I

(3!. ,· r .I Q. ,

When ASME began pioneering codes and standards almost a century ago, the tech­nical requirements were relatively simple and straightforward. Developing regu­lations in those early days could be done literally within the framework of the So­ciety. But all that has changed! Along with an immensely complex and special­ized technology and a civilization that is becoming more and more interdependent, there are a myriad of vested interests and outside pressures with which ASME has had to interface. In keeping pace with the times, the Society has built an organization that is able to handle its many added re­sponsibilities and still produce useful programs in line with its original char­ter.

The codes and standards activities of ASME are designated as a separate and autonomous entity on the organizational chart, Fig. 1, reporting directly to the Council. The Council, in turn, through its Executive Committee (Board of Vice Presidents), mandates each year to the Policy Board, Codes and Standards (PBCS) a revised list of tasks and/or duties that are associated with the supervision of codes and standards. The Board bears the responsibility for defining and focusing on relevant advances in the technology, for long-range planning, for responsiveness to legislation and other outside initiatives, and for acting as a channel in matters involving due process. The Policy Board and its rela­tionship to the codes and standards supervisory com­mittees is shown in Fig. 2.

Because of the expanding scope and diverse interests that have developed over the past decade within ASME Codes and Standards, the Council on Mar. 11, 1977 gave its approval to revisions in the Society's By-laws, thereby enabling it to establish six supervisory com­mittees:

I Pressure Technology Codes and Standards II Nuclear Codes and Standards

III Safety Codes and Standards IV Performance Test Codes V Standardization

VI International Standards The supervisory committees have been charged by

the PBCS with the following broad responsibilities: 1 To assess the need for codes, standards, and re­

lated certification projects within their respective areas of concern

2 To determine the proper framework and scope for standards developing committees and to make appro­priate recommendations to the Policy Board

3 To interface with the American National Stan­dards Institute (ANSI) on all matters of common in­terest

Qxla;, Standards and CBrtificate of Authorization Program

Part 2-Policies, Prog·mnls and Orga1~izai10n Fritz Hlrschfeld1

Annapolis, Md.

1 Contributing Editor. Mem. ASME.

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING I FEBRUARY 1979/31

•

• e d o

•n z ,

, . COUNCIL . . ....

.. Executive Committee

I COMMITTEE ON COMMITTEE ON

TECHNICAL REGIONAl AFFAIRS AFAARS

I I l 1 I COMMITTEE OH COMMITTEE ON

COMMITTEE ON COMMITTEE SPECIAL

HONORS ORGANIZATION CONSilUTlON · ON COMMITTEES ANDBY·LAWS FINANCE OF COUNCIL

I I _l I I COOESANO

RESEARCH I "*·-.. -1 PROFESSIONAl EDUCATION MEMBERSHIP S~DARDS AFFAIRS

I XI GENERAL BASIC INDUSTRY POWER 1--

REGIONS• 1-- ENGINEERING ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT DEPARTMENT II X 1-- 1-- DEPARTMENT DEPARTMENT

Ill IX

IV v I V1 I VII VIII 'For purposes of simplification only one box is shown lod 'cllha 11 r onal i epo 8QI pol cy boards.

Fig. 1 An organization chart for ASME showing the Codes and Standards group as a separate entity reporting directly to the Council.

I

POUCYBOARO CODES AND STANDARDS "

' .

I I 1 PRESSURE SAFETY CODES PERFORMANCE

TECHNOLOGY ANDS~DARDS TESTCOOE COMMITTEE COMMITTEE COMMITTEE

INTERNATlOHAL NUCLEAR

POWER CODES ANO S~NOARDIZATlON STANOARDIZATlOH

S~NDARDS COMMITTEE COMMITTEE COMMITTEE

Fig. 2 With the recent revision in the Society's By-laws, there are today six supervisory committees reporting to the Policy Board.

4 To approve officially codes and standards on be­half of ASME

5 To suggest new courses of action for consideration by the Policy Board

6 And to interact with the various governmental regulatory agencies and other jurisdictional bodies.

The responsibilities and the organizational setup for

32/ FEBRUARY 1979/ MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

each of the supervisory committees are briefly outlined in the following:

I Pressure Technology Codes and Standards a Area of Responsibility The responsibility of the Pressure Technology Codes and Standards Committee is the management of all of the ASME activities relating to codes, standards,

I BOILER AND PRESSURE

VESSEL COMMITTEE GAS PIPING S'Tl'tNDA.RDS

COMMITTEE

I INSPECTION OF

PRESSURE EQUIPMENT

816 • 895 TERMINOLOGY FOR PRESSURE REUEF

DEVICES

PRESSURE VESSELS FOR HUMAN OCCUf¥.NCY

831 CODE FOR PRESSURE

PIPING

VALVES, FLANGES, ATTINGS, GASKETS, AND

VALVE ACTUATORS

80I..AR ENERGY

Fig. 3 The management of codes and standards for all non-nuclear pressurized equipment is the responsibility of the Pressure Technology Committee.

"- .. ·.: . .. ~ ., . ; ~ . · ..

I COMMITTEE ON AUTHORIZED NUCLEAR INSPECTION AND

SPECIALIZED PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS

(N626)

BOILER AND PRESSURE VESSEL

COMMITTEE (NUCLEAR)

I SCIII SCXI

I

. NUCLEAR PO~R CODES AND STANDARDS

_COMMITTEE

COMMITTEE ON NUCLEAR

oUALJTY

COMMITTEE ON OPERATION AND

MAINTENANCE OF ASSURANCE NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

<X?MMITTEE ON

CRANES FOR NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

I SCON

ACI/ASME NUCLEAR CERTlFICATION JOINT COMMITTEE

COMMITTEE ON NUCLEAR AJRANDGAS TREATMENT EQUIPMENT

SUBCOMMITTEE ON TES TINGOF NT FOR ACY

MECHANICAl EQUIPME FUNCTIONAL AOEOU

Fig. 4 The provision of sound safety standards for the controversial nuclear power plant program in this country is lhe direct concern of the Nuclear Power Codes and Standards Committee.

:,. . - .·

guidelines, and certification programs directly appli­cable to non-nuclear pressurized equipment. b Organization See Fig. 3.

II • Nuclear Codes and Standards a Area of Responsibility

The Nuclear Codes and Standards Committee is re­sponsible for the management of all of the ASME ac­tivities relating to codes, standards, and certification programs that are directly applicable to nuclear-pow­ered generating facilities. b Organization See Fig. 4.

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING I FEBRUARY 1979/33

- . SAFETY

CODES AND STANDARDS . . COMMITTEE -.;· .·.~ '

I I I A17 818 8se· FD&8

ELEVATORS COMPRESSOR POWER TRUCKS EQUIPMENT SYSTEMS

. ' A40 820 830 SHIELDED

PLUMBING CONVEYORS CRANES IGNmON

A120 A90 POWER I PLATFORMS MANUFTS

A13 815 Z228 C&SD PIPING MACHINERY INCINERATION BOILERS

IDENTlACATlON GUARDING .

Fig. 5 The Safety Codes and Standards Committee is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate safety standards for a wide variety of industrial equipment.

.. .. -. PERFORMANCE - · .. ·.

TEST CODES ' . - .. . . _: ---

I I I I I I I

nJRBINES SAFETY AND BOILER CENTRIFUGAL PARTICULATE MATTER 380THER

PTII REUEF VALVES EFFIClENCY . PUMPS IN A GAS STREAM PTC

PTC25 PTC4.1 PTC8.2 PTC38 COMMITTEES .

Fig. 8 Codes applicable to the performance of equipment fall under the jurisdiction of the Performance Test Code supervisory committee.

Ill Safety Codes and Standards a Area of Responsibility The Safety Codes and Standards Committee is re­sponsible for the management of all of the ASME ac­tivities concerned with codes, standards, and certifi­cation programs directly applicable to safety codes, safety standards, and related certification projects. b Organization See Fig. 5.

IV Performance Test Codes a Area of Responsibility The responsibility of the Performance Test Code Su­pervisory Committee is the management of all ASME activities relating to codes applicable to the performance of equipment or the measurement of attributable phe­nomena. b Organization See Fig. 6.

V Standardization a Area of Responsibility

. 34 I FEBRUARY 1979 I MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

The responsibility of the Standardization Committee is the management of all of the ASME activities relating to standardization which have not been previously as­signed by the Policy Board to any of the other supervi­sory committees. b Organization See Fig. 7.

VI International Standards a Area of Responsibility The International Standardization Committee is re­sponsible for the management of those international activities of ASME in codes and standards for which ASME holds the Administrative Secretariat (together with the American National Standards Institute as the Secretariat). The administrative function involves the management of international codes and standards where the technical input is under a consensus stan­dards development committee. b Organization See Fig. 8.

' I t

., ... ·:j., - ~- .. '" .. .. --

:::. c c--.~ANDAfiDaAllON

. -

I I I I MACHINE TOOLS BOLTS, N\ITS, CHAINS, ATTCHMTS., MEtAl AND MEllU.

CENTRIFUGAL SCREW THREADS COMP.,PERF., RIVETS, SCREWS, SPROCKETS FOR ALLOY WROUGHT PUMPS (81) AND EQUIPMENT ~TENERS POWER TRANSM. MIUSIZES (873) (85) (8 18) (829) (832)

I I I I 1 I DIMENSIONAL CUTTlNG TOOLS. FRBGHT POWER OR HAND ENGRG. DRAWING INDUSTRIAL MEASUREMENT

METROLOGY HOLDERS, DRIVERS CONllO.INERS OPERATED AND RELATED ENGINEERING OF FLUID FLOW

(889) AND BUSHINGS (MHS) HANDUNG TRUCKS [)()CMTN. PRACTICE TERMINOLOGY INCLOSED (894) (MH11) (Y14) (Z94) CONDUITS

__j_ I ASME ASME SECRn\RIAT

I REPRESEN17.TIVES OR SPONSOR OF 24

ON40 ADDITIONAL S17.N~DS SlAN~DS COMMITTEES

~MITTEES

-Fig. 7 The Standardization Committee carries the responsibility for the management of all ASME standardization activities that have not been otherwise assigned.

.. INTERNA110NAL

:-: BTAHDARDIZA110N .. .. • COMMITIEE

I I I

J ISO I I

IEC r--I J I

BOILERS AND REWNING RINGS HYDRAUUC STEAM PRESSURE VESSELS TC2 TURBINES TURBINES

TC11 WG11 TC4 TCS

Fig. 8 The International Standardization Committee looks after the Society's international activities in codes and standards. , ...... ..... . ~\

Broad Acceptance

It is clear from the foregoing that the Society is con­tinuously striving to improve its internal structure by establishing suitable committees to develop appropriate standards. In addition, it is actively seeking to promote all the necessary procedures for assessing the pending needs for adequate standards as well as following through to see that, once the standards are officially designated, they gain the widest possible approval and acceptance. For instance, even though the ASME Performance Test Codes (formerly the Power Test Codes) have been in use for almost 90 years by govern­ment and industry for reference in legal documents and as acceptance standards, they were nevertheless sub­mitted to ANSI in 1972 for approval as meeting the criteria for American National Performance Test Codes Procedures. This step has resulted in an even broader recognition and application of these ASME-developed codes and standards. .

The policy of submitting the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Committee Procedures, Performance

Test Code Committee Procedures, and all new stan­dards committees procedures to ANSI for accreditation is a further demonstration of the Society's firm com­mitment to the federated voluntary standards system. The ANSI-ASME Critical Path for Standards Approval is illustrated in Fig. 9.

The Birth of ANSI

Although ASME's pioneer efforts to develop codes and standards date back to 1884, it was the advent of World War I that really underlined the urgent need for a uniform system of nationally accepted standards. Because of the chaotic situation during that War­brought about by the lack of interchangeability of parts-a number of organizations set to work devel­oping independent standards. Soon, however, there were numerous instances of conflict, duplication, and waste. In 1918, therefore, five engineering societies (including, of course, ASME) and two federal agencies joined together in the formation of the American En­gineering Standards Council. The purpose of the Council was to coordinate standards activities across

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING I FEBRUARY 1979/35

TECHNICAL sc SG WG

Fig. 9 The ANSI-ASME Critical Path for Standards Approval .

ADVERSE COMMENTS

disciplinary interfaces and transition points. The original Council gave way to the American Standards Association in 1928, which evolved into the United States of America Standards Institute in 1966, and fi­nally reached its present form-the American National Standards Institute-in 1969.

Today, ANSI is the national coordinator of voluntary standards development and the clearinghouse for in­formation on national and international standards. The ANSI federation consists of 900 companies-large and small- and some 200 trade, technical, professional, labor, and consumer organizations. It represents vir­tually every technical discipline and every facet of trade and commerce.

ANSI provides and administers the only recognized system in the U.S. for establishing standards-no matter what their origin-as American National (con­sensus) Standards. Its appt:oval procedures ensure that all concerned national interests have had an opportu­nity to participate in a standard's development or to comment on its provisions. They further ensure that the standard has achieved general recognition and ac­ceptance for use. ANSI's requirements for due process, including the right to appeal actions at several levels of review, guarantee a high level of confidence and credi­bility for American National Standards. ANSI also provides for the effective representation of U.S. inter­ests in international standardization carried out by such nontreaty organizations as the International Organi-

36/ FEBRUARY 1979/ MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

ANSI REPORTER PUBUC COMMENT

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

MAGAZINE PUBUC COMMENT

PUBUCATION AVAILABLE

FROM ANSI AND

ASME

zation for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

Developing American National Standards

There are three separate and distinct methods for developing American National Standards: accredited organization, committee, and canvass. Under the first approach, ANSI accredits the procedures of an orga­nization as meeting the criteria for American National Standards. The Boiler and Pressure Vessel Committee procedures were the first to be accredited under this method. Under the American National Standards Committee Method, ASME administers 50 major standards projects. The canvass method may be used by anyone. A tentative standard is submitted to ANSI by a proponent along with a canvass list. Those on the canvass list have an opportunity to review, comment, and vote on the proposed standard.

The ANSI organization chart is shown in Fig. 10. The Board of Directors approves policy and directs the staff in implementing it. The Executive Standards Council manages the standardization activities of ANSI, both domestic and international. Reporting to the Executive Standards Council are 19 Standards Man­agement Boards (including nuclear, mechanical, pres­sure vessel, and piping) . The Board of Standards Re­view is a judicial body that determines if proposed procedures and standards have met the criteria estab­lished by the Executive Standards Council. Currently,