Project PI:
Margaret Phillips
Purdue Libraries
Project Co-PI's:
Michael Fosmire
Purdue Libraries
Paul McPherson
Purdue Polytechnic Institute
Teaching and Collecting Technical Standards by 
Standards, Conformity Assessment, and Accreditation for Engineers by
The First Major Book to Incorporate New International Guides and Standards Standards, Conformity Assessment, and Accreditation for Engineersdiscusses conformity assessment and accreditation as defined in a new set of standards by the International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC). Written by a licensed professional engineer with more than 25 years of experience, the book brings together material specific to international, regional, national, state, and company levels. The author begins with the terms and definitions of ISO/IEC Guide 2 and ISO/IEC 17000, along with commentary from a US perspective. He reviews the development of standards, the differences between accreditation and certification, and the main international standards organizations. He also presents regional standards, such as those of the European Union; national standards and conformity assessment in the United States, Canada, Japan, and Germany; and the provincial standards and conformity assessment mechanisms of states and provinces. The book provides an engineering perspective on legal issues, such as ASME v. Hydrolevel Corp.; examines the role of government in standards, conformity assessment, and accreditation; and explores standardization at the company level. Providing the tools to easily understand and comply with new standards, this accessible resource not only addresses the technical areas of standardization, but also the legal, economic, management, and education aspects. It covers required vocabulary and gathers references from the substantial yet scattered literature on standards.
Primer on Engineering Standards by
Standards play a very important part in the engineering world. They supplement the design process by guiding the designer or user to ensure consistent products with safe and reliable operation. Understanding and complying with pertinent standards helps to ensure a successful design, fabrication, and operation of a product. This book introduces the concept of standards and their impact and value. Chapter 1 gives a brief introduction to the general concepts of procedures, rules, standards, regulations, codes, and jurisdictional requirements. Chapter 2 discusses Engineering Standards developed by the consensus process. Limited consensus standards are presented in Chapter 3 and jurisdictional standards are presented in Chapter 4. Development of Standards is briefly discussed in Chapter 5, and Chapter 6 discusses types of standards. In Chapter 7 the need and processes for exemptions from existing standards are explained. Chapter 8 identifies characteristics of a good standard. There are tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of engineering standards worldwide, covering every imaginable subject related to engineering. Listing them all would be a monumental undertaking and this book, by necessity, covers only a small portion of them. The appendices at the end of this book provide assistance in identifying a few of these engineering standards, who developed and maintains them, and contact information to help the reader obtain further information.
