LibGuides: Engineering: Standards/Codes/Regulations

What Are Standards?

Standards are documents created by professional and/or governmental organizations that contain technical definitions, specifications, and guidelines to ensure consistency, safety, and quality of materials, products, processes, and services.

The use of standards is voluntary, but encouraged in order to facilitate interchangeability across companies and support international trade.

Below is a promotional video for the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). It's a little heavy-handed, but does give a great visual of the application of standards in the products we use every day.

Source: National Institute of Standards and Technology; Office of Scientific and Technical Information

What Are Codes and Regulations?

Codes and Regulations set mandatory legal requirements. They are implemented by different levels of government and regulatory authorities, such as federal or state agencies and municipalities, and incorporate standards that have been created by that agency or by standards developing organizations. Codes and regulations reference specific standards as the method to meet what is required. Building codes can vary by state, county, or municipality. Some states, such as New York, have adopted international codes.

Sources:

National Institute of Standards and Technology (2012, Dec. 13) Standards in Regulations [Online]. Available: http://www.nist.gov/standardsgov/standards-in-regulations.cfm
New York State Library (2015, Apr. 24) Building and Construction Codes [Online]. Available: http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/reference/building/#webster

Selected National and International Standards Organizations

Below is a list of select national and international organizations that create and sell standards. Although most do not provide free full text, they have catalogs that can be searched to find what standards exist for specific materials, products, processes, and services.

American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM International)
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
IEEE
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)
International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
SAE International
Underwriters Laboratories (UL)
IHS Standards Store
Online catalog that allows for searching for standards across standards organizations.
Standards Developing Organizations Directory
Longer list of national and international SDOs provided by ANSI.

Selected Government Codes & Regulations

Code of Federal Regulations
"The Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR) is a current, daily updated version of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)."
European Union Product Requirements
Information on what is required to sell products in the EU including: CE marking, European Standards, product labeling, and more.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
Use the grey navigation box on the left side of the page to browse regulations. Also explore the Test Procedures under the Vehicle Safety menu on the top of the page.
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations (NYCRR)
"The NYCRR primarily contains state agency rules and regulations adopted under the State Administrative Procedure Act (SAPA)."
New York State Building Standards & Codes
"The Division of Building Standards and Codes (BSC) administers the mandatory statewide Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code (Uniform Code) and State Energy Conservation Construction Code (Energy Code)."
New York State Library: Building and Construction Codes
Listing of building and construction codes held by the New York State Library that walks you through the different kinds of codes.
Free Online Codes of New York State
Made available from the International Code Council.

Standards at STL

The library has a small collection of standards in reserves. Ask for the standards at the front desk.

The library also has some standards as ebooks. Check the database Ebook Central (Formerly Ebrary) for standards.

Example of a standard in Ebook Central (Formerly Ebrary):

Ebook Central This link opens in a new window
An online library of 180,000+ ebooks in a variety of subjects from academic, professional and trade publishers. Most of the e-books in Ebook Central are leased and may be removed from our subscription at the individual publisher's discretion. Future access to these ebooks is not guaranteed.

Free Full Text Standards

American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Incorporated by Reference (IBR) Portal
"Provides a one-stop mechanism for access to standards that have been incorporated by reference in the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). These standards incorporated by the U.S. government in rulemakings are offered at no cost in “read only” format and are presented for online reading. There are no print or download options."
ASSIST Quick Search
"Lets users search for defense and federal specifications and standards, military handbooks, commercial item descriptions, data item descriptions, MS detail drawings, Qualified Product Lists (QPLs), and related technical documents prepared in accordance with the policies and procedures of the Defense Standardization Program (DSP). In most cases, users may download documents that have been cleared for public release."
EverySpec
"EverySpec provides free access to over 50,000 Military, DoD, Federal, NASA, DOE, and Government specifications, standards, handbooks, and publications."
GNU Coding Standards
“Our mission is to preserve, protect and promote the freedom to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer software, and to defend the rights of Free Software users.”
ITU-R Recommendations
"The ITU-R Recommendations constitute a set of international technical standards developed by the Radiocommunication Sector (formerly CCIR) of the ITU."
ITU-T Recommendations
Recommendations from the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector.
NASA Technical Standards
"Provides access to technical standards from specifically contracted Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs) at no direct cost to the user via electronic subscription delivery and on a pay-per-document approval basis."
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
Find U.S. vehicle safety compliance and testing procedures, as well as laws and regulations. Look for the "Quick Reference Guide to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards & Regulations" under the Vehicle Safety tab.
National Information Standards Organization (NISO)
"NISO standards are available at no cost because of the organizations that support NISO... All NISO standards are protected by copyright. NISO standards can be downloaded and reproduced for noncommercial purposes only. NISO standards cannot be translated, modified, redistributed, sold or repackaged in any form without the prior permission of NISO."

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