Basic information is provided for each technical committee (TC), listed in numerical order, with subcommittees (SC) and working groups (WG). The list begins with JTC 1, the Joint ISO/IEC Technical Committee established in 1987. The ISO technical committees are assigned numbers in order of their establishment.

When a technical committee is disbanded its number is not allocated to another technical committee. A list of disbanded technical committees can be found here.
Certain technical committees have no further work item under study or foreseen; they regularly review the ISO International Standards for which they are responsible. Their titles are followed by "STAND-BY" in the list of technical committees.

In cases in which the need is for an International Standard on a very specific topic not falling within the scope of an existing technical committee, a "project committee" may be established. A project committee works in the same way as a technical committee, but is not allowed to approve new work and is disbanded once the International Standard for which it was established has been published.
A summary of the roles and responsibilities of committee participants (other than chairmen and secretaries) is given in Annex SE of the ISO Supplement.

Technical committee and subcommittee secretariats

Each technical committee and subcommittee has a secretariat assigned to an ISO member body - AFNOR, ANSI, JISC, SA, SABS, etc.
In order to facilitate the greater involvement by developing countries in international standardization work, the concept of "twinning" has been introduced. This allows a member body in a developing country to twin with a member body in a developed country and be considered to be a participating (P) member of a committee. This then ensures that the needs of developing countries are taken into account when International Standards are developed. The concept also includes the possibility of twinning at the level of committee secretariat, as well as the possibility of naming experts from developing countries as vice-chairs of technical committees and subcommittees. These latter possibilities contribute to the transfer of know-how and capacity building in developing countries.

Conveners of working groups

A working group does not have a secretariat but an individual convener appointed by the parent committee to which he will report. In the List of technical committees, and for practical reasons, the names of the conveners are replaced by the member body through which the convener can be reached. The list also includes subcommittees which have not yet been allocated a secretariat, and working groups which do not yet have a convener.

Chairmen of technical committees and subcommittees

When a technical committee nominates a permanent chairman, he/she need not be a national of the country holding the secretariat. Chairmen are normally appointed for a three-year term by the ISO Technical Management Board. The figure in brackets shows the year at the end of which the term of office expires.
The chairman of the joint technical committee is appointed by both the ISO Technical Management Board and the IEC Council.

Additional addresses for technical committee and subcommittee secretariats

The addresses of the technical committee and subcommittee secretariats are normally the same as those of the member bodies handling these secretariats. Where a TC or SC secretariat has an additional address, the hyperlink gives this additional address.

Liaisons

The liaisons listed under the Scope include all TC liaisons - with ISO committees, with ISO/IEC JTC 1, with IEC committees, and with international organizations.