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ASA Standards Program
The committee (or subcommittee, if one has been formed by the committee, e.g., S3/SC 1) is the consensus body and the voting group for approval of a standard. The current roster of working groups can be viewed at https://asastandards.org/.
The info page for each WG contains an email link to contact the chair.
public comments received as a result of the ANSI PINS pub- lication must be addressed.
WGs develop draft standards that are submitted to the ASC for comment, vote, and approval. The draft is then balloted by the standards committee. During this time, there is a 45- day public comment period. For a detailed discussion of the voting process, see the ANSI (2016) requirements. Negative votes require comments on the specific changes the com- menter would expect in order to reverse their negative vote. In the event of negative votes or public comments, the WG chair works to resolve these in order to produce a new draft. Any changes are reballoted, with an additional 30-day pe- riod for public review and comment, including voting. The goal is to develop a consensus for all published standards. This is much more than a plurality. The minimum require- ment for approval is agreement of 80% of the votes received, but the ASA strives for approval by 90% or more. Once ap- proved by the ASC, the secretary submits evidence that the standard was developed according to the accredited operat- ing procedures of the ASC to the ANSI for its approval to identify the standard as an “American National Standard.” All published standards are subject to a 5-year review, when they are either revised, reaffirmed without change, or with- drawn using the same voting process (Blaeser, 2015).
International Standards
Because of the increasingly global marketplace, the ASA also considers the adoption of international standards as US Na- tionally Adopted International Standards (NAIS). For some projects, the ASA WG and/or the standards committee may also examine the feasibility of proposing an American Na- tional Standard as an international standard. If accepted by the corresponding international committee, the proposed US standard is advanced through the international consensus process, similar to the ANSI process but with international member delegates from each member country participating.
In conjunction with the ANSI, the ASA also administers nine US TAGs in the ISO and IEC.
• IEC Technical Committee 29: Electroacoustics
• ISO Technical Committee 43: Acoustics
• ISO Technical Committee 43/SC 1: Noise
• ISO Technical Committee 43/SC 3: Underwater acoustics • ISO Technical Committee 108: Mechanical vibration,
shock, and condition monitoring
• ISO Technical Committee 108/SC 2: Measurement and
evaluation of mechanical vibration and shock as applied to machines, vehicles, and structures
Participation in standards development provides the opportunity to be involved in developing the very standards that impact one’s own research or job. In- formation about becoming an ASA Standards organi- zational member or about joining a WG is available on the website at http://acousticalsociety.org/standards. Those interested in participating in standards devel- opment should contact the WG chair or the ASA Stan- dards office at asastds@acousticalsociety.org.
Individual experts (IEs) within each committee review doc- uments and provide comments and recommendations to the committee in their area of expertise. Although they have no vote, IEs are nominated by the chair and vice chair of the committee and their nomination is submitted to ASACOS and ASA Executive Council for approval. They serve one- year terms and may be reappointed.
Each of the aforementioned standards committees is com- posed of its organizational members, the WG members, and the secretariat (Struck, 2015).
The Standards Development Process
Standards are typically developed to address specific needs identified by the technical community and for a wide va- riety of reasons: health, safety, security or environmental concerns; technical issues; quality or compatibility require- ments; or to provide a basis for governmental regulation. A new standard may be required for a new technology or to reflect a change in technology.
The process begins with a New Work Item Proposal. This may be generated by anyone with a material interest in the subject matter willing to volunteer to work on this project but most often comes from within an existing WG. If ap- proved by the committee, the project is allocated by the Secretariat to a WG or a new WG is formed. ASA then files a Project Initiation Notification System (PINS) form with the ANSI for any new standard or revision project. This is part of the effort to assess if a new standard is needed or if a standard already exists that can be adopted or revised. Any
60 | Acoustics Today | Fall 2017