IADP v5 is the current development phase of the International Association of Dive Professionals. It focuses on strengthening the association’s legal, democratic, operational, and representative structure so it can serve the global diving profession with greater credibility, continuity, and independence.
This phase prepares the association for its first full democratic elections in October 2027, while developing the systems, services, and governance framework required to give dive professionals meaningful support and a stronger collective voice.
Why IADP v5 matters
Dive professionals work in a fragmented industry with limited representation, uneven protection, and weak collective influence. IADP v5 is about changing that by building an independent professional body able to support members, defend standards, and create long-term legitimacy for the profession itself.
The project is not a cosmetic update. It is the institutional rebuilding phase of the association: governance, compliance, member participation, internal systems, public communication, and practical support services are all being developed as part of one coherent structure.
Core Development Areas
IADP v5 brings together the structural work needed to move the association from vision into durable operation. These areas form the foundation for representation, services, and long-term professional recognition.
Legal and organizational restructuring
This includes relocating the association’s headquarters to the Cité des Associations in Brussels, updating the Articles of Association, and strengthening the legal and organizational basis of the IADP.
Articles of Association →Member services
The project lays the groundwork for practical services such as professional guidance, structured resources, support mechanisms, and tools that go beyond symbolic membership.
Visit TheDiveProfessional.org →Legal support and professional protection
IADP v5 includes the development of support frameworks that can help professionals navigate disputes, unfair practices, operational vulnerability, and weak protection in fragmented working environments.
Standards and accountability
The project supports transparency, ethical conduct, and stronger professional expectations across the sector, including future mechanisms to identify harmful practices and reinforce responsible behaviour.
Systems and workflows
Internal systems, reporting structures, and coordinated workflows are being developed to support continuity, volunteer coordination, project execution, and governance transparency.
Read about IMS v6 →Preparation for 2027 elections
IADP v5 prepares the association for its first full democratic elections in October 2027, moving from founder-led development toward member-driven governance.
Representation across the full diving profession
The IADP does not define the diving profession only through recreational instruction or dive tourism. IADP v5 supports a broader professional framework covering the full range of people whose work, income, or operational responsibility is connected to diving.
This includes recreational, commercial, scientific, medical, environmental, public safety, military, media, manufacturing, operational support, sports, and public engagement roles.
The association’s work is structured around the 10-sector diving industry framework, giving the IADP a clearer basis for representation, services, research, and future country-level analysis.
From association structure to real services
The purpose of IADP v5 is to make the association operationally useful. Governance, communication, membership, project management, and internal systems must work together if the IADP is to provide practical value to members.
That is why IADP v5 is directly connected to TDP, the member-facing platform, and IMS v6, the internal management system. Together, these projects turn the association from an idea into a functioning professional structure.
Supporting evidence-based development
A professional association needs more than slogans. It needs information, field intelligence, and structured analysis to understand where the profession is strong, where it is vulnerable, and where intervention is needed.
IADP v5 therefore links directly with the Country Reports initiative, which will help map national diving industries through the 10-sector framework and provide better insight into legal, economic, environmental, and operational realities.