Authoritative Standards and Guidelines

Authoritative standards and guidelines are developed by technical or professional societies or by national and international standards-setting organizations.

Compliance is voluntary; however, many government regulators now accept adherence to authoritative standards and guidelines as sufficient for meeting their regulatory requirements especially in the absence of laws.

Listed below are recognized standards-producing organizations. 

Non-Government Resources

·  The Joint Commission Accreditation Manuals 

·   National Fire Protection Association Codes and Standards 

·  Facility Guidelines Institute: Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities 

·  United States Pharmacopeia–National Formulary (USP–NF) 

·  ACGIH Threshold Limit Values (TLVs®) and Biological Exposure Indices (BEIs®) 

·   Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute Standards

·  American National Standards Institute 

·  American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers Standards

·   Compressed Gas Association’s American National Standards

·  Underwriters Laboratory Standards for Safety 

·   Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation’s Standards and Recommended Practices 

·   American Society for Testing and Materials Standards 

·   Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology Standards 

·    International Organization for Standardization 

·   American Society of Mechanical Engineers 

·   Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers

·   European Committee for Standardization

·   International Electrotechnical Commission

·   Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute

·    Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America

·   National Electrical Manufacturers Association

·   Illuminating Engineering Society of North America

·   American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine

·   Health Physics Society