acquisition Operating Framework (AOF).

To manage the UK NATO STANAG ratification process for all STANAGs emanating from the Military Committee and the Conference of National Armaments Directors.

To provide support to the Chief of Defence Materiel (CDM) via the International Relations Group (IRG) on matters relating to NATO and EDA standardization management and materiel standardization.

To provide the MOD focus for the provision of standards coordination, advice and guidance:

with BSI in relation to national and international civil standards including committee representation and draft standards for comment
for NATO STANAGs
for Defence Standards enquiries
to publicise and promote the benefits of using standards - to DES Project Teams, PAOs, Central Staffs, other Government Departments and Industry, and
to identify areas where introduction of standards would be advantageous

Contact Us

UK Defence Standardization

Kentigern House, Room 1138

65 Brown Street

Glasgow G2 8EX

Helpdesk: 0141 224 2531
Email: enquiries@dstan.mod.uk

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UK Defence Standardization (DStan)

Announcement: How to access the DStan Extranet

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