ISO 17100

No. The standard only applies to translation service providers such as translation agencies and freelance translators. The use of raw output from machine translation plus post-editing is also outside the scope of ISO 17100:2015.

The Qualified status is available to MITI and FITI members only.

If you are ‘Certified’ to this standard, then you have been externally assessed by a registered body and will be subject to regular audits to ensure you are meeting the requirements. This can be a time-consuming and costly process and is generally not necessary for individual freelance translators. If you are ‘Compliant’, then you are stating that you meet all the requirements of the standard but you have not had an external registered body verify this. ‘Qualified’ status shows you have met the qualification and experience requirements of the ISO 17100:2015.

Yes. ISO 17100 is a process standard and does not define quality of work in a specific language pair but sets standards for achieving quality by following the translation process steps it defines.

No. The option of Qualified status only applies to individual translators. They could be either freelance or working in-house in an LSP.

ITI Members can watch a recorded webinar called ISO 17100:2015 – raising the profile of the translation industry in the Webinar library.

No. The initial administrative fee covers processing your application and putting the Qualified logo on your profile page of the Directory. That will remain there for as long as you are an MITI or FITI.

If you are an MITI or FITI, please email [email protected] to request an application pack.

• Existing MITI or FITI: £49
• Upgrading members to MITI:  £39
• New members joining as MITI: £39

These are all once only costs; there are no annual renewal fees.

The text from the ISO 17100:2015 standard states:

Translators shall have the following competences.

1. Translation competence: the ability to translate content, including the ability to address the problems of language content comprehension and language content production and the ability to render the target language content in accordance with the client-TSP agreement and other project specifications.

2. Linguistic and textual competence in the source language and the target language: the ability to understand the source language, fluency in the target language, and general or specialised knowledge of text-type conventions. This linguistic and textual competence includes the ability to apply this knowledge when producing translation or other target language content.

3. Competence in research, information acquisition, and processing: the ability to efficiently acquire the additional linguistic and specialised knowledge necessary to understand the source language content and to produce the target language content. Research competence also requires experience in the use of research tools and the ability to develop suitable strategies for the efficient use of the information sources available.

4. Cultural competence: ability to make use of information on the behavioural standards, up-to-date terminology, value systems, and locale that characterise both source and target language cultures.

5. Technical competence: the knowledge, abilities, and skills required to perform the technical tasks in the translation process by employing technical resources including the tools and IT systems that support the whole translation process.

6. Domain competence: the ability to understand content produced in the source language and to reproduce it in the target language using the appropriate style and terminology.