SAWE TO-2, 2016a: SAWE Procedures as an Accredited Standards Developer with the American National Standards Institute

Introduction

The Society of Allied Weight Engineers, Inc. (SAWE) is a non-profit organization incorporated under the laws of the State of California on April 2, 1941.  It is an international organization whose purpose is to promote the recognition of Weight Engineering as a specialized branch of engineering. The Society is organized into chapters with members from across the United States, and multiple International regions. The Society offers to members and industry a medium for the pooling and exchange of data and experience at local regional and international levels, fostering a higher degree of efficiency in mass properties engineering topics. Regular chapter, regional and international meetings provide an opportunity for mass properties engineers to meet and to discuss mutual problems, procedures and specifications, thus broadening their individual horizons and becoming better informed. Greater details, history, member services, and organizational description is available at www.sawe.org .

The SAWE was the U.S. organization which harmonized creation of Military Specifications (Mil Stds, Hdbks etc.) across mass properties engineering stakeholders prior to the U.S. government’s transition to a full Voluntary Consensus Standards procedure in the late 1990’s. With the change to a VCS development process the SAWE became the Society to transform existing Mass Properties Mil-Standards to consensus standards, and to create new ones.  These documents are maintained in a voluntary consensus manner as SAWE Recommended Practices. They are available free to Society members and for a nominal charge to the general public.

The SAWE desires to elevate several of its now current Recommended Practices to ANSI accredited standards by becoming an ANSI approved Accredited Standards Developer (ASD). Herein is the description of the SAWE policies and procedures which provide compliance with the “ANSI Essential Requirements: Due process requirements for American National Standards”, January 2014 Edition.

The SAWE recognizes that the ANSI ExSC as the accrediting body, reserves the right to update guidance documents as necessary. Current requirements are accessed at www.ansi.org/asd .

This document serves the dual purposes of 1) Providing  a summary of ANSI Essential Requirements for education  of SAWE members involved in creating SAWE/ANSI approved standards, and 2) Providing to ANSI the SAWE process for compliance with ANSI Essential Requirements for Accreditation as an ANSI ASD.