Requests from the food service industry to develop a practice for determining the total cost of owning commercial equipment have led to the formation of Subcommittee F26.05 on Life Cycle Cost, part of ASTM International Committee F26 on Food Service Equipment. All sectors of the food service industry are invited to participate. Categories to be covered in an initial life cycle analysis standard include purchase price, costs for service and repair, preventative maintenance, disposal, utility operations and incremental labor. More.

ASTM International and Nepal and the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology agreed to a memorandum of understanding in November. Dr. Sita Ram Joshi, director general, NBSM, and James A. Thomas, president, ASTM International, signed the MOU, which will assist in the development of Nepal national standards for health, safety and the environment. More.