What are Standards and Specifications – Part 1

State Standards and Specification List

Standards and specifications are the benchmark for measuring product performance.  They communicate a common set of expectations and establish the integrity that all products must meet or exceed.  Standards and specifications provide guidance and instruction on how goods and services are to be designed, constructed, manufactured, or tested.  The specifications outline essential or technical requirements for specific goods or services.  Standards provide guidance for general applications.

The U.S. Federal Government, most individual U.S. States, and several industry and international organizations maintain a list of these guidelines.  If you are doing business with a government agency, it is your responsibility to understand, perform , and document completion of work within these requirements.

If you have questions or concerns about a specific requirement, then you should first contact the purchasing agent or project engineer.  If your state does not maintain a Standards and Specifications List, then the state procurement agency should let you know if the Federal List of Standards and Specifications is a substitute guide.

We have provided a list of known State Standards and Specifications Lists in the second part of this article.  However, you can view the Federal List of Standards and Specifications here.