Overview
ISO 11074:2025 - Soil quality - Vocabulary is the third edition of the International Organization for Standardization’s terminology reference for the field of soil quality. The document’s primary purpose is to provide standardized terms and definitions used across soil investigation, testing, monitoring, remediation and management activities. This edition cancels ISO 11074:2015 (and its 2020 amendment) and reorganizes entries to improve usability for multidisciplinary soil quality practitioners.
Key topics and structure
- Scope and purpose: defines terms used in the field of soil quality (Clause 1–3).
- Comprehensive terminology: Clause 3 contains alphabetically arranged terms and definitions covering sampling, contamination, remediation, biological processes, hydrogeology, and physical soil properties (examples include bioavailability, biodegradation, available water capacity, bulk density, background concentration, analytical sample, bioremediation).
- Context-specific definitions: terms that have different meanings in different domains are grouped with the domain indicated in angle brackets (e.g., , , ).
- Supporting material:
- Annex A (informative) - relationships between sampling operations.
- Bibliography and index for quick lookup.
- Administrative notes: there are no normative references in this edition; ISO and CEN collaboration is noted (ISO/TC 190 and CEN/TC 444).
Practical applications
ISO 11074:2025 provides a consistent vocabulary that:
- Reduces ambiguity in soil investigation reports, sampling plans and laboratory results.
- Supports clear communication in environmental site assessments, risk assessments and remediation projects.
- Helps standardize terminology used in soil testing methods, regulatory documentation, and scientific publications.
- Facilitates interoperability between organizations (laboratories, consultants, regulators, academics) by aligning definitions used across ISO/TC 190 soil quality standards.
Who should use this standard
- Environmental consultants and remediation contractors preparing site characterizations and remedial designs.
- Soil scientists, agronomists and ecotoxicologists writing or interpreting soil test results.
- Analytical laboratories and quality managers ensuring consistent reporting of soil analyses.
- Regulators and risk assessors developing or applying assessment criteria for contaminated land.
- Academics and students needing authoritative definitions for soil quality terminology.
Related standards and resources
- ISO/TC 190 soil quality standards (cross-referenced).
- ISO 18400-104:2018 (sampling examples referenced in the vocabulary).
- ISO 19204:2017 (related to anthropogenic concentration).
- ISO 9000 (for general quality terminology).
- ISO Online Browsing Platform and IEC Electropedia for standardized terminology databases.
Keywords: ISO 11074:2025, soil quality vocabulary, soil terminology, soil sampling, soil contamination, soil remediation, bioavailability, soil testing.
