BME 301: Biomedical Engineering Design and Communication (Spring 2024) : Standards
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Using Standards for Design
Standards are established norms or requirements, usually described in a formal document that establishes uniform engineering or technical criteria, methods, processes, and practices. Searching standards during design can help you to:
- Identify design constraints from best practices established by experts in the industry
- Comply with laws that specify design and testing criteria
- Reduce your product liability risk by not complying with best practices and/or laws
- Budget for certification testing that may be required or can improve your market position.
UW Libraries owns or subscribes to standards from many standards-producing organizations.
Refer to our Standards research guide to learn more about our standards holdings.
Need a specific standard that we don't own? Request that we purchase it on your behalf.
Standards Available in Full Text
The following are full-text standards databases available through UW Libraries.
- ASABE Technical StandardsStandards developed by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.
- ASTM CompassIncludes all ASTM standards, plus access to a selection of ISO and IEC standards.
- IEEE XploreAll IEEE standards. Use the "Advanced Search" to limit to standards.
For UW staff and students, UW Libraries can purchase and make available specific standards on Techstreet Enterprise upon request. Please submit requests via the standards request form. Techstreet Enterprise is an online standards store that offers standards from leading publishers of industry standards including ASME, ISO, ANSI, ASCE, and many more, and can be used to locate and preview standards before submitting your request.
The following are examples of freely-available, full-text standards online.
- Americans with Disabilities (ADA) Accessibility StandardsBuildings and facilities must be accessible to people with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Architectural Barriers Act. Accessibility standards issued under these laws govern the design, construction, and alteration of many types of buildings and sites in the private and public sectors.
- ASSIST Quick SearchOfficial source for specifications and standards used by the U.S. Department of Defense.
- EverySpecMilitary and other federal standards.
- FDA Recognized Consensus StandardsUp-to-date list of voluntary consensus standards to which FDA will accept a Declaration of Conformity for medical devices
- ITU-TAll International Telecommunication Union recommendations.
- NASA StandardsNASA-developed standards by standard number.
- National Fire Protection AgencyInformation and Knowledge on Fire, Electrical and Related Hazards
- NIST List of Freely Available StandardsNational Institute of Standards and Technology list of organizations with freely available standards.
Finding Standards
Standards may be available in print or available online.
The following video provides techniques for finding standards using websites of government agencies, standards organization, standard stores, and competitors.
The following video demonstrates how to access full-text standards from federal agencies and databases (including ASTM) and how to locate print standards.
International Standards Organizations
- ISO (International Organization for Standardization)ISO is a developer and publisher of international standards, working with a network of national standards institutes from over a 150 countries.
UW Libraries have a selective collection of ISO standards available through the ASTM Compass database, with some older editions in paper. - ITU (International Telecommunication Union)Free Access for all to ITU-T recommendations
- IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission)This organization describes itself as "the world’s leading organization for the preparation and publication of International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies."
Standards Stores and Search Engines
Use these resources to locate standard titles, numbers, and descriptions across multiple organizations. Use this information to continue your search and, if necessary, place a standard purchase request.
- ANSI WebStoreAbstracts only. The American National Standards Institute WebStore contains standards-related information from a wide range of developers, government agencies and international organizations.
- SAE MobilusCitations and abstracts of SAE International standards.