Standards skip navigation Contact NISTgo to A-Z subject indexgo to NIST home pageSearch NIST web spacego to NIST Home page

NIST is a key technical contributor to the nation's standards infrastructure. Our laboratories have the job of developing ever more accurate ways to measure length, time, mass, temperature, and the other physical quantities that are fundamental to all types of technology. In turn, such measurement standards are integral to product and process standards—those specifying, for example, the diameter of optical fibers, the content of steel alloys, or electromagnetic compatibility requirements for electronic devices.

NIST plays a variety of roles in support of voluntary standardization efforts that respond to market and industry needs. We provide technical expertise and facilitate private sector agreement. In addition, NIST supports trade agreements by helping to build the underlying conformity-assessment infrastructure necessary to harmonize standards and regulatory requirements across borders. We also coordinate federal agencies' use of voluntary standards.

Measurement standards—provide measurement traceability, at necessary levels of accuracy, to national standards
Documentary standards—specify characteristics of products, processes, services, or systems.See standards information, (which includes Export Alert! an e-mail notification service), standards coordination and participation in standards activities, and training
Conformity assessment/accreditation—procedures for demonstrating compliance with standards and regulations, including NIST guides to EU directives
Information technology standards

Measurement standards

NIST is the nation's measurement laboratory, performing a job originally assigned to the federal government in the Constitution. Scientists and engineers in NIST's Laboratories perform fundamental research leading to tools and capabilities that ensure measurement accuracy and reliability on scales ranging from the enormous to the nearly infinitesimal.

Across industries and technologies, demand for near perfect measurements is growing. NIST develops and supplies references that companies and other organizations use to check the accuracy of their equipment, be it a scale, volt meter, gas-flow meter, thermometer, spectrometer, DNA profiler, scanning electron microscope, hardness indenter, gage block, or even a clock. These and other tools make it possible to compare measurements, promoting trust and confidence in measurement-based transactions-from the sale of gasoline to the synchronization of computer clocks to the integration of supplier-made parts on an automobile assembly line.

Measurement services
Standard Reference Materials—Numbering more than 1,300, SRMs are reference artifacts characterized by NIST for specific physical or chemical properties.
  Standard Reference Data—Collections of evaluated, high-quality technical data are used for such applications as developing new materials or improving industrial processes.
  Calibrations—Comparisons of instrument performance to standards of known accuracy, calibrations directly link customers' measurement equipment to national and international standards.
 

Physical Reference Data—Offerings of this rich on-line physics resource include recommended values of the fundamental constants, guidelines for the expression of measurement uncertainty, and a tutorial on the SI--the international system of measurement units.

Weights and measures
Office of Weights and Measures—-Promotes uniformity in U.S. weights and measures laws, which affect sales of products or services totaling more than $4.5 trillion annually. Includes link to the National Conference on Weights and Measures.

 

History of weights and measures—This NIST Virtual Museum Exhibit begins with President Washington's repeated appeals to Congress to exercise its constitutional power to standardize weights and measures.

International metrology
NIST works to assure that the U.S. realization of the basic and derived measurement units is consistent with the realization in other nations.
  International Comparisons Database—NIST developed this database for the International Bureau of Weights and Measures. It is key to an international arrangement calling for "mutual recognition of national measurement standards."
  International Agreements—Under bilateral agreements with organizations in 18 nations, NIST is working to improve the quality of the international measurement system. These complement multilateral agreements, some involving more than 20 nations.
  International Organization of Legal Metrology—NIST serves as the U.S. representative to this 97-country treaty organization. OIML recommends performance requirements for measuring instruments, which nations may incorporate into their laws or regulations.
 

Metric Program—This program helps to encourage the US transition to the metric system, the international standard for weights and measures.
 

National Metrology Laboratories—This alphabetical list of NIST's counterparts in other nations supplies contact information and web addresses (when available).


Documentary standards
In the United States, responsibility for setting product and process standards rests almost exclusively with the private sector. Government agencies rely heavily on voluntary standards, which they often incorporate into regulatory and procurement requirements. Because of its measurement expertise and its impartiality, NIST is called upon to provide technical support that contributes to the development of high-quality domestic and international standards.

Standards needs span many sectors and uses, and the division of labor among the private and public standards developing organizations can be complex. NIST's standard-related services can provide the information you need or steer you in the right direction.

Standards Information

NIST National Center for Standards and Certification Information—This telephone (and e-mail) inquiry point supplies information on U.S., foreign, and international voluntary standards; government regulations; and rules of conformity assessment for non-agricultural products. NCSCI staff assists users in identifying relevant standards and technical regulations and maintains a reference collection of select standards, available for review in Center offices.

U.S. industry standards are copyrighted by the standards developing organization; NIST does not have copyright authority to reproduce or sell the documents. Contact information on standards developing organizations can be obtained from NCSCI or the American National Standards Institute.

Military and federal standards are available for review in NCSCI offices. Full text is available, free of charge, at the DOD ASSIST-Quick Search.

Information on Federal Specifications and Standards is available from the General Services Administration.

 

Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Notifications—Through a new, automated e-mail service--called Notify U.S. --NIST distributes WTO members' advance notifications of impending changes in standards or other regulatory requirements that could influence terms of market entry for U.S. exports. NIST's NCSCI can provide complete copies of these regulatory proposals, and it will distribute comments from U.S. organizations to the notifying country.

Publications on Standards Activities—Many of these NIST-prepared informational resources are available in PDF format. Topics range from ISO 9000 to standardization in the European Union.
Information on standards-related activities by global region—Africa, Asia, Europe, Russia/Newly Independent States, Western Hemisphere, and NIST standards representatives in other regions.
Department of Commerce Voluntary Product Standards—At the request of outside organizations and on a fee-for-service basis, NIST acts as an unbiased coordinator in the development of standards. This page contains links to the three DOC VPS standards: (DOC PS 1-95) Construction and Industrial Plywood, (DOC PS 2-92) Performance Standard for Wood-based Structural-use Panels, and (DOC PS 20-99) American Softwood Lumber Standard.

Standards Coordination and Participation in Standards Activities

The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act provides specific responsibilities to NIST to coordinate federal use of documentary standards and participation in their development. In addition, NIST is charged with coordinating the federal government's standards-related activities with the private sector. The aim is to eliminate unnecessary duplication and complexity. Each year NIST reports on the progress federal agencies are making in implementing the law.
National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act—Explains responsibilities stemming from 1996 legislative mandate to foster greater federal use of voluntary standards.
Interagency Committee on Standards Policy—Consisting of representatives of 31 agencies, the ICSP advises on federal participation in the activities of voluntary standards organizations and on the adoption and use of voluntary standards.
NIST Participation in Standards Activities—The Office of Standards Services maintains a searchable database of NIST and Department of Commerce staff members who are members of standards committees in the United States and abroad.
Federal agency participation in standards activities—This searchable database includes staff members from federal agencies that participate on standards committees.

NIST also actively coordinates standards activities with those of the private sector, in particular the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). ANSI is not a standards developer but rather serves to coordinate US activities, particularly with respect to the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission, and develop cross-cutting policy positions within the United States. In December 2000, NIST and ANSI signed a Memorandum of Understanding that recognizes the particular responsibilities of each.

Training

The Standards-in-Trade Workshops are designed to provide timely information to foreign officials on U.S. practices in standards and conformity assessment. Participants are introduced to U.S. technology and principles in metrology, standards development and application, and conformity assessment systems.
Standards-in-Trade Program and Workshop Description
Standards-in-Trade Workshop Schedule

Conformity assessment/accreditation
In government-to-government trade agreements, such as the U.S.-European Union Mutual Recognition Agreement, NIST plays key roles in completing steps that make it easier for companies to demonstrate compliance with standards and regulations, a process formally known as conformity assessment.

Conformity assessment refers to the varied activities involved in assuring that products, processes, or systems comply with regulations or voluntary standards. These activities range from tests of components to quality-system registration and from accreditation methods that assess the competence of testing laboratories to procedures for evaluating accreditor performance.

In international markets, US exporters may encounter two types of conformity assessment hurdles: Other nations may not recognize test results and product approvals issued by accredited US laboratories, or they may impose entirely different sets of requirements that entail additional testing by laboratories in the destination market. NIST works with government agencies and private-sector organizations to eliminate duplicative, redundant conformity-assessment activities.
Conformity assessment information—This site contains a wealth of informational resources developed by NIST and other organizations; it also features links to relevant resources around the United States and the globe.
Information on government-to-government mutual recognition agreements—NIST provides the technical assistance necessary to carry out bilateral and regional agreements designed to achieve mutual acceptance of conformity assessment results.

NIST guides to EU directives—These guides can help U.S. manufactures carry out the steps necessary to demonstrate compliance with the EU-wide requirements and gain unfettered access to the 18-nation market.
National Voluntary Conformity Assessment System Evaluation Program—This voluntary program evaluates and recognizes organizations involved in product-acceptance testing and other conformity assessment activities. NVCASE recognition facilitates acceptance of US products in foreign regulated markets based on US conformity assessment results.
FCC Telecommunications Certification Bodies Program—NVCASE has recognized the Conformity Assessment Program of the American National Standards Institute as an accreditor of Telecommunication Certification Bodies for certifying new telecommunications equipment as compliant with federal and foreign requirements to prevent radio-wave interference.
National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program—NVLAP provides third-party accreditation of testing and calibration laboratories. Accreditation programs are established in response to mandates or administrative action by the federal government or requests from private-sector organizations. See also the NVLAP Directory of Accredited Laboratories.

National Cooperation for Laboratory Accreditation—Headquartered at NIST, NACLA is developing a national system for recognizing the competence of testing and calibration laboratories, enabling worldwide acceptance of their test and calibration reports.

Information technology standards
Standards are essential elements of information technology-hardware, software, and networks. Standard interfaces, for example, permit disparate devices and applications to communicate and work together. Standards also underpin computer security and information privacy, and they are critical to realizing many widespread benefits that advances in electronic and mobile commerce are anticipated to deliver.

NIST assists industry groups as they develop IT standards. One function is to provide testbeds that industrial collaborators use to evaluate prospective standards and to determine how best to implement standards in new products and services. Although this work cuts across all of NIST, much of it is carried out in the institute's Information Technology Laboratory. Below, you'll find a sampling of NIST web sites with information on IT standards.
Common Criteria—This international standard (ISO/IEC Standard 15408) establishes a common language for specifying security requirements in IT products and systems as well as a rigorous approach for evaluating security features.
Computer Security Resource Center—provides information about a variety of computer security issues, standards, products, and research of concern to federal agencies, industry, and users.
Federal Information Processing Standards—When there are compelling federal government requirements, such as for security and interoperability, and no acceptable industry solutions exist, NIST issues standards and guidelines for approval by the US Secretary of Commerce. Many of these FIPS are used by federal agencies and have been adopted by industry.

Standards and Conformance Testing Group—Develops conformance tests and related tools for assessing conformance to IT standards.

 

See also: Products and services, A-Z Subject Index, NIST Home Page

Date created: 2/19/01
Last updated: 08/14/07
Contact: inquiries@nist.gov