This European Standard gives guidelines for the effective delivery of management consultancy services.
This European Standard is applicable to all MCSPs: public and private companies, government entities, not-for-profit organizations and internal consultancy units, regardless of their ownership, structure, size or specialism.
This European Standard applies to any type of assignment for any type of client. It does not place any obligations on the client.
This European Standard provides recommendations for carrying out management consultancy services, including:
legal and ethical matters (see Clause 4);
management, communications and evaluation (see Clause 4);
client relationships (see Clause 4);
proposal and agreement (see Clause 5);
planning and execution (see Clause 6);
closure of the assignment (see Clause 7).
This European Standard is independent from other normative or regulatory documents, such as:
provision of support to small businesses (see CEN/TS 99001);
quality management systems (see EN ISO 9001:2008);
public procurement (see Public Procurement Directive 2004/18/EC).
This European Standard does not impose upon or interfere with any contractual obligations or intellectual property rights. Also, it does not require or imply a need for third-party certification. It is not intended for certification, regulatory or contractual use, and it is not intended nor designed to be used as the basis for any personal or organizational qualification.
Any offer to certify, or claims to be certified, to this European Standard would be a misrepresentation of the intent and purpose and a misuse of this European Standard. As this European Standard does not contain requirements, any such certification would not be a demonstration of conformity with this European Standard.
It is not intended to provide a basis for legal actions, complaints, defences or other claims in any international, domestic or other proceeding, nor is it intended to be cited as evidence of the evolution of customary international law.