What is an engineering standard?

An engineering standard is a document that has been developed and established within the consensus principles of the organization and which meets the requirements of procedures and regulations. Full consensus standards are developed with the participation of all parties who have a stake in the standards’ development and/or use.

How are standards named?

Standards are named using the acronym of the standard granting organization, the number of the standard, and the year the standard was issued. Examples include:

• ASCE/SEI 7-16
• ASTM F963-17
• ISO 13485:2016

In general, full-text standards are not available free on the Web. The following links provide information on standards, as well as searchable indexes:

• American Concrete Institute (ACI)
• American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Standard Store
• American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
• American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
• ASSIST, United States Department of Defense
• American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Standards Association (IEEE-SA)
• International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
• Municode
  • Online access to municipal codes and ordinances of over 1,000 local governments in the United States.
• Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA)
• Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) International