Jul 09, 2019

As a committee member, your participation drives the standards development process. Your knowledge and experience help to create useful standards of the highest technical quality. And your perspective adds value to the process, so please don’t hesitate to be part of the discussions.

(Also remember, participation puts you in direct contact with other professionals in your industry, to meet and engage on a more cooperative basis. Plus, your ASTM membership offers the unique opportunity for you to be aware of the latest innovations in your field.)

To help you start participating, to participate more effectively, or to refresh your understanding of what that means, relevant materials can be accessed at www.astm.org/member_training.

For starters, if you’re new to ASTM standards development, consider attending the New Member Orientation and Training either at a committee week or virtually.

The New Member Onboarding Checklist might also be helpful. A PDF of the checklist, found online in the Membership section (www.astm.org/MEMBERSHIP), contains an overview to help increase your understanding of the consensus process, along with more information to support you in your committee work. The list also highlights:

• Recommendations for which training sessions will be most helpful at the beginning;
• The importance of contacting your staff manager;
• The importance of submitting votes through the online balloting platform;
• The value of attending technical committee meetings;

Download a copy of the Regulations Governing ASTM Technical Committees. Additional resources can be found HERE.

Regs Corner

Committees and subcommittees that develop standards for things — materials, products, systems, or services — offered for sale must be classified and balanced between producers and nonproducers (users, general interest, and consumers). 

A member who produces or sells materials, products, or services is a producer. A member who uses materials, products, or services is a user. A member who represents those who purchase for household use is a consumer. A member who cannot be categorized as a producer, user, or consumer is a general interest member. Classified subcommittees must have no fewer than three producers and no fewer than three nonproducers.

Executive subcommittees are responsible for classifying members on the main committee while the subcommittee chairmen have responsibility for classifying members on their respective subcommittees. Members can have a certain classification on one subcommittee and a different classification on another depending on how their interests align with the subcommittee’s scope. If a member is a producer on
any one subcommittee, then they must also be classified as a producer on the main committee.

Committees are required to review their voting member classification each year.