ASTM International
Overview
John Pace
Vice President, Publications and Marketing
Overview of ASTM International
•
•
•
•
•
•
Organized in 1898 - American Society for Testing & Materials
One of the worlds largest standards developing organizations
Publish standards, specifications, test methods, books etc..
Internationally recognized
Not for profit
HQ – Philadelphia, USA
2
ASTM International
•
•
•
•
•
•
30,000 Scientists and Engineers
120 Countries
144+ Main Technical Committees
100 Industry Sectors
12,800+ Up to Date Standards and Test Methods
165 Employees Worldwide
Part I - Differences in
Standardization Systems
U.S. vs Rest of World
U.S. Standardization
• Not better than rest of world
• Not worse or more confusing than rest of the
world
• Just DIFFERENT !!
U.S. Standardization
•
•
•
•
Multiple Path Process
Many initiatives
U.S. SDOs more than 100 years old
Many U.S. SDOs had “international” status and
recognition long before birth of ISO and IEC
• The present European strategy really didn’t gain
traction until EC ’92
U.S. Standardization
•
•
•
•
•
IEEE – founded 1884
ASTM – founded 1898
ASME – founded 1880
NFPA – founded 1896
ANSI – founded 1918
ISO founded in 1947…CEN in 1961….BSI 1901….DIN 1917
U.S. Standardization - ANSI
• American National Standards Institute
– Serves as U.S. member body to ISO
– Serves as U.S. national committee member to IEC
– Produces ANS versions of ISO and IEC
• But must deal with U.S. TAGs
• No mandatory adoptions
….ANSI is not a standards developer !
U.S. Standardization - NIST
• NIST – National Institute of Standards and Technology
• U.S. Government organization for
oversight/policy/guidance
• Liaison between private sector SDOs and government
public sector
• NIST is not a consensus standards developer
U.S. Standardization
• In U.S., there are various roles and
missions of “SDOs”
–
–
–
–
–
Professional Engineering Societies (ASME, SAE)
Trade Institutes (API, ACI)
Certification Bodies (UL)
Professional Associations (EIA, NFPA)
Pure Standards Developing Organizations (ASTM)
• Most operate independently from ANSI
ASTM and Other SDOs
• ASTM Standards Referenced in numerous other
SDO offerings
• AWS – D1.1 Welding Handbook
– 56 ASTMs Refrenced
• ACI 318 Concrete Manual
– 47 ASTMs Referenced
• ASME Boiler/Vessel Code
– Section II predominantly ASTM
• ASTM key producer of Fire Standards
U.S. Standardization
• The U.S. does not fall under the rules of guidelines of a
regional body like CEN
• Thus there are no mandatory requirements to adopt
• Likewise, U.S. bodies cannot adopt ISOs/IECs without
working thru ANSI
Standardization – Russia,
Europe, and Rest of the World
• More organized under national body scheme
because of ISO
• To Americans, confusing too!
Standardization – Russia,
Europe, and Rest of the World
•
•
•
•
Germany – DIN (ISO)
UK – BSI (ISO and IEC)
Japan – JISC (JSA is publishing arm)
Russia – Federal Agency of Technical Regulating and
Metrology (but produces GOST standards and sold by
Interstandard)
Standardization – Europe &
CEN
•
•
•
•
Very structured
Optional adoption of ISOs and IECs
Mandatory adoption of ENs
There is no published EN…it is published as a national
adoption of an EN, i.e. DIN/EN, BSI/EN
Key Issues of Standardization
Today
-
Free
Reference in Laws and Regulations
WTO and Branding
Equivalencies
Translations
One True Standard for World
Use
•
•
•
•
In some cases a dream
In some cases impractical
In some cases impossible
Copyright Issues and Business Models of Organization
work against this “DREAM”
Part II - ASTM Cooperation with
National Standards Bodies
Cooperation with ISO
Partnership with Rosstandard in
Russia
ASTM and “International”
• US/International split right at 48/52 – more business from
outside US
• More than 80 MOU Agreements with National Standards
Bodies
• New Taxonomy
–
–
–
–
Portuguese
Spanish
Russian
Soon to add more
ASTM and “International”
•
•
•
•
Business agreements with over 100 national bodies
Translation agreements
Adoptions
Technical Training Assistance and Standards Expert
Training Programs
ASTM and ISO
• Joint Standards
• PSDO Agreement
• Case by case on other Adoptions
What is ASTM’s relationship with
Russian Federal Agency of
Technical Regulating & Metrology
•
•
•
•
•
MOU for Cooperation since 2006
Adoption and Official Translations
Normative Referencing
Sales (thru Interstandard)
Support of Labs via PTP and Training via VNICSMV
What is ASTM’s relationship with
Russian Federal Agency of
Technical Regulating & Metrology
• More than 1200 GOST R Standards either based upon
ASTM or referencing ASTMs
• Now more than 1000 ASTMs officially translated into
Russian Language
• Russian Language Videos
Part III - ASTM Structure and
Organization
What is an ASTM Standard
• Developed through a consensus process
• Meets the requirements of ASTM procedures/regulations
• Approximately 48% are test methods which are supported
by scientific and statistical studies
• Ultimately to:
– Improve product quality
– Enhance safety
– Facilitate market access & trade
– Build consumer confidence
25
ASTM Technical Committees
• Construction/Building
Materials & Products
• Road and Paving Materials
• Consumer Products
• Steel
• Petroleum
• Plastics and Paint
• Textiles
• Environmental
• Medical Devices
• Many, many more
ASTM Development Approach
•
•
•
•
•
•
Individual Volunteer Members
Consensus process
One vote per company
Every vote equal
Negative votes are addressed
Updating according to needs of members and their
companies/industries
Principles that Guide ASTM
International’s Standards
Development Process
• Transparency and Openness
• Balance, Consensus and Due Process
• Effectiveness and Relevance
• Coherence – Non duplication
• Aid to Developing Countries
…..compliance with WTO and TBT guidelines
TBT Agreement
The WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade tries to
ensure that regulations, standards, testing and
certification procedures do not create unnecessary
obstacles to trade and commerce.
The WTO promotes the use of International Standards, but
does not define by organization name.
ASTM International’s Global
Importance
• ASTM is a TRUE International Organization – Various “world
class” standards and test methods are relevant and used
everywhere
• Member/Industry driven, not influenced by trade institutes or
politics
• International membership/participation in committees
• ASTM Standards and Test Methods work alongside and are
often referenced by other collections such as API and ISO
(sometimes the result may even be an adoption or a jointly
produced standard)
Trends in Information
Business
•
•
•
•
•
E-book transition (hardcover library collections replaced by “clouds”)
XML replacing SGML and “others”; ASTM completed XML conversion in
2012
Mobile Device format – ASTM standardizing on HTML 5
Advanced linking – Semantic Tagging (ASTM has prototypes)
Translations (importance) in supporting international penetration in certain
countries; ASTM has more than 3000 translations in a number of different
languages
Questions ??