This International Standard establishes stress-relief requirements for high strength steels, in order to reduce their susceptibility or degree of susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement in subsequent pretreatment, electroplating, autocatalytic plating, chemical conversion and phosphating processes. This International Standard is applicable to steels of which the properties are not adversely affected by heat treatment at 190 °C to 230 °C or higher (see 6.2). The heat treatment procedures established in this International Standard have been shown to be effective in reducing the susceptibility of steel having tensile strengths equal to or greater than 1 000 MPa and that have been machined, ground, cold-formed or cold-straightened subsequent to heat treatment. This heat treatment procedure is used prior to any operation capable of hydrogen charging the parts, such as the cleaning procedures prior to electroplating, autocatalytic plating and other chemical coating operations. This International Standard does not apply to fasteners.