Some standards are free to download, i.e. the ECMA standards. Others are not, and can be very pricey from some organizations. I find it a world wide problem, not just EN standards. UL, ICP, ANSI etc. All have to be paid for.
One solution that works very well in the South of England is an organization called Hatrics. Various local companies linked together by the central county library. We all pay a yearly fee and provide Hatrics a list of all the standards we hold. If another company or yours, requires to look at the standard, you phone up and borrow a copy of it. Much like a public library for standards. One big benefit, all the BSI standards are available for this route and you generally get the standard for a couple of weeks. Again like a library, you can arrange an extension on the loan if all parties agree. Long enough to help on small jobs or tests, and gives you time to evaluate the standard to see if it worth purchasing a copy. Enci wrote: > Hi Group, > > Can someone please remind me again why I have to pay over 1 British Pound a > sheet for standards? (over 2 British pounds a page non-BSI member price) > Where does the money go? > Does this same situation exist outside the European Union? How much do you > pay? > Is membership on a committee producing a standard a paid position? > > For a new line of products in low volume, the costs involved in acquiring > the relevant standards are steep. With the relative ease in which I can > acquire datasheets online, I have often wondered why standards are not > freely downloadable - would that not increase the safety of equipment > produced by SME's and hobbyists alike? Also as an informed consumer I would > be able to see specific details of the standards applicable to any products > I buy. > > Enci > > ------------------------------------------- > This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety > Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. > > Visit our web site at: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/emcs/pstc/ > > To cancel your subscription, send mail to: > [email protected] > with the single line: > unsubscribe emc-pstc > > For help, send mail to the list administrators: > Michael Garretson: [email protected] > Dave Heald [email protected] > > For policy questions, send mail to: > Richard Nute: [email protected] > Jim Bacher: [email protected] > > All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: > No longer online until our new server is brought online and the old > messages are imported into the new server. -- Andrew Carson - Product Safety Engineer, Xyratex, UK Phone: +44 (0)23 9249 6855 Fax: +44 (0)23 9249 6014 ------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. Visit our web site at: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/emcs/pstc/ To cancel your subscription, send mail to: [email protected] with the single line: unsubscribe emc-pstc For help, send mail to the list administrators: Michael Garretson: [email protected] Dave Heald [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: [email protected] Jim Bacher: [email protected] All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: No longer online until our new server is brought online and the old messages are imported into the new server.
