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- Choose the correct published document
- Scope: continuity of the organisation’s delivery
- Make continuity offers comparable
- Example: an order-fulfilment business losing its main site
- Choose the right companion purchase
- Common questions
- Primary sources and edition check
- Explore more standards buying guides
The checked European product is EN ISO 22301:2019, with the separately listed published A1:2024 climate-action amendment. Both Genorma and ISO distinguish the published basis from a developing revision. European publication record; Amendment and revision record; ISO status.
Choose the correct published document
Scope: continuity of the organisation’s delivery
The scope addresses a management system for preparing for, responding to and recovering from disruption, including continuing delivery at an acceptable predefined capacity. It is generic across organisations, with application shaped by operating context and complexity. Published scope.
A practical procurement brief should describe the service the organisation promises, then identify the dependencies supporting that promise. Do not start with a shopping list of backup products and assume that list defines continuity. Staff availability, premises, suppliers, communications and information may all matter to the same service.
Make continuity offers comparable
| Purchasing question | Information to request |
|---|---|
| Service boundary | Which activities and customer commitments does the proposed work address? |
| Dependencies | Which people, sites, information and external services will be considered? |
| Decision-makers | Who agrees priorities and can authorise an alternative way of working? |
| Exercises | What will be rehearsed, observed and followed up as part of the engagement? |
| Maintenance | Who updates the arrangements when services or suppliers change? |
Ask a provider to identify the work it can complete from existing records and the decisions requiring management input. A consultant cannot decide every business priority on the organisation’s behalf. Clarifying those responsibilities helps prevent a project ending with a detailed plan whose owners have never agreed how it will be used.
Example: an order-fulfilment business losing its main site
Imagine a business buying continuity support after opening a second warehouse. One offer concentrates on restoring IT systems; another examines order handling, stock access, transport and communication with customers. The buyer could test the scope by asking how a hypothetical loss of the main warehouse affects a sample order.
Which orders could still be accepted? Who knows what stock is available? Who chooses the temporary priorities? What information does the customer need? The answers help distinguish an IT recovery service from a wider continuity programme. This example does not set a recovery-time target or establish an acceptable operating capacity; the organisation must decide those matters for the actual service.
Choose the right companion purchase
Information security has its own management-system objective: see EN ISO/IEC 27001. Organisational quality management is addressed by EN ISO 9001. For certification-body services, see EN ISO/IEC 17021-1. Keep the objectives and assessment scopes visible if one provider offers several services.
ISO also distinguishes the requirements in ISO 22301 from ISO 22313 guidance on their use. If your team needs both the assessment basis and implementation explanation, check those publication roles instead of assuming an explanatory handbook is the requirements document. ISO related-publication information.
- Record the base and amendment references in the project’s document list.
- Check whether the selected format and licence cover the people responsible for the programme.
- Ask bidders to identify plans, exercises, training and maintenance support separately.
- Review proposed exclusions against a real customer service, not only the internal department names.
Common questions
Is a disaster-recovery plan the same as a BCMS?
Identify its actual scope. A technical recovery plan can support continuity, but the purchasing brief should also cover the organisational delivery decisions you need. Do not assume a document title settles that boundary.
Is the developing revision already the replacement?
The checked ISO and Genorma histories show it under development. Use the published base and address its amendment when that is the agreed basis; monitor revision work without relabelling a draft as current.
Does buying the standard define our recovery priorities?
The organisation still needs to agree its service objectives and priorities. Use those decisions to specify the provider’s work and to compare the evidence it will deliver.
Primary sources and edition check
- Genorma: EN ISO 22301:2019 published record and scope
- Genorma: A1:2024 and developing revision
- ISO: published ISO 22301:2019 and amendment
Publication and purchase records checked on 7 October 2026. The examples and procurement questions are original guidance. Detailed implementation requires the applicable licensed text and decisions for the actual project.
Explore more standards buying guides
Browse standards by reference and subject to compare related document choices.