Engineering or industry standards or specifications are issued by international and national standardising bodies, trade and industry associations, government departments and agencies and individual companies.
They are documents that state how materials and products should be consistently manufactured, tested, measured or defined. They lay down precise conditions which should be fulfilled to ensure the product or material meets the required specifications for safety and effectiveness.
The State Library holds the most comprehensive collection of publicly available engineering standards in Western Australia.

Standards Association of Australia (AS Standards)
An excellent place to visit to view their catalogue, order an Australian or AZ/NZS standard, read lots of useful information about standardisation and FAQs, or download an amendment or draft. Alternatively printed copies of the Australian Standards are available.

American National Standards Institute (ANSI standards)
The United States has a large number of government agencies, trade and professional associations and large companies producing standards. ANSI's role is to coordinate all these bodies and decide which standards should be adopted as national standards. Many of the standards produced by these bodies and approved by ANSI are available through the ANSI collection. Their web site provides a fully searchable on-line database of currently approved American National Standards available. The site also has a comprehensive links page for use by standards developers.

British Standards Institution (BS standards)
The web site has, in addition to the catalogue, an electronic books section which has the latest complete text of collections of standards and interpretations to make implementation of your management system simpler. It also features a set of environmental pages based on ISO 14000. If you are visiting the State Library you may wish to look at the standards in hard copy.

Din Deutsches Institut fur Normung (DIN Standards)
A large number of these German standards have been translated into English and are available in hard copy . Separate standards are published for each aspect of a technical topic so where one Australian Standard may cover wrought copper alloys the equivalent DIN standard may have as many as 30 parts.

Japanese Standards Association (JIS Standards)
This website includes a fully searchable catalogue, in English, of current Japanese industrial standards, standardization activities and information on ISO9000 and ISO14000 series on quality management and environmental management. A large number of hard copy English translations are available in the State Library of Western Australia.

American Petroleum Institute (API standards)
The standards, specifications and recommended practices in hard copy cover materials used in the petroleum industry, such as steel for pipes and drilling muds, and the methods of operating and maintaining equipment.

American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)
A non-profit organisation that publishes the standards written by 132 standards development bodies. ASTM  standards look at the characteristics and performance of materials, products, systems and services. The 1998 edition in hard copy is published in 72 volumes.

Australian Design Rules for Motor Vehicles and Trailers
Sets out design standards for vehicle safety and emissions and is the place to look for the design rules on head restraints, car tyres or seat belts.

Building Code of Australia
The Building Code is the place to look for technical details on the design and construction of buildings and other structures throughout Australia that allows for variations in climate, geologic and geographical conditions. The companion volume The Guide to the Building Code of Australia is your plain English guide to making the information in the code more accessible.

International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
A federation of national standards bodies from 130 countries that promotes international standardisation. Its web site has loads of plain English information pages on ISO 9000 and ISO 14000, the Quality Management and Environmental Management standards, as well as a catalogue to order direct. Many of the ISO standards are available in printed editions as part of the British Standards collection. Check the BS catalogue for details.

SAE Society of Automotive Engineers
A United States industry association that produces a very large number of standards, and technical publications, all of which are submitted to ANSI for adoption as American National Standards. The publications cover the design, building and maintaining of motor vehicles or other vehicles used on land, sea, or in space. The SAE Handbook in printed edition contains over 1,500 standards.

ASHRAE American Society of Heating, Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Inc
The world's leading provider of technical information on HVAC and refrigeration. The ASHRAE handbook is published in several volumes and cover all aspects of refrigeration, ventilation and air conditioning.

ASME American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Many of the ASME standards are approved by ANSI and published as part of their collection. These are available for use in the Alexander Library Building. The Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code is a popular publication and in constant demand. Look at the ASME web site for information on how to access the complete Code on-line.

AWS American Welding Society
Many of the AWS standards have been adopted by ANSI as American National Standards and are published as part of their collection. Look at the AWS web site for their catalogue and how to order on-line.

Australian Gas Association and the Australian Liquified Petroleum Gas Association (AG Standards)
These standards cover all aspects of the testing, design and manufacture of gas appliances and equipment. The web site is informative with details on the Australian gas industry, fact sheets, information for students and teachers, technical reports in PDF format and an extensive list of links to other energy home pages.

American Oil Chemists' Society.  Official Methods and Recommended Practices of the AOCS
The AOCS methods are of critical importance to anyone interested in the processing, trading, utilising, and evaluating of fats, oils, proteins, surfactants and detergents. The official web site has a useful international on-line buyers guide to companies and consultants associated with the industry.