Comprehensive Guide for ANSI Certification

Introduction

The American National Standards Institute (or ANSI for short) is an international organisation which administers and coordinates the conformity assessment and standards of the USA on a voluntary basis. It is a privately held, not-for-profit organisation which was founded in the year 1918. The institute facilitates the development of standards and their implementations by collaborating with industry stakeholders, other similar organisations and government as well. In the USA, ANSI is a leader in providing solution based standards and conformity standards. Other than this ANSI also ensures the harmonising of the US standards with the global standards.

Such comprehensively developed standards when effectively implemented helps in increasing the efficiency and quality of products and services available in the market which in turn boosts consumer confidence and market demand. ANSI equivalent body in India is BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards). However it is a government owned body unlike ANSI. In this article we will learn everything you need to know about ANSI and its certification.

ANSI: A Neutral Party

Unlike BIS or other similar organisations, ANSI does not develop standards by itself rather it facilitates their development by providing frameworks for ensuring the integrity and efficiency of the standards along with safeguarding the interests of each and every party involved in the process. This organisation has been working for more than 100 years and is representing the voices of more than 2.70 Lakh businesses along with 30 Million professionals working across the globe.

ANAB (ANSI National Accreditation Board)

The ANAB ( or ANSI National Accreditation Board for short) is an affiliated body of ANSI. It is an multi-disciplinary accreditation body which works together with its staff and assessors to independently evaluate and recognise various prescribed standards. This accreditation wing of the ANSI also provides training services and functions as an developer of industry specific assessment structures and programs.

ISO vs ANSI

ISO stands for International Organisation for Standards which is also an independent, non-governmental organisation. It has more than 170 registered member countries. Unlike ANSI, ISO develops its own standards through a consensus-building approach in which National Standards Bodies of member countries also participate. For instance ANSI will participate on behalf of USA & BIS on behalf of India. There are many standards developed by ISO such as ISO 9001, ISO 31000 and many more.

On the other hand, ANSI does not develop standards rather it facilitates them. Approximately 220 organisations have been accredited by ANSI which ensure the implementation of frameworks developed and prescribed by ANSI. The major difference between these two organisations is that the ANSI focuses on developing “How To” frameworks whereas ISO develops the mechanisms to assess the performance and quality i.e development of Standards.

ANSI Standards For Various Industries

Following are the various approved standards for different types of industries:

• Health Care: ANSI/AAMI/ISO 13485 is a most popular and widely recognised standard for medical equipments.

• Construction: ANSI/ASCE 7 is one of the well recognised standard for construction materials, equipments and other processes.

• Information Technology: Various frameworks have been developed for the IT sector as well some of the most popular ones are SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) and ASCII (American Standards Code for Information Interchange)

• Manufacturing: For various manufacturing processes and productions, the widely recognised standard is the ANSI/ISO 9001.

Sustainability & Environment: For environment management systems ANSI/ISO 14001 is a crucial standard which helps various organisations in maximising sustainability and environmental protection.

Various Roles & Responsibilities of ANSI

The following are the roles and responsibilities of ANSI in brief:

• Facilitation in development of Standards & Assessment Procedure
• Facilitates their effective implementation and solutions
• Harmonisation of US standards with international standards 
• Encourages international trade and development
• Education and training initiatives
• Promotes and advocates the usage of US standards
• Collaborating with industry and government stakeholders
• Acting as neutral party to facilitate cooperation
• Protecting the interest of all the involved parties right from business to professionals and even government.

ANSI Accredited Standards Developer

Any organisation which has been given the accreditation as Standards Developer by the ANSI means that the said organisation’s standards development procedure meets the ANSI’s voluntary consensus standards. The accreditation process is a very rigorous and comprehensive procedure which involves various processes such as review, public comments, assessment, inspection etc. 

This accreditation is a mandatory requirement to submit any draft standard or document as an American National Standard. This accreditation is taken by various stakeholders such as Industry Associations, Consumer Federations, Labour Organisations etc. By taking this accreditation they become eligible to submit their own developed or followed standards to be reviewed and designated as an American National Standard.