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Glossary

ISO/UNDP 53001 glossary: the terms of the standard and its audit

This ISO 53001 glossary gathers some sixty terms needed to read ISO/UNDP 53001 and follow its certification audit: management system vocabulary, notions linked to the Sustainable Development Goals and the rules of third-party certification. Each definition is written by Gardiant, gives the French equivalent and explains what the auditor checks.

Updated: · edition covered: ISO/UNDP 53001:2026

What the ISO 53001 glossary is for

The ISO/UNDP 53001 standard relies on a precise vocabulary inherited from ISO management system standards and extended with notions from the sustainable development field. Several everyday words carry a narrower meaning there. Top management means the highest level of decision-making, not any manager. Monitoring is tracking done by the organisation itself, not the yearly visit of the certification body. Observation is both a type of audit finding and a way of collecting evidence.

Those distinctions matter once an audit begins. A chief executive, an SDG lead or a buyer reading an audit report needs to know what a minor nonconformity implies, why a correction is not enough on its own, or how the scope of the management system differs from the scope of certification. The glossary answers these questions one term at a time, always from the same angle: what the auditor looks at when meeting the notion in the field.

It is also written for readers who discover the SDGs through the standard. The 2030 Agenda, SDG targets, priority SDGs, contribution and impact are explained without jargon, with the necessary caution where a notion such as double materiality comes from another framework and is not, as far as can be established, defined by ISO 53001 itself.

Definitions written by Gardiant, not quoted from the standard

The text of ISO/UNDP 53001 is protected by copyright and sold by ISO and by national standards bodies, such as AFNOR in France. None of the definitions in this glossary is an extract from it. Each one is phrased so that it can be understood without the standard to hand, and none should be quoted as the official definition.

Where the content proper to the standard cannot be traced to a public source, the definition stays at the level of the harmonized structure shared by ISO management system standards, or of what BSI, publisher of the British edition, has made public. Certification terms follow the logic of ISO/IEC 17021-1, the standard that sets requirements for bodies certifying management systems; SDG terms follow United Nations publications. When a precise requirement is in doubt, only the purchased text is authoritative.

Glossary terms mapped to the clauses

PartTitleGlossary terms
Clause 4Context of the organizationorganisation, context of the organization, interested party, stakeholder, scope, management system
Clause 5Leadershiptop management, leadership, policy
Clause 6Planningrisk, opportunity, objective, priority SDG, SDG target
Clause 7Supportcompetence, awareness, documented information
Clause 8Operationprocess, operational planning and control, outsource
Clause 9Performance evaluationmonitoring, measurement, performance, effectiveness, internal audit, management review
Clause 10Improvementcontinual improvement, nonconformity, correction, corrective action
CertificationRules of ISO/IEC 17021-1certification body, accreditation, stage 1 and stage 2 audits, surveillance audit, audit finding, impartiality, certificate, suspension, withdrawal

ISO wording and French equivalents

ISO/UNDP 53001 was drafted in English, and the glossary uses the wording found across ISO management system standards: interested party rather than stakeholder, documented information rather than records, nonconformity written as one word, continual rather than continuous improvement. Clause titles keep the ISO spelling, as in Context of the organization, while running text follows British usage.

Each entry also gives the French equivalent of the term. Gardiant works in French and English, and audit reports, contracts or supplier questionnaires can circulate in both languages within the same group. Knowing that surveillance in French covers both the internal monitoring of indicators and the certification body's surveillance audit avoids a common misreading.

Entries point to one another: each term lists two or three neighbouring notions with a short definition, and links to the terms closest to it or easiest to confuse with it. Links to clause 4 requirements and the following clauses place a definition back in the requirement that uses it, and the page on ISO 53001 certification sets out the audit cycle in which the certification terms apply.

All glossary terms

Frequently asked questions

Are the glossary definitions those of the ISO/UNDP 53001 standard?

No. The text of the standard is protected by copyright and cannot be reproduced. The definitions are written by Gardiant to explain each notion and the way an auditor examines it. They do not replace the official text, sold by ISO and national standards bodies, which alone is authoritative during an audit.

Why does each entry give the French equivalent?

Gardiant publishes in French and English, and many groups audited against ISO 53001 operate in both languages. Reports, contracts and customer questionnaires may use either. Giving the exact French term avoids confusion, for example between monitoring, which the French standards vocabulary calls surveillance, and the surveillance audit carried out by the certification body.

Does the glossary cover certification vocabulary as well?

Yes. Part of the glossary describes the rules of third-party certification drawn from ISO/IEC 17021-1: stage 1 and stage 2 audits, the three-year cycle, surveillance audits, findings, major and minor nonconformities, suspension and withdrawal. These notions apply to every management system standard, ISO/UNDP 53001 included, and are detailed further on the certification process page.

Official sources

Written by the Gardiant Certification editorial team, based on the official sources listed at the bottom of the page.

Gardiant Certification is preparing its application for accreditation by COFRAC. Certificates will be issued once accreditation is granted.

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