The Acoustical Society of America program in standards

Abstract

The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) Standards Secretariat has the delegated authority of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to manage the development of national standards, to provide for the USA input to the development of international standards, and to manage the development of certain international standards. First, the ASA Standards Secretariat manages the four ‘‘S’’ committees that develop ANSI Standards (national standards) using the consensus method. The four S-committees include S-1 (acoustics), S-2 (mechanical vibration and shock), S-3 (bioacoustics), and S-12 (noise). Second, the ASA Standards Secretariat manages the US representation to several International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and International Electro-technical Commission (IEC) technical committees including ISO TC 108 and 6 of its subcommittees, ISO TC-43 and TC-43-subcommittee 1, and IEC TC 29. Liaison representation from the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) is relied on, in part, to perform this function. Third, the ASA Standards Secretariat provides the international secretariat for ISO TC-108 and two of its subcommittees. This paper discusses the role and program of the ASA Standards Secretariat.