OASIS Open TC Handbook

OASIS Technical Committee Handbook

TC Process effective 1 December 2020 · Committee Operations Process 2024 · Naming Directives v1.7 · Content verified 12 June 2026

Practical, plain-language guidance for OASIS TC members, chairs, and editors, from gaining voting rights to taking a Committee Specification all the way to an OASIS Standard. Every rule on this site traces to a current OASIS policy, with the section cited inline.

What changed since the 2010 handbook

This is the modernized TC Handbook. It replaces the 2010 edition, which predated major process changes, most notably Call for Consent for OASIS Standard approval (TC Process eff. 1 Dec 2020) and the removal of the csprd/cnprd stage names (Naming Directives v1.7). The historical 2010 pages are preserved in the handbook archive for reference.

Contents

How do I…?
Membership & voting
Gain, lose, and regain voting rights; Persistent Non-Voting status; leaves of absence; quorum.
Reference
Work product lifecycle
From Working Draft through Committee Specification Draft, public review, and Committee Specification to OASIS Standard, plus Committee Notes and Technical Reports.
Flagship
OASIS Standard (Call for Consent)
The current consent-based approval model, how a Committee Specification becomes an OASIS Standard.
Quality & naming
Naming & URIs
Filename and URI conventions, current stage abbreviations, and the three required cover-page URIs.
Reference
IPR & contributions
The four IPR modes, contribution and participation obligations, and Statements of Use.
Provenance
Policy source registry
Every authoritative policy this handbook draws on, with version and effective date.
Note on authority

This handbook is practical guidance. Where a statement is a policy requirement, an optional standing rule, a best practice, or OASIS staff practice, it is labelled as such. When guidance and policy ever appear to conflict, the cited OASIS policy governs.