ISO 16183 specifies methods for the measurement and evaluation of gaseous and particulate exhaust emissions from heavy-duty engines under transient conditions on a test bed. The procedures it defines can be applied to any transient test cycle that does not require extreme system response times; it can therefore be used as an option to the regulated measurement equipment (usually CVS-type systems) of certification test cycles (e.g. ETC and FTP), with the approval of the certification agency.

ISO 16183 is applicable to heavy-duty engines for commercial vehicles primarily designed for road use, but can also be applied to passenger car engines and to engines used for non-road applications. The test equipment specified can also be applied to steady-state test cycles, however, if so, the calculation procedures will need to be replaced by those applicable to the particular test cycle.