Thanks for posting this, Patrick.
The American Welding Society's _Metric Practice Guide_ is a fine example of standards developed in the private sector (industry, professional societies, etc.) by standards developing organizations in order to specify the use of the metric system in their fields. (Disclosure -- I helped write this one.)
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) teamed with ASTM, Inc. (previously named American Society for Testing and Materials) to write a similar standard. It is called _American National Standard for Use of the International System of Units (SI): The Modern Metric System_ (IEEE/ASTM SI 10-2002). This is currently under review and revision -- and almost certainly with a shorter title! (Another disclosure -- I am the Vice Chair of the committee working on this revision and the Chair of the IEEE sponsoring committee, SCC 14.) Order SI 10 from IEEE or ASTM.
The two standards mentioned above are examples of consensus standards. The process to develop these involves balloting by members in that particular society (AWS, IEEE, ASTM) who signed up to take part in the balloting process. In the case of IEEE, approval by balloting requires 75 % response by the balloting pool. We would never have a President in this country if national elections had the same requirement! It also requires that 75 % of the ballots cast are in favor and that comments made by negative ballots are addressed (rebutted or accepted for further revision).
Thus, the news is even greater than Patrick might have imagined. Documents such as these consensus standards come from the members of the sponsoring societies. One might view these as "ground root" acclamations. IEEE itself is made up of "more than 375,000 members including nearly 80,000 student members in more than 160 countries" and is headquartered in Piscataway NJ.
From my personal experience in working on the standards mentioned above, I can attest that they were developed and revised using the SI Brochure, NIST SP 330, and NIST SP 811 as references. The AWS _Metric Practice Guide_ additionally considered IEEE/ASTM SI 10. For the most part, any differences among these various publications concern issues of style and not of core substance.
Jim Frysinger Patrick Moore wrote:
AWS A1.1:2001; METRIC PRACTICE GUIDE FOR THE WELDING INDUSTRY (2001) $60.00 This metric practice guide is based on the International System of Units (SI) as defined in the U.S. Federal Register notice of July 28, 1998, "Metric System of Measurement: Interpretation of the International System of Units for the United States." It includes the base units, derived units, and rules for their use. Also covered are conversion factors and rules for their use in converting inch-pound units to SI units. Recommendations are presented for style and usage in such areas as prefixes, punctuation, number grouping, etc. There are also suggestions to industry for managing the transition.<https://www.awspubs.com/product_info.php?&products_id=2>
-- James R. Frysinger 632 Stony Point Mountain Road Doyle, TN 38559-3030 (C) 931.212.0267 (H) 931.657.3107 (F) 931.657.3108
