ISO 42024 Revision Checker
ISO/IEC/IEEE DIS 42024 · Enterprise, systems and software, Architecture fundamentals Stage 40.99 Planning date 15 Sep 2027, an estimate 35 terms · 20 clause areas · 9 annex sections

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Architecture description concepts · 3.5.6

Metamodel

A model that sets out which elements and properties a model needs. It defines an abstract syntax, the concepts that will be modelled, their relationships and their attributes, and it is distinguished from the concrete syntax used to represent it.

  • definition
  • Term
  • ISO/IEC/IEEE DIS 42024
  • Last updated: 2026-10-21

What this term settles

The metamodel decides what the tool can say. If a concept is not in the metamodel, it cannot appear in a conforming model, however important it is. That makes the metamodel a governance artefact, not a technical detail, and it explains why some architecture questions are unanswerable in a given tool.

What to do in your practice

Keep the metamodel under configuration control with an owner. Write down the concepts the firm needs and test whether the metamodel supports them. Where it does not, record the extension or the workaround and the risk it carries.

Who it binds

The role that owns the practice area the term governs. A definition binds nobody on its own; it binds the reader who adopts the term in a method, a description or a contract.

Evidence an auditor or regulator asks for

  • The metamodel version, owner and change record.
    An auditor asks which rules the models were built under.
  • A concepts to metamodel coverage map.
    Shows which firm concepts can be expressed.
  • A list of extensions and workarounds with their risk.
    Shows the limits were managed, not hidden.
  • The migration record when the metamodel changed.
    Shows existing models were brought forward.
Ask your teamWhich concept the firm cares about cannot be expressed in this metamodel, and where is that worked around?

Common gaps this page catches

  • The metamodel is whatever the tool ships and no one owns it.
  • Extensions are made locally and are invisible to other teams.
  • A metamodel change orphans existing models with no migration record.

What to prepare before publication

Write the concepts to metamodel coverage map for the main tool. The gaps are the questions the firm cannot answer from its models. Decide for each whether to extend, work around or accept.

Common questions

What does Metamodel mean in ISO 42024?
A model that sets out which elements and properties a model needs. It defines an abstract syntax, the concepts that will be modelled, their relationships and their attributes, and it is distinguished from the concrete syntax used to represent it.
What evidence should we keep for 3.5.6?
The metamodel version, owner and change record. A concepts to metamodel coverage map. A list of extensions and workarounds with their risk.

Related units

Source. ISO/IEC/IEEE DIS 42024, Clause 3.5.6, Terms and definitions. Open the official record. Retrieved 21 October 2026.

https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/en/#iso:std:iso-iec-ieee:42024:dis:ed-1:v1:en

ISO catalogue record 87510, the status, stage and page count.

Claim level: definition. The definition is in the public preview. This page states it in our own words and does not reproduce the text.

Last updated: 2026-10-21 · Markdown version · Check your practice