Hi Doug:
Way back when, Dwaine Richins, professor at University of Oregon, taught that a standard was “a statement of acceptable performance.” Keeping this definition in mind… Laws enable a government agency to generate regulations, codes, or even standards. An electrical code is a set of standards for construction of an electrical installation. These are written by legislators, lobbyists, agencies, contractors, an individual, or a committee (appointed or voluntary or a combination). In the USA, it is common for electrical codes to invoke third-party certification of electrical materials and products. OSHA regulations require NRTL (third-party) certification of electrical products used in the workplace. Third-party certifiers (today) use standards to evaluate products. The standard may be proprietary (UL) or public (ANSI). Standards may be written by individuals or committees. A guideline is just that: a guide. Strictly voluntary. Value of the guideline is quite variable, depending on the authors. Best regards, Rich From: Doug Powell <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, June 27, 2019 9:23 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [PSES] Guidelines v Standards v Codes Good morning all, I am attempting to explain to a client the differences between guidelines, standards and codes for products without going into an hour long explanation of all the ins and outs of regulatory compliance. I suppose I might call it an executive review or presentation. See if you think my thoughts are accurate. * Codes (Directives) are the law of the land. That is, they describe what must be done, but not necessarily how to do it. Codes are not used for the design of products, instead they are focused on protection of people, animals, property and environment in the workplace as well as public and residential areas. The writing of codes is the responsibility of the government entities and may involve committees of interested parties but in the end are the sole responsibility of that entity. Codes often require the use of certified products evaluated to certain standards by an accredited inspection body. * Product standards (Norms), especially for products entering the marketplace, are requirements in design, construction, test and installation. Standards tell you what needs to be done and how to do it. Many standards may used to evaluate and certify products by third parties which are accredited by a government entity and as such are one way to show compliance with codes, Standards are almost exclusively written by balanced committees of professionals, with public review and clause by clause balloting. * Guidelines are recommended or best practices and may reference either codes or standards. These guides are often given from experience and lessons learned. One of the hallmarks of guidelines is the use of non-mandatory verbs such as "may", "should", "would" or "could". Guidelines are sometimes compiled by groups of professionals, but may be from individuals or a result of industry self-regulation. In general, products reviewed solely to guidelines are not able to be certified by third parties accredited under government regulation. This said, there are many guidelines used by reputable organizations and issuance of certificates, stamps or markings are common. Thoughts? Thanks - Doug -- Douglas E Powell [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> http://www.linkedin.com/in/dougp01 - ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. 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