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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Architecting concepts · 3.2.7

Reference architecture

An architecture that gives a standard or shared way of handling a problem, a circumstance or an opening in a field, a domain of activity or an area of concern. A reference architecture description may contain or point to reference models.

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

What this term settles

A reference architecture is still an architecture, so it has fundamental ideas and essential qualities. It is not a template and not a product. The definition matters for reuse: a firm that adopts a reference architecture is adopting a set of decisions, and it should know which ones it is adopting and which it is changing.

What to do in your practice

For each reference architecture the firm reuses, record the source, the version, the field it was written for and the decisions it carries. Then record where the firm departed from it and why. A reuse register turns a vague claim of alignment into a set of traceable choices.

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 reference architecture register with source, version and owner.
    An auditor asks where a reused architecture came from and whether it is current.
  • A delta record of local departures from the reference.
    Shows the firm understood the choices it changed rather than copying without reading.
  • The reference models the reference architecture relies on.
    Makes the dependency visible when the reference model changes.
  • A review date and the last review note.
    Shows the reference is maintained against the field it came from.
Ask your teamWhich decisions in this reference architecture has the firm changed, and who accepted the consequence?

Common gaps this page catches

  • Reference architectures are copied into projects with no record of source or version.
  • Local departures are invisible, so the same reference is claimed by teams that built different things.
  • No one owns the reference and no one reviews it.

What to prepare before publication

Pick the reference architecture used by the largest programme. Reconstruct its source, version and the departures made in the last two years. That reconstruction is the first row of the reuse register.

Common questions

What does Reference architecture mean in ISO 42024?
An architecture that gives a standard or shared way of handling a problem, a circumstance or an opening in a field, a domain of activity or an area of concern. A reference architecture description may contain or point to reference models.
What evidence should we keep for 3.2.7?
The reference architecture register with source, version and owner. A delta record of local departures from the reference. The reference models the reference architecture relies on.

Related units

Source. ISO/IEC/IEEE DIS 42024, Clause 3.2.7, 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