National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of ISO 7001:2023. It supersedes BS ISO 7001:2007+A4:2017, which is withdrawn.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee PH/8/2, Graphical Symbols - Public Information Symbols.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

The UK committee draws users’ attention to National Annex NA, which includes public information symbols from the withdrawn standard, BS 8501:2002. The UK committee is of the opinion that the symbols included in National Annex NA are still of benefit to UK users of this standard.

Contractual and legal considerations

This publication has been prepared in good faith, however no representation, warranty, assurance or undertaking (express or implied) is or will be made, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by BSI in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of this publication. All and any such responsibility and liability is expressly disclaimed to the full extent permitted by the law.

This publication is provided as is, and is to be used at the recipient’s own risk.

The recipient is advised to consider seeking professional guidance with respect to its use of this publication.

This publication is not intended to constitute a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 28 February 2023.

Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents).

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not constitute an endorsement.

For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.

This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 145, Graphical symbols, Subcommittee SC 1, Public information symbols.

This fourth edition cancels and replaces the third edition (ISO 7001:2007), which has been technically revised. It also incorporates the amendments ISO 7001:2007/Amd 1:2013, ISO 7001:2007/Amd 2:2015, ISO 7001:2007/Amd 3:2016, ISO 7001:2007/Amd 4:2017 and ISO 7001:2007/DAmd 5:2021 and the Technical Corrigendum ISO 7001:2007/Amd 1:2013/Cor. 1:2014.

The main changes are as follows:

addition of previously unpublished public information symbols (PI CF 021, PI CF 022, PI PF 077, PI PF 078, PI PF 079, PI PF 080, PI PF 081, PI PF 082 and PI TF 044);
addition of a new category of public information symbols, Accessibility, with the code PI AC and the transfer of public information symbols from other categories to this category with new reference numbers.

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

All public information symbols are available on the ISO Online browsing platform at https://www.iso.org/obp/ui.

Introduction

This document has been developed as a result of the increasing use of non-verbal presentation of information in buildings and other places and for services used by the public. Graphical symbols should be used where text messages will possibly be a barrier to understanding.

Continued growth in international trade, travel and tourism requires a common method of communication, and standardization of public information symbols will help both providers and users, including those with disabilities. Lack of standardization has the potential to lead to confusion.

The use of standardized public information symbols does not replace the need for careful consideration and application of wayfinding and signing schemes; it is recognized that pubic information symbols will often be used with text in signing systems. This can aid education and comprehension, particularly for new symbols and those which have less common usage.

ISO 7001 is intended to be used by all Technical Committees within ISO charged with developing specific public information symbols for their industry, to ensure that there is only one symbol for each meaning. It is also intended that this document be revised regularly to include public information symbols as they are standardized by ISO and which conform to the principles for development as developed by ISO/TC 145/SC 1. Further design criteria will be added as appropriate and will be approved by ISO/TC 145/SC 1. Specific acceptance criteria, procedures and application forms can be found on the ISO/TC 145/SC 1 website: https://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink?func=ll&objId=9945810&objAction=browse&viewType=1.

The public information symbols in this document have been validated by ISO/TC 145/SC 1 according to procedures of standardization current at the time of publication. Future standardization of public information symbols will be facilitated with suitable evaluation techniques, such as the testing outlined in the ISO 9186 series. Acceptance criteria for public information symbol qualification ought to be such that there is confidence that a suitable proportion of the intended audience will understand them.

Public information symbols given in this document are considered to have achieved a satisfactory degree of comprehension as established by independent testing or as a result of their use and application at an international level.

The public information symbols given in this document should be reproduced as published. However, it is recognized that there are possibly particular national characteristics and cultural requirements which require minor variations. This is acceptable providing the key elements and design intent of the standardized symbol are not compromised.

1 Scope

This document specifies graphical symbols for the purposes of public information.

This document is generally applicable to public information symbols in all locations and all sectors where the public has access. However, it is not applicable to safety signs or those sectors subject to specific regulations (e.g. traffic signs on public roads).

This document specifies the original symbols that can be scaled for reproduction and application purposes.

The symbols can be used in conjunction with text to improve comprehension.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 General

4.1 Size

4.2 Text

4.3 Arrows

4.4 Colour and contrast

4.5 Negation

5 Meanings and categorization of public information symbols

5.1 General

5.2 Meaning

5.3 Categorization

6 Standardized public information symbols

Bibliography

BS ISO 7001:2023

Graphical symbols. Registered public information symbols

Current, Under Review

Published:

28 Feb 2023