Primer on Engineering Standards

Standards play a very important part in the engineering world. They supplement the design process by guiding the designer or user to ensure consistent products with safe and reliable operation. Understanding and complying with pertinent standards helps to ensure a successful design, fabrication, and operation of a product. This book introduces the concept of standards and their impact and value.

Chapter 1 gives a brief introduction to the general concepts of procedures, rules, standards, regulations, codes, and jurisdictional requirements. Chapter 2 discusses Engineering Standards developed by the consensus process. Limited consensus standards are presented in Chapter 3 and jurisdictional standards are presented in Chapter 4. Development of Standards is briefly discussed in Chapter 5, and Chapter 6 discusses types of standards. In Chapter 7 the need and processes for exemptions from existing standards are explained. Chapter 8 identifies characteristics of a good standard.

There are tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of engineering standards worldwide, covering every imaginable subject related to engineering. Listing them all would be a monumental undertaking and this book, by necessity, covers only a small portion of them. The appendices at the end of this book provide assistance in identifying a few of these engineering standards, who developed and maintains them, and contact information to help the reader obtain further information.