Standards in Engineering

Abstract

The concept of standards is often applied so broadly as to encompass all norms of quality and ethical acceptability. However, standards function more narrowly in engineering practice, where technical standards that specify design and performance criteria have been developed and promulgated. Engineering judgment operates within the range of options consistent with technical standards, such as the strength of concrete or the speed and pulse rate of an electrical signal. Technical standards have ethical valence in both positive and negative respects. On one hand, they are critical for the interoperability of components within complex technical systems, and they can significantly lower the social cost of maintaining such systems. On the other hand, they inevitably exclude potentially beneficial technical possibilities and bias engineering practice toward individuals, firms and even nations that are most facile with whatever standard emerges and becomes dominant. As such, the process of developing, certifying and governing standardization becomes a key site for engineering ethics. Engineering ethics should include a consideration of norms and code of conduct for both governmental and non-governmental standard settings.