In this edition of How It Works, we'll address how ANSI maintains the Essential Requirements and International Procedures, and how members of the public may suggest modifications to these documents.
By way of background, the ANSI Essential Requirements govern the processes by which standards developers are accredited by ANSI and American National Standards are developed. Over 230 organizations have been accredited by ANSI and demonstrated their compliance with the Essential Requirements; they may call themselves ANSI-Accredited Standards Developers - a complete listing is available at www.ansi.org/asd.
The ANSI International Procedures govern the process by which U.S. stakeholders participate in standards development activities of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), where ANSI is the U.S. member body. The procedures also establish the criteria for the establishment and accreditation of U.S. Technical Advisory Groups (TAGs) to ISO activities.
Both of these important documents are the domain of the ANSI Executive Standards Council (ExSC), an ANSI Program Oversight Committee that reports to the ANSI National Policy Committee (NPC).
The process by which these documents are maintained is routine and long-standing. ANSI solicits public comments on all proposed procedural revisions to these documents through announcements in Standards Action, ANSI online articles like this one, and social media posts (follow @ansidotorg and @ANSI_PSA on Twitter). Staff also explains this process in some of our routinely held webinars.
Any interested party can submit a proposed revision anytime to [email protected]. For clarity, we encourage strikethrough/underline format, as well as rationale for the changes.
Upon receipt, the following process kicks off:
1. Proposal reviewed by the ExSC
2. If approved, proposal announced for public comment in Standards Action along with an explanation of how to submit comments to the ExSC Secretary
3. Public comments reviewed by the ExSC (typically the next meeting) and responses developed; if no further revisions to the proposal then the ExSC votes to approve or withdraw. If further revisions are to be made, then another public review is required.
4. Responses issued to public commenters.
5. If approved, then submitted to the NPC for final approval.
6. Revision incorporated into the next edition of the procedures issued January of the following year.
Need more detail?
Here's a more in-depth description of the process. You can also email [email protected] with any questions.