Primer on Engineering Standards

Owen R. Greulich, M.E., P.E., is an active member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Process Piping Code Committee and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Committee on Aerospace Pressure Vessels. He currently serves as Pressure and Energetic Systems Safety Manager in the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance at NASA Headquarters. Previously, Mr. Greulich worked in the private sector metals fabrication and machining industry. Maan H. Jawad, Ph.D., P.E., is president of Global Engineering and Technology, an engineering consulting firm for the pressure vessel, power, petrochemical, and nuclear industries. He has been active on ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code committees as a member and chairperson since 1972, a member of the Missouri Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Rules, and is a Fellow of the ASME. Prior to retiring, he was with the Nooter Corporation in St. Louis, Missouri.

• Preface xiiiAcknowledgments xv1 Introduction 11.1 Background 11.2 Procedures and Rules 51.3 Standards 61.3.1 History and Purpose of Standards 61.3.2 A Few Examples of Standards throughout the Ages 61.3.3 Classification 81.3.4 Limited Consensus Standards 91.3.5 Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) 91.3.6 Governmental Standards 101.4 Applicability of Standards 111.4.1 Permissible Materials of Construction, Performance Criteria, and Material Data 131.4.2 Safe Design Rules 131.4.3 Construction Details 141.4.4 Available Methodologies for Inspection and Testing 141.4.5 Safe Operating Parameters 141.4.6 Conformity Assessment 141.5 Summary 152 Role of Governments in Standards 172.1 Overview 172.2 History 192.3 Aspects of Governmental Involvement with Standards 192.4 General Policies 202.5 National versus State, Provincial, or Local Standards Involvement 202.6 The US Government and Standards 212.7 US Government OMB Circular A119 212.8 National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act 232.9 National Science and Technology Council 242.10 Other US Government Actions 242.11 How the Government Uses Standards 242.12 US Government as a Participant in VCS Activities 252.13 State and Local Standards Use 262.14 Other Countries 262.15 Summary 272.16 Case Studies 273 Voluntary Consensus Standards and Codes 293.1 Purpose of Standards 303.1.1 Standards for Safety and Reliability 303.1.2 Standards to Reduce Cost 323.1.3 Standards for Increased Flexibility 333.1.4 Standards for Promotion of Business 343.1.5 Standards to Help Society to Function 353.1.6 Consistency 363.2 Voluntary Consensus Standards 363.3 American National Standard Institute (ANSI) 363.4 Codes 383.4.1 National Codes 383.4.2 International Codes 383.5 Some ANSI Accredited Organizations 383.5.1 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) 393.5.2 American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) 423.5.3 American Petroleum Institute (API) 433.5.4 UL (Formerly Underwriters Laboratory) 433.5.5 National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors (NBBI) 433.5.6 American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 443.5.7 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 444 Limited Consensus Standards 454.1 Types of Standards 454.2 Proprietary versus Nonproprietary Standards 474.2.1 Proprietary Standards 474.2.2 Nonproprietary Standards 484.3 Governmental and Jurisdictional Limited Consensus Standards 484.3.1 NASA 484.3.2 Army Corp of Engineers 494.3.3 National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 494.3.4 National Science Foundation (NSF) 494.3.5 US Department of Agriculture (USDA) – Forest Service 494.3.6 United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 504.3.7 Municipalities 504.4 Case Studies 505 Jurisdictional Standards 515.1 Regulations and Jurisdictional Requirements 515.2 Jurisdictional Standards Implementation 565.3 Incorporation by Reference 565.3.1 Access to Reference Standards 575.3.2 Updating of Reference Standards 575.4 Sample Jurisdictional Standard: The OSHA Regulations 585.4.1 OSHA General Duty Clause 605.5 Summary 616 Standards Development Process 636.1 Introduction 646.2 Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) 646.3 Government Nonjurisdictional Standards: DOD, NASA, etc. 656.4 Governmental Jurisdictional Standards: DOT, FAA, FCC, OSHA, etc. 666.5 Corporate Standards 666.5.1 Corporate Public Standards 666.5.2 Corporate Proprietary Standards 676.6 Limited Consensus Standards 676.7 Standards Maintenance 686.8 Summary 686.9 Case Study 687 Types of Standards 697.1 Introduction 697.2 Performance versus Prescriptive 697.2.1 Performance Standards 697.2.2 Prescriptive Standards 707.2.3 Component Standards 717.2.4 Hybrid Standards 717.3 Geographical, Political, or Economic Extent 727.4 Mandatory or Voluntary 727.5 Consensus versus Nonconsensus 737.6 Purpose 737.7 Subject 737.8 Surprise Consequences of a Successful Standard 747.9 Summary 767.10 Case Study 768 Conformity Assessment 778.1 Introduction 778.2 Users of Conformity Assessment 788.2.1 Producers and Manufacturers 798.2.2 Users and their Designated Agents 798.2.3 Inspection/Insurance Agencies and Inspection Jurisdictions 798.2.4 Governmental Agencies 808.3 Applicability of Conformity Assessment 808.3.1 Employees 808.3.2 Processes 818.3.3 Products 818.3.4 Services 818.3.5 Systems 828.4 Verification and Validation Process 828.5 Conformity Assessment Organizations 848.6 Summary 858.7 Case Studies 859 Standards Interpretation and Relief 879.1 General Discussion 879.2 Standards Adoption 889.3 Effect of Noncompliance with Standards 899.3.1 New Products 909.3.2 Post-Manufacturing Noncompliance 929.4 Standards Interpretation 959.4.1 Informal Processes 959.4.2 Formal Interpretations 959.5 Tailoring 979.5.1 Nonmandatory Standards Tailoring 989.5.2 Legislative Tailoring 989.5.3 Governmental Agency Supplemental Standards 989.6 Waivers and Variances 999.6.1 Waivers of Corporate Standards 999.6.2 Code Cases 1009.6.3 Variances from Jurisdictional Standards 1019.7 Summary 1039.8 Case Study 10310 Characteristics of a Good Standard 10510.1 Introduction 10510.2 Clarity and Understanding 10510.3 Scope 10610.4 Terminology 10710.5 Structure and Organization 10710.6 Consistency 10910.7 References to Other Standards 10910.8 Attention to Details 10910.9 Supplementing a Standard 11010.10 Timeliness 11010.11 Sample Standard Structure 11010.12 Summary 11210.13 Case Studies 11211 Getting Involved in Standards Development 11311.1 Introduction 11311.2 Reasons to Get Involved 11311.2.1 Influence the Process and the Product 11311.2.2 Opportunity to Learn 11411.2.3 Credibility 11411.2.4 Personal Satisfaction 11511.2.5 Networking and Career Benefits 11511.3 Opportunities for Involvement in Standards 11611.3.1 Company Standards 11611.3.2 Interest Group Standards 11611.3.3 Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) 11611.3.4 Jurisdictional Standards 11711.4 Selecting a Committee 11711.4.1 Finding a Committee 11711.4.2 Making the Choice 11811.5 What Does It Require? 11811.6 Summary 119Acronyms 121Appendix A Deciding Not to Use a Standard 125A.1 Introduction 125A.2 Reasons Not to Use a Standard 126A.2.1 Lack of a Standard 126A.2.2 Overly Constraining 126A.2.3 Unique Product or Application 126A.2.4 Basic Services 127A.2.5 Patented Products 127A.3 Consequences of Not Using a Standard 127A.4 Mitigations for Not Using a Standard 128A.5 Summary 129Appendix B Some SDOs developing Voluntary Consensus Standards 131Appendix C Some Industrial Organizations That Publish Limited Consensus Standards 135Appendix D Some US Government Jurisdictional Agencies 137Bibliography 139Biography 141Index 143