-----Original Message-----
From: Adrian Jadic [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2000 10:29 AM
To: U.S. Metric Association
Subject: [USMA:8914] Hello! ..and a few Questions (no viruses)I have recently joined this listserver (and USMA), and I wanted to say Hi!
Before I get to the questions I want to thank Don Hillger for making this open discussion possible and USMA in general for their work on what I believe is one of the most just causes since the Declaration of Independence.
1. I see in the US Code paragraphs 204 and 205 mentioning about a US Metric Board. I did some searches on the Internet and found nothing yet. Can anyone tell me where I can find info about this board and it's work?
2. From what I can see in the US Code, the SI is more than allowed. Does anyone know any regulations (OSHA, DEP, NFPA etc.) prohibiting or restricting a private company from asking its suppliers/contractors to submit all documentation pertaining to their product/work, in SI?
Thank you!
Adrian Jadic
Engineering&Maintenance Manager
William Zinsser & Co. inc.
480 Frelinghuysen Ave.
Newark, NJ 07114
Title: Hello! ..and a few Questions (no viruses)
Hello
and welcome -
A
couple of quick responses. 1) The US Metric Board was essentially
disbanded by Ronald Reagan when he refused to provide funding for it, sometime
back in the 80's. 2) Certain items/activities are controlled by
regulations, particularly relating to safety or consumer protection, i.e.
highway signs need to meet standards, which generally don't allow metric yet; or
many food products must be dual labeled to assure that the consumer can make an
educated choice comparing quantities, apparently.
Except
for these limited exceptions, most everything else in this country is market
driven (except of course you can't call something a foot or a kilogram, unless
it meets the standards for a foot or kilogram, which are legally
defined). I'm with a federal agency and we require all new
construction activities in metric units, pretty much exclusively. You are
not forced to comply, per se, but if you want to do business with us, you must
do it our way. Private companies equally can require suppliers to
provide goods or information in metric units. On the other hand, you
can't require a potential supplier to do business with you. But more and
more companies are moving to metric units, not only because it's easier but
also because we are more and more globally interconnected everyday and the
rest of the world is all metric.
Paul
