ASTM International is an international standards organization that develops and publishes voluntary consensus technical standards for various materials, products, systems and services. Some 12,575 ASTM voluntary consensus standards operate globally. The organization's headquarters are in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, about 5 miles (8.0 km) northwest of Philadelphia.
Founded in 1898 as the American Section of the International Association for Materials Testing, ASTM International predates other standards organizations such as BSI (1901), IEC (1906), DIN (1917), ANSI (1918), AFNOR (1926), and ISO (1947 ).
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Histori
A group of scientists and engineers, led by Charles Benjamin Dudley formed ASTM in 1898 to tackle the frequent railroads that affected the rapidly growing railway industry. The group developed a standard for steel used to make rails. Originally called the "American Society for Testing Materials" in 1902, it became "American Society for Testing and Materials" in 1961 before being renamed "ASTM International" in 2001 and added the "Standards Worldwide" tagline. By 2014, it has changed the tagline to "Helping Our World Better". Now, ASTM International has offices in Belgium, Canada, China, Peru, and Washington, D.C.
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Membership and organization
Membership in the organization is open to anyone interested in their activities. Standards are developed within committees, and new committees are formed as needed, at the request of interested members. Membership in most committees is voluntary and initiated by the request of the member itself, not by appointment or invitation. Members are classified as users, producers, consumers, and "public interests". The latter include academics and consultants. Users include industrial users, who may be manufacturers in the context of other technical committees, and end users like consumers. To satisfy the requirements of antitrust laws, producers must represent less than 50% of any committee or subcommittee, and the votes are limited to one per producer company. Due to these restrictions, there can be a large waiting list from manufacturers looking for organizational membership on more popular committees. Members can, however, participate without a formal vote and their input will be fully considered.
By 2015, ASTM has over 30,000 members, including more than 1,150 member organizations, from more than 140 countries. Members serve on one or more of the 140 ASTM Technical Committees. ASTM International has several awards for contributions to standard authorship, including ASTM International Award of Merit (ASTM International's highest award) organization classified by the United States Internal Revenue Service as a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization.
Standard compliance
ASTM International has no role in mandating or enforcing compliance with its standards. Standards, however, can become mandatory when referenced by external, corporate, or government contracts.
- 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 Upgrade Act, passed in 1995, requires the federal government to use a personally developed consensus standard where possible. The law reflects what has long been recommended as best practice in the federal government.
- Other governments (local and worldwide) have also referred to the ASTM standard
- Corporations conducting international business may opt for ASTM standard reference.
- All toys sold in the United States must meet the safety requirements of ASTM F963, Standard Consumer Safety Specs for Toy Safety, as part of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). The law makes the ASTM F963 standard a mandatory requirement for toys while the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) studies the effectiveness of standards and issues final consumer guidelines for toy safety.
Standard
See also
- International Organization for Standardization
- Material properties
- Pt/Co Scale
- Technical standards
References
External links
- Media related to ASTM on Wikimedia Commons
- ASTM International
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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