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Directory of United States Standardization Activities

Sophie J. Chumas, Editor*

This Directory serves as a guide to standardization activities in the United States. It supersedes a Directory of the same title, issued in 1967, as National Bureau of Standards Miscellaneous Publication 288. Included in the Directory are summaries of the standardization activities of trade associations, technical and other professional societies representing industry and commerce, and state and Federal governments. For the first time this Directory covers nonengineering and nonindustry organizations. SP 417 contains current descriptive summaries of more than 580 organizations.

Criteria for inclusion are that the organizations have standardization activities such as standardswriting groups, that they assist in the development of standards, or that they issue standards or disseminate standards information.

The standardization activities summaries are grouped into three sections: associations, states, and agencies of the Federal Government. In each section, the summaries are arranged alphabetically by organization. Two types of indexes are included in SP 417 to assist the reader in identifying an activity: (1) a subject index of key words taken from the summaries; and (2) a listing of organizations classified into 24 subject heading areas.

Key words: Codes; consensus system; Directory; Federal Government-standardization; industry
standards activities; national standards activities; recommended practices; specifications; stand-
ardization activities; standards; states-standardization activities; test methods.

1. Introduction

History

This revised Directory has been compiled at the direction of William E. Andrus, Jr., while he was Program Manager for Engineering and Information Processing Standards. This Directory of U.S. standardization activities was first published in 1941, as Standardization Activities of National Technical and Trade Organizations, National Bureau of Standards (NBS) Miscellaneous Publication (MP) 169, edited by Robert A. Martino. The second edition was issued in 1960 and entitled Standardization Activities in the United States-a Descriptive Directory, NBS MP 230, edited by Sherman Booth. This publication supersedes the third edition, Directory of United States Standardization Activities, NBS MP 288, edited by Joan Hartman, issued in 1967. Standards Information Services of the Institute for Applied Technology has since assumed the responsibility of updating the standards information contained in SP 417 and will continue to revise and issue the Directory.

Scope

This Directory provides summaries of the standardization activities of private associations, state governments, and the Federal Government. In previous editions, the associations covered were primarily technical and trade groups representing industry and commerce. The scope of this current edition has been broadened to include the standardization activities of professional groups in such areas as medicine, health, education, recreation, and athletics and sports. The

*Present address: Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, D.C. 20201.

Directory includes a key word subject index and a subject area heading index.

For the purpose of this Directory, the term "standards" encompasses the following words: specifications, tests and test methods, analyses, assays, reference samples, recommended practices, guides to good practice, nomenclature, symbols, grading rules, codes, forms and contracts, criteria, methods and codes of practice.

Criteria

Criteria for inclusion are that the organizations have standardization activities such as standards-writing groups, that they contribute toward the development of standards, or that they issue standards or disseminate standards information. International groups were included if they involved a large American membership and conducted a major portion of their standardization activities in the United States.

The Survey

A survey was conducted to gather the information needed to assemble this Directory. The survey included inquiries to all organizations listed in MP 288, organizations selected from Gale's Encyclopedia of Associations that appeared likely to have standardization programs, states and territories, and Federal Government agencies which were considered to possibly have either voluntary or mandatory standardization programs. Government approval for the survey was obtained from the Office of Management and Budget. There were 966 technical and trade organizations, 50 states and three outlying U.S. areas, and 109 Federal Government departments and independent agencies and offices therein surveyed for this project. Submission of information for consideration for inclusion in this Directory was voluntary. The results of the project

provided this Directory with current descriptive summaries of 506 technical and nontechnical, trade, and other professional organizations; 26 state agencies; and 50 Federal Government agencies that met the criteria for inclusion. The survey forms varied slightly depending on the type of organization surveyed. For the associations, the form requested information on the scope of the association's activities; the percentage of its standardization program to the total program; the names of the groups within the association that administer the standardization activities; the association's participation in international programs; the involvement of the association with the Federal Government; the association's certification. program activities; the total number of current standards issued and their titles; the active standards committees and new projects under consideration; the promotional methods for the standards; and the former names of the association.

The state inquiry differed in that it requested the commencement date of the standardization program. An attempt was also made to determine whether the state had a standardization program other than that for purchasing. The Federal Government inquiry dif fered in that it requested the legislative authority for the agency's standardization programs. Finally, a follow-up letter was sent to all organizations that did not respond to the original inquiry.

Explanation of the Sections

The section entitled Associations (sec. 2) consists primarily of trade and professional organizations related to industry and commerce; however, other professional groups meeting the criteria of this Directory have been listed.

These include: groups dedicated to a cause such as protection of the environment; service-oriented organizations; pet clubs and animal laboratories; barber and beautician groups; organizations that certify professional individuals, institutions, companies or laboratories; and sports and recreation organizations.

The survey did not uncover any standards-writing consumer groups. However, included are professional groups that write standards for consumer products and the consumer organizations that assist in the development of these standards.

Care was taken to screen the organizations for assurance that actual standardization efforts existed and that the word "standards" was not used merely in an ethical (code of conduct) sense of the word.

Most of the organizations included are nonprofit. There was no attempt to survey independent testing laboratories concerned with standardization since there are special publications devoted to the subject; however, a few do appear in the Directory.

The section entitled State Governments (sec. 3) includes all states that responded affirmatively to the survey. Almost all of the summary entries in that section pertain to purchasing offices. Some states are in the stage of developing standards activities and a few do not yet have any program. The summaries are indexed under the name of the state, followed by its legal form of address, whether state or commonwealth.

The section entitled Federal Government (sec. 4) contains information on all the Government agencies that responded affirmatively to the survey. They include the agencies which are involved with mandatory standardization activities as well as voluntary. Unless they are independent agencies, offices are in alphabetical order under major department and then agency; for example, Commerce, Department of, National Bureau of Standards, Office of Engineering Standards Services. Committees and conferences with Government agency sponsors or secretariats, regardless of their legislative authority, are listed in alphabetical order by their exact name, followed by the name of the sponsor or secretariat of the committee, i.e., Interdepartmental Screw Thread Committee, National Bureau of Standards.

Use of Indexes

The indexes are an important and integral key to the use of this Directory. Since the organizations are arranged in alphabetical order by exact name in their respective sections, a name in its entirety does not appear in the Subject Index (sec. 5.2). Instead, key words extracted from the names of the organizations appear in the Subject Index as well as other key words taken from the summaries. Exceptions to this are the names of subordinate or constituent societies, institutes and bureaus of a listed association, and the state and Federal Government agencies (Federal Government offices are by key words only). It is suggested that the reader consult the Subject Heading Areas listing (sec. 5.1).

Organizations which are not included in this Directory are asked to send information on their standardization activities to the National Bureau of Standards, Standards Information Services (SIS). SIS can thus be kept abreast of current information and continue to serve as the national source of information and referral for standardization activities in the United States. A request is also made to organizations already included to keep SIS informed of organizational name and address changes; and continue to send current copies of standards for the SIS collection to the:

Standards Information Services National Bureau of Standards Building 225, Room B162 Washington, D.C. 20234

2. Associations

ABRASIVE GRAIN ASSOCIATION, 2130 Keith Building, Cleveland, Ohio 44115

This organization was founded in the early thirties and its members include manufacturers of natural and manufactured abrasives, i.e., silicon carbide, aluminum oxide, corundum, emery, garnet, etc. The membership is national in scope.

Its standardization activities represent approximately 50 percent of its total program. These activities are administered by the Standards Committee and several subcommittees operating thereunder. It participates in international standardization work cooperating with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the Federation of European Producers of Abrasives (FEPA). It cooperates with various Federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of the Navy. No certification programs are in existence nor being contemplated.

The association has published nine standards through the American National Standards Institute. These are:

B74.4-1964 (R1971) Bulk Density of Abrasive Grains, Test for

B74.5-1964 (R1971) Capillarity of Abrasive Grains, Test for

B74.6-1964 (R1971) Sampling of Abrasive Grains, Procedure for

B74.8-1965 (R1971) Friability of Abrasive Grain, Ball Mill Test for

B74.10-1972 Abrasive Microgrits, Grading of B74.11-1967 Tumbling Chip Abrasives, Specification for

B74.12-1968 Checking the Size of Abrasive Grain

for Grinding Wheels, Polishing and General Industrial Uses

B74.14-1971 Chemical Analysis of Aluminum Oxide Abrasive Grain and Abrasive Crude, Methods of B74.15-1971 Chemical Analysis of Silicon Carbide Abrasive Grain and Abrasive Crude, Methods of

These industry standards are promoted by member companies and the association office, and in the latter case, as new standards are issued, announcements are sent to the trade press advising industry of their availability.

ACCREDITING BUREAU OF MEDICAL LABORATORY SCHOOLS, Oak Manor Offices, 3038 West Lexington, Elkhart, Indiana 46514

The Accrediting Bureau of Medical Laboratory Schools established in 1964 is an independent accrediting agency of the American Medical Technologists. Its primary objectives are to serve as a nationally recog

nized accrediting agency of schools teaching medical laboratory technician and medical assistant aducation programs below the baccalaureate degree leve (Junior and Community College through the private sector), to establish criteria and standards for the administration and operation of medical laboratory and medical assistant schools, to enhance the profession through the improvement of schools, courses and quality of graduates, to provide sound business and ethical standards in the field of medical laboratory technician and medical assistant education and, finally, to maintain standards consistent with the philosophies and bestknown practices of other educational accrediting agencies.

The Accrediting Bureau of Medical Laboratory Schools is the agency recognized by the U.S. Office of Education to accredit medical laboratory technician. education programs below the baccalaureate degree level and it, at the present time, has a petition pending before the U.S. Office of Education for an expansion of its scope to include recognition in the medical assistant education area.

All decisions relative to accreditation of school programs are made by nine commissioners who are selected in the following manner: three by the accredited schools, three by the American Medical Technologists and three by the Bureau Commissioners.

Accrediting manuals which list the criteria and standards for evaluation by the Accrediting Bureau are available upon request as are training guides, brochures and documents relative to the accrediting proc

ess.

ACOUSTICAL AND BOARD PRODUCTS ASSOCIATION, 205 West Touhy Avenue, Park Ridge, Illinois 60068

This is an association of manufacturers of fiberboard sheathings, sound deadening board; ceiling tile and lay-in panels; and mineral and nonwood ceiling tile and lay-in panels.

The association began operations on January 1, 1969 and assumed many functions of the former Acoustical Materials Association and Insulation Board Institute. The association and its members are concerned with combating noise pollution and providing protection against excessive heat and cold in buildings.

AIMA sponsors a U.S. Department of Commerce Voluntary Product Standard for Insulation Board PS 57-73, as well as American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards and test methods-i.e., C208 and C209 for insulation board. In addition the association issues product and application specifications (Tech Specs.) for many industry products. The AIMA bulletin, Performance Data for Architectural Acoustical Materials, is used by architects and specifiers involved in ceilings for commercial building. This publication also covers fire-rated floor ceiling assemblies.

AIMA actively participates in ASTM; American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning

Engineers (ASHRAE) and other technical organizations in the development of standards and test procedures.

Formed by merger of: Acoustical Materials Association (founded 1933) and Insulation Board Institute (founded 1932).

ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA, 335 East 45th Street,

New York, New York 10017

Since 1932, this society has sponsored sectional committees of the American National Standards Institute for the purpose of preparing standards in the broad field of acoustics.

In 1969, the Acoustical Society formed a secretariat to administer the three committees of the American National Standards Institute concerned with domestic and international standardization activities in acoustics: nationally, to foster development of American National Standards and, internationally, to act as technical advisory groups for the International Organization for Standardization, ISO/TC 43 Acoustics, ISO/ TC 108 Mechanical Vibration and Shock, and International Electrotechnical Commission, IEC/TC 29, Electroacoustics. The three committees are: (1) Acoustics standards, specifications, methods of measurement and test, and terminology, in the fields of physical acoustics, including noise, architectural acoustics, electroacoustics, sonics and ultrasonics, and underwater sound, but excluding those aspects which pertain to safety, tolerance and comfort. (2) Mechanical Shock and Vibration (for which the American Society of Mechanical Engineers is cosecretariat) — standards, specifications, methods of measurement and test, and terminology, in the fields of mechanical shock. and vibration, but excluding those aspects which pertain to biological safety, tolerance and comfort. (3) Bioacoustics standards, specifications, methods of measurement and test, and terminology, in the fields of psychological and physiological acoustics, including aspects of general acoustics, noise and shock and vibration which pertain to biological safety, tolerance and comfort.

Standards developed by these three committees are listed in the catalog of the American National Standards Institute, which is responsible for this publication. When new standards become available, they are publicized in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. Current activities center on noise, particularly on community noise, and hearing conservation criteria.

ADHESIVE AND SEALANT COUNCIL, 1410 Higgins Road, Park Ridge, Illinois 60068

The purpose and object of the council is to promote, encourage, and advance the uses of products of the industry. In the field of specification writing and endorsement, the council achieves this purpose through its Technical Committee. This committee is

charged with the establishment of practical and realistic product performance and end use standards for adhesives and sealants sold primarily for resale to users who lack testing facilities and who do not purchase to specifications, but are desirous of procuring to a consistent and known quality standard.

The council was founded in 1957. As a matter of policy, the council serves its industry through cooperative activities of national and international standardization bodies, and/or other industry trade groups. The council devotes 25 percent of the total program to its standardization activities. Currently the council is cooperating with the aluminum industry in developing a performance standard for backerboard adhesives. Formerly: Rubber and Plastic Adhesives and Sealant Manufacturers' Council.

AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION, 1725 DeSales Street NW., Washington, D.C. 20036

The Aerospace Industries Association of America, Inc. (AIA) is the national trade association of companies in the United States presently engaged in the research, development, and manufacture of aerospace and aircraft vehicles and equipment. AIA was founded in 1919 as the Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce. Current membership is 50 manufacturing companies. AIA's primary function is to provide an effective twoway communication link between the member companies and their customers, including Government agencies.

The standardization activity comprises approximately 10 percent of the total AIA program, and is administered principally through the Technical Specifications Division of the Aerospace Technical Council, and its Standards Management Policy Group. The National Aerospace Standards Committee (NASC) is responsible for the development, maintenance, and promotion of the AIA standards document series of National Aerospace Standards (NAS). Standards in the NAS series are also developed under the Manufacturing Committee (machine tools) and the Transport Airworthiness Requirements Committee (transport and cargo).

AIA, through a number of its technical committees, participates actively in the international standardization activities of the International Organization for Standardization, ISO/TC20 Committee on Aircraft. and Space Vehicles.

The standardization activities of the association are predicted on a base policy of effectively fulfilling industry requirements without duplication of Government agency or other industrial programs. A close working alliance exists with the Department of Defense, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and other Government agencies and industry organizations to insure that AIA standards are not duplicative of existing Government or industry standards, and will meet all the necessary requirements of Government and industry. This liaison involves the direct participation of these agency representatives in

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