Primer on Engineering Standards

Chapter 6Standards Development Process

(Courtesy of XKCD, www.xkcd.com)

6.1 Introduction

As discussed in Chapter 1, there are a number of reasons to develop a standard. Depending on the standard type, various processes may be followed in its creation.

If the broadest acceptance of a standard is desired, and particularly if it is thought that the standard will be appropriate as a mandatory standard to be invoked by laws or regulations, then voluntary consensus standards (VCS) are likely the most appropriate type and a fairly formalized process is required. If a law has been passed requiring that a regulatory standard be developed, the process has some features in common with VCS (e.g., public review), while the various types of corporate and other limited consensus standards typically follow their own processes.

6.2 Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS)

The general category of VCS in the United States is defined in law (the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act). Some very specific requirements govern the process used to develop standards that will receive this label, and the standards that meet these requirements have a greater influence as a result. The requirements generally are these: pertinence, openness, transparency, due process, and consensus. To ensure that these requirements are met, the standards developing organization (SDO) submits its process to the ...