AmericanNationalStandardsInstitute

FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

"AmericanStandardsAssociation"and"ANSI"redirecthere.Forthefilmspeedscale,seeASAfilm
speed.Forotheruses,seeANSI(disambiguation).
TheAmericanNationalStandards
Institute(ANSI,/nsi/ANsee)isaprivatenonprofit

AmericanNationalStandards
Institute

organizationthatoverseesthedevelopmentofvoluntary
consensusstandardsforproducts,services,processes,
systems,andpersonnelintheUnitedStates.[3]The
organizationalsocoordinatesU.S.standardswithinternational
standardssothatAmericanproductscanbeusedworldwide.
Forexample,standardsensurethatpeoplewhoowncameras

LogooftheAmericanNationalStandards
Institute

canfindthefilmtheyneedforthatcameraanywherearound

Abbreviation

ANSI

theglobe.

Formation

May14,1918(97years
ago)[1]

Purpose

Nationalstandards

ANSIaccreditsstandardsthataredevelopedby
representativesofotherstandardsorganizations,government
agencies,consumergroups,companies,andothers.These
standardsensurethatthecharacteristicsandperformanceof

Headquarters Washington,D.C.,
UnitedStates
Membership

125,000companiesand3.5
millionprofessionals[2]
English

alsoaccreditsorganizationsthatcarryoutproductor

Official
language

personnelcertificationinaccordancewithrequirements

Website

www.ansi.org

productsareconsistent,thatpeopleusethesamedefinitions
andterms,andthatproductsaretestedthesameway.ANSI

definedininternationalstandards.[4]
Theorganization'sheadquartersareinWashington,DC.ANSI'soperationsofficeislocatedinNewYork
City.TheANSIannualoperatingbudgetisfundedbythesaleofpublications,membershipduesandfees,
accreditationservices,feebasedprograms,andinternationalstandardsprograms.
Contents[hide]
1History
2Members
3Process
4Internationalactivities
4.1Standardspanels
4.2Americannationalstandards
4.3Otherinitiatives
5Seealso
6References
7Externallinks

History

[edit]

ANSIwasoriginallyformedin1918,whenfiveengineeringsocietiesandthreegovernmentagencies
foundedtheAmericanEngineeringStandardsCommittee(AESC).In1928,theAESCbecame
theAmericanStandardsAssociation(ASA).In1966,theASAwasreorganizedandbecametheUnited
StatesofAmericaStandardsInstitute(USASI).Thepresentnamewasadoptedin1969.
Priorto1918,thesefivefoundingengineeringsocieties:
AmericanInstituteofElectricalEngineers(AIEE,nowIEEE)
AmericanSocietyofMechanicalEngineers(ASME)
AmericanSocietyofCivilEngineers(ASCE)
AmericanInstituteofMiningEngineers(AIME,nowAmericanInstituteofMining,Metallurgical,and
PetroleumEngineers)
AmericanSocietyforTestingandMaterials(nowASTMInternational)
hadbeenmembersoftheUnitedEngineeringSociety(UES).AtthebehestoftheAIEE,theyinvitedthe
U.S.governmentDepartmentsofWar,Navy(combinedin1947tobecometheDepartmentofDefenseor
DOD)andCommerce[5]tojoininfoundinganationalstandardsorganization.
AccordingtoPaulG.Agnew,thefirstpermanentsecretaryandheadofstaffin1919,AESCstartedasan
ambitiousprogramandlittleelse.Staffforthefirstyearconsistedofoneexecutive,CliffordB.LePage,who
wasonloanfromafoundingmember,ASME.Anannualbudgetof$7,500wasprovidedbythefounding
bodies.
In1931,theorganization(renamedASAin1928)becameaffiliatedwiththeU.S.NationalCommitteeof
theInternationalElectrotechnicalCommission(IEC),whichhadbeenformedin1904todevelopelectrical
andelectronicsstandards.[6]

Members

[edit]

ANSI'smembershipcomprisesgovernmentagencies,organizations,corporations,academicand
internationalbodies,andindividuals.Intotal,theInstituterepresentstheinterestsofmorethan125,000
companiesand3.5millionprofessionals.[2]

Process

[edit]

ThoughANSIitselfdoesnotdevelopstandards,theInstituteoverseesthedevelopmentanduseof
standardsbyaccreditingtheproceduresofstandardsdevelopingorganizations.ANSIaccreditation
signifiesthattheproceduresusedbystandardsdevelopingorganizationsmeettheInstitute'srequirements
foropenness,balance,consensus,anddueprocess.
ANSIalsodesignatesspecificstandardsasAmericanNationalStandards,orANS,whentheInstitute
determinesthatthestandardsweredevelopedinanenvironmentthatisequitable,accessibleand
responsivetotherequirementsofvariousstakeholders.[7]
Voluntaryconsensusstandardsquickenthemarketacceptanceofproductswhilemakingclearhowto

improvethesafetyofthoseproductsfortheprotectionofconsumers.Thereareapproximately9,500
AmericanNationalStandardsthatcarrytheANSIdesignation.
TheAmericanNationalStandardsprocessinvolves:
consensusbyagroupthatisopentorepresentativesfromallinterestedparties
broadbasedpublicreviewandcommentondraftstandards
considerationofandresponsetocomments
incorporationofsubmittedchangesthatmeetthesameconsensusrequirementsintoadraftstandard
availabilityofanappealbyanyparticipantallegingthattheseprincipleswerenotrespectedduringthe
standardsdevelopmentprocess.

Internationalactivities

[edit]

InadditiontofacilitatingtheformationofstandardsintheUnitedStates,ANSIpromotestheuseofU.S.
standardsinternationally,advocatesU.S.policyandtechnicalpositionsininternationalandregional
standardsorganizations,andencouragestheadoptionofinternationalstandardsasnationalstandards
whereappropriate.
TheInstituteistheofficialU.S.representativetothetwomajorinternationalstandardsorganizations,
theInternationalOrganizationforStandardization(ISO),asafoundingmember,[8]andtheInternational
ElectrotechnicalCommission(IEC),viatheU.S.NationalCommittee(USNC).ANSIparticipatesinalmost
theentiretechnicalprogramofboththeISOandtheIEC,andadministersmanykeycommitteesand
subgroups.Inmanyinstances,U.S.standardsaretakenforwardtoISOandIEC,throughANSIorthe
USNC,wheretheyareadoptedinwholeorinpartasinternationalstandards.

Standardspanels

[edit]

[9]TheInstituteadministersninestandardspanels:

ANSIHomelandDefenseandSecurityStandardizationCollaborative(HDSSC)
ANSINanotechnologyStandardsPanel(ANSINSP)
IDTheftPreventionandIDManagementStandardsPanel(IDSP)
ANSIEnergyEfficiencyStandardizationCoordinationCollaborative(EESCC)
NuclearEnergyStandardsCoordinationCollaborative(NESCC)
ElectricVehiclesStandardsPanel(EVSP)
ANSINAMNetworkonChemicalRegulation
ANSIBiofuelsStandardsCoordinationPanel
HealthcareInformationTechnologyStandardsPanel(HITSP)
Eachofthepanelsworkstoidentify,coordinate,andharmonizevoluntarystandardsrelevanttothese
areas.
In2009,ANSIandtheNationalInstituteforStandardsandTechnology(NIST)formedtheNuclearEnergy
StandardsCoordinationCollaborative(NESCC).NESCCisajointinitiativetoidentifyandrespondtothe
currentneedforstandardsinthenuclearindustry.

Americannationalstandards

[edit]

TheASA(asforAmericanStandardsAssociation)photographicexposuresystem,originallydefinedin
ASAZ38.2.1(since1943)andASAPH2.5(since1954),togetherwiththeDINsystem(DIN4512since
1934),becamethebasisfortheISOsystem(since1974),currentlyusedworldwide(ISO6,ISO
2240,ISO5800,ISO12232).
Astandardforthesetofvaluesusedtorepresentcharactersindigitalcomputers.TheANSIcode
standardextendedthepreviouslycreatedASCIIsevenbitcodestandard(ASAX3.41963),with
additionalcodesforEuropeanalphabets(seealsoExtendedBinaryCodedDecimalInterchange
CodeorEBCDIC).InMicrosoftWindows,thephrase"ANSI"referstotheWindowsANSIcode
pages(eventhoughtheyarenotANSIstandards).[10]Mostofthesearefixedwidth,thoughsome
charactersforideographiclanguagesarevariablewidth.Sincethesecharactersarebasedonadraftof
theISO8859series,someofMicrosoft'ssymbolsarevisuallyverysimilartotheISOsymbols,leading
manytofalselyassumethattheyareidentical.
Thefirstcomputerprogramminglanguagestandardwas"AmericanStandardFortran"(informally
knownas"FORTRAN66"),approvedinMarch1966andpublishedasASAX3.91966.
TheprogramminglanguageCOBOLhadANSIstandardsin1968,1974,and1985.TheCOBOL2002
standardwasissuedbyISO.
TheoriginalstandardimplementationoftheprogramminglanguageCwasstandardizedasANSI
X3.1591989,becomingthewellknownANSIC.
ApopularUnifiedThreadStandardfornutsandboltsisANSI/ASMEB1.1whichwasdefinedin1935,
1949,1989,and2003.
TheANSINSFInternationalstandardsusedforcommercialkitchens,suchasrestaurants,cafeterias,
delis,etc.
TheANSI/APSP(AssociationofPool&SpaProfessionals)standardsusedforpools,spas,hottubs,
barriers,andsuctionentrapmentavoidance.
TheANSI/HI(HydraulicInstitute)standardsusedforpumps.
TheANSIforeyeprotectionisZ87.1,whichgivesaspecificimpactresistanceratingtotheeyewear.
Thisstandardiscommonlyusedforshopglasses,shootingglasses,andmanyotherexamplesof
protectiveeyewear.
TheANSIpapersizes(ANSI/ASMEY14.1).

Otherinitiatives

[edit]

In2008ANSI,inpartnership[11]withCitationTechnologies,createdthefirstdynamic,onlineweblibrary
forISO14000standards.[12]
OnJune23,2009ANSIannouncedaproductandservicesagreementwithCitationTechnologiesto
deliverallISOStandardsonawebbasedplatform.ThroughtheANSICitationpartnership,17,765
InternationalStandardsdevelopedbymorethan3,000ISOtechnicalbodieswillbemadeavailableon
thecitationplatform,armingsubscriberswithpowerfulsearchtoolsandcollaboration,notification,and
changemanagementfunctionality.[13]
ANSI,inpartnershipwithCitationTechnologies,AAMI,ASTM,andDIN,createdasingle,centralized

databaseformedicaldevicestandardsonSeptember9,2009.[14]
Inearly2009,ANSIlaunchedanewCertificateAccreditationProgram(ANSICAP)toprovideneutral,
thirdpartyattestationthatagivencertificateprogrammeetstheAmericanNationalStandardASTM
E265909.
In2009,ANSIbeganacceptingapplicationsforcertificationbodiesseekingaccreditationaccordingto
requirementsdefinedundertheToySafetyCertificationProgram(TSCP)astheofficialthirdparty
accreditorofTSCPsproductcertificationbodies.
In2006,ANSIlaunchedwww.StandardsPortal.org ,anonlineresourceforfacilitatingmoreopenand
efficienttradebetweeninternationalmarketsintheareasofstandards,conformityassessment,and
technicalregulations.ThesitecurrentlyfeaturescontentforChina,India,andKorea,withadditional
countriesandregionsplannedforfuturecontent.
ANSIdesignstandardshavealsobeenincorporatedintobuildingcodesencompassingseveralspecific
buildingsubsets,suchastheANSI/SPRIES1,whichpertainsto"WindDesignStandardforEdge
SystemsUsedWithLowSlopeRoofingSystems",forexample.[15]