ISO 17100 is the international standard for translation services. Since its publication in 2015, it has become the primary benchmark against which serious enterprise buyers evaluate translation suppliers. Yet most procurement teams and communications managers do not fully understand what it requires — or why it matters to the quality of work they receive.
What ISO 17100 Actually Requires
ISO 17100 sets out requirements for the core processes, resources, and other aspects necessary for the delivery of a quality translation service. It is not a quality management system standard like ISO 9001 — it is a process standard specific to translation.
The standard mandates that every translation project follows a defined workflow with at least two qualified human translators: a translator and a separate reviser. This two-stage human review process is the most significant operational requirement. It eliminates the single-linguist risk — the scenario where one translator's errors or blind spots reach the final deliverable unchecked.
ISO 17100 also specifies minimum competency requirements for translation service providers. Translators must hold either a recognised translation qualification or a degree in another subject combined with a minimum of two years of documented professional translation experience. Revisers must meet the same standard.
What ISO 17100 Does Not Require
ISO 17100 does not exclude machine translation — but it explicitly covers only human translation services. Work involving raw machine translation output, even post-edited, falls under a different framework (ISO 18587). If your supplier claims ISO 17100 certification for MT-heavy workflows, probe further.
The standard does not specify translation memory tools, CAT tool requirements, or turnaround times. These are commercial decisions. ISO 17100 focuses on process and competency — not tooling or speed.
Why Enterprise Buyers Should Make ISO 17100 a Baseline Requirement
Enterprise procurement teams managing high-volume or high-stakes translation — legal documents, regulated content, product documentation, investor communications — face a consistent challenge: how do you evaluate translation quality before you have received the translation?
ISO 17100 certification provides a pre-qualification signal. A certified supplier has submitted to third-party audit of their processes and linguist qualification records. You are not relying solely on their marketing claims.
Three protections matter most to enterprise buyers:
- Documented linguist qualifications. ISO 17100 requires suppliers to maintain records of translator and reviser qualifications. A certified supplier cannot hide behind vague claims about "native speakers."
- Mandatory revision by a second linguist. For regulated content — contracts, regulatory filings, pharmaceutical documentation — this independent check is the minimum acceptable standard.
- Defined project management requirements. ISO 17100 requires agreement on source language, target language(s), subject field, purpose, target audience, and reference materials — reducing scope creep on complex projects.
Questions to Ask Your Translation Supplier
If your current or prospective supplier claims ISO 17100 certification, these questions separate genuine compliance from certification-as-marketing:
- Who is your certifying body, and when was your last surveillance audit?
- Can you provide the qualification record for the translator assigned to this project?
- Is revision by a separate qualified linguist included in your standard workflow — or is it an additional cost?
- How do you document and track non-conformances and corrective actions?
- Does your ISO 17100 certification scope cover the language pairs and subject domains relevant to our content?
ISO 17100 at Bayan Translation
Bayan Translation holds ISO 17100 certification across our core language pairs. Our quality management workflow requires a qualified translator and a separate qualified reviser on every project. Linguist qualification records are maintained and audited. Our project management team agrees a full project specification with clients before production begins.
For enterprise buyers managing translation as a compliance function, this process structure is the foundation of reliable output — not a differentiator, but the baseline from which professional translation services should be measured.
