The public will gain free access to technical standards

Prague - The public will gain free access to mandatory technical standards starting next year. This will be made possible by so-called sponsored access, which will be paid for by ministries or offices to the Czech Office for Standards (ČAS). Users who are legally required to comply with technical standards will then have free access to them on the internet. This innovation is brought about by an amendment to the law that comes into effect on January 1.

The new measure will apply not only to large companies or entrepreneurs, but also to designers and anyone who needs to study a standard. The rules of European and international standardization organizations do not allow for completely free access to technical standards for the public due to copyright protection. However, they do allow for the implementation of so-called sponsored access. This is a model where a state authority, for example, purchases the standard for users. This access model is also introduced by the approved and signed amendment to the law.

The Czech Office for Standards (ČAS) will receive payments from those offices and ministries that have the respective standard within their jurisdiction.