ASTM International (ASTM) is an international standards developing organization that develops and publishes voluntary technical standards for a wide range of materials, products, systems, and services. A standards organization, also sometimes referred to as a standards body, a standards development organization or SDO (depending on what is being referenced), is any entity whose primary activities are developing, coordinating, promulgating, revising, amending, reissuing, interpreting, or otherwise maintaining standards that address the interests of a wide base of... Standards are produced by many organizations, some for internal usage only, others for use by a groups of people, groups of companies, or a subsection of an industry. ...

ASTM predates other standards organizations such as BSI (1901), DIN (1917) and AFNOR (1926), but differs from these in that it is not a national standards body, that role being taken in the USA by ANSI. However, ASTM has a dominant role among standards developers in the USA, and claims to be the world's largest developer of standards. Using a consensus process, ASTM supports thousands of volunteer technical committees, which draw their members from around the world and collectively develop and maintain more than 12,000 standards. The Annual Book of ASTM Standards consists of 77 volumes. BSI Kite Mark Logo - Made up of the letters B & S British Standards are the national standards of the UK. The standards body which produces them is BSI British Standards, a division of BSI Group. ... DIN Deutsches Institut für Normung e. ... association française de normalisation (AFNOR) ... A standards organization, also sometimes referred to as a standards body, a standards development organization or SDO (depending on what is being referenced), is any entity whose primary activities are developing, coordinating, promulgating, revising, amending, reissuing, interpreting, or otherwise maintaining standards that address the interests of a wide base of... The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a private, non-profit standards organization that produces industrial standards in the United States. ... Consensus decision-making is a decision-making process that not only seeks the agreement of most participants, but also to resolve or mitigate the objections of the minority to achieve the most agreeable decision. ...

History

ASTM International was formed in 1898 in the United States as the American Society for Testing and Materials by a group of scientists and engineers, led by Charles Benjamin Dudley, to address the frequent rail breaks plaguing the fast-growing railroad industry. The group developed a standard for the steel used to fabricate rails. Year 1898 (MDCCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... This article is about the profession. ... Look up engineer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Charles Benjamin Dudley (July 14, 1842 - December 21, 1909) was a U.S. chemist who was an early proponent of standardisation in industry. ... Rail tracks. ... For other uses, see Fracture (disambiguation). ... “railroads” redirects here. ...

Standards

The standards produced by ASTM International fall into six categories:

• the Standard Specification, that defines the requirements to be satisfied by subject of the standard.
• the Standard Test Method, that defines the way a test is performed. The result of the test may be used to assess compliance with a Specification.
• the Standard Practice, that defines a sequence of operations that, unlike a test, does not produce a result.
• the Standard Guide, that provides an organized collection of information or series of options that does not recommend a specific course of action.
• the Standard Classification, that provides an arrangement or division of materials, products, systems, or services into groups based on similar characteristics such as origin, composition, properties, or use.
• the Terminology Standard, that provides agreed definitions of terms used in the other standards.

The quality of the standard test methods is such that they are frequently used world-wide, even in places where ASTM specifications are not used. Specification may refer to several different concepts: Specification (standards) refers to specific standards Specificatio - a legal concept Specification (regression) refers to the practice of translating theory into a regression model Category: ... A test method is a definitive procedure that produces a test result. ...

Membership and organization

Membership in the organization is open to anyone with an interest in its activities^[1]. Standards are developed within committees, and new committees are formed as needed, upon request of interested members. Membership in most committees is voluntary and is initiated by the member's own request, not by appointment nor by invitation. Members are classified as users, producers, consumers,and "general interest". The latter include academics and consultants. Users include industry users, who may be producers in the context of other technical committees, and end-users such as consumers. In order to meet the requirements of antitrust laws, producers must constitute less than 50% of every committee or subcommittee, and votes are limited to one per producer company. Because of these restrictions, there can be a substantial waiting-list of producers seeking organizational memberships on the more popular committees. Members can, however, participate without a formal vote and their input will be fully considered. This group of political volunteers is working to promote voter turn-out. ... This article is about anti-competitive business behavior. ...

As of 2007, more than 30,000 members, including over 1100 organizational members^[2], from more than 120 countries.

• ASTM International has 120 members in China as of 2005^[3]

ASTM International is recognized by the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Mandatory use of voluntary standards

ASTM International has no role in requiring or enforcing compliance with its standards. The standards, however, may become mandatory when referenced by an external contract, corporation, or government.

• In the United States, ASTM standards have been adopted, by incorporation or by reference, in many federal, state, and municipal government regulations. The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act, passed in 1995, requires the federal government to use privately developed consensus standards whenever possible. The Act reflects what had long been recommended as best practice within the federal government.
• Other governments (local, worldwide, etc) also have referenced ASTM standards ^[4]
• Corporations doing international business may choose to reference an ASTM standard.

The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page.

The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act, or NTTAA, United States Public Law 104-113, was signed into law March 7, 1995. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links Gnome-globe. ...

References

1. ^ Open membership in ASTM
2. ^ ASTM Organizational Membership Directory
3. ^ ASTM Standardization News, August 2005 Feature by Zhang Li Hon, Standards: The New Focus in China’s Exchange with the World"
4. ^ [1]Transport Canada use of ASTM

See also

• Materials property
• Standards organizations
• Standards
• International standards

This is a list of materials properties. ... Standards Organizations are bodies, organizations and institutions that produce, and in some cases measure, standards. ... The word standard has several meanings: Classically, standard referred to a flag or banner; especially, a national or other ensign carried into battle; thus standard bearer indicates the one who bears, or carries, the standard. ... Standards are produced by many organisations, some for internal usage only, others for use by a groups of people, groups of companies, or a subsection of an industry. ...

External links

• ASTM International