Overview
ISO 8015:2011 - "Geometrical product specifications (GPS) - Fundamentals - Concepts, principles and rules" establishes the foundational concepts, principles and rules that govern the entire ISO GPS system. It defines how GPS requirements on drawings and related documentation are to be created, interpreted and applied. The standard applies to all types of drawings (interpreted broadly as the entire documentation package specifying a workpiece) and provides the baseline rules that other GPS standards (global, general and complementary) must follow.
Key topics
- Scope and invocation: Explains that invoking any part of the ISO GPS system brings the whole system into effect unless a different standard is explicitly referenced.
- GPS standard hierarchy: Defines the order of precedence - fundamental, global, general and complementary GPS standards - and clarifies how higher-level rules apply by default.
- Definitive drawing principle: States that the drawing (or documentation package) is definitive; only requirements shown or referenced can be enforced.
- Feature principle: By default, specifications apply to whole natural features; exceptions must be explicitly shown.
- Independency principle: Each GPS specification is fulfilled independently of other specifications unless modifiers or special indications state otherwise.
- Default and altered default specification operators: Describes ISO default GPS specification operators and how altered defaults or company-specific defaults are indicated.
- Decimal principle: Unwritten decimal places are treated as zeros (e.g., “10” = “10.000...”).
- Other fundamental principles: Includes reference condition, rigid workpiece, duality, functional control, general specification and responsibility principles.
- Rules and notation: Guidance on indicating default operators, special operators, and the use of parentheses and complementary information.
Applications and users
ISO 8015:2011 is essential for:
- Design engineers and draughtspeople who create engineering drawings and technical documentation
- Manufacturing engineers and machinists interpreting tolerances and features
- Quality assurance, metrology and inspection teams applying verification and decision rules
- Standards committees and technical authors developing GPS-related standards or company-specific tolerancing rules
Practical uses include ensuring consistent interpretation of tolerance indications, defining default tolerancing behavior, enabling interoperability between CAD/drawing systems and inspection processes, and providing traceability when invoking the ISO GPS system.
Related standards
Keywords: ISO 8015:2011, geometrical product specifications, GPS, drawing interpretation, tolerance, feature principle, default principle, GPS standard hierarchy, metrology, engineering drawings.
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