the Society of Automotive Engineers, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Voluntary consensus standards in the materials area are developed by the American Society for Testing and Materials. The standards writing committees include representatives from all interested producers and consumers as well as from governmental agencies, consultants, academic and research institutions; in short, everyone who has an interest in the development of a standard and who is technically qualified is eligible for membership. The annually published compilation of standards available through this mechanism includes standards for materials in many other countries in addition to the U.S.

The American National Standards Institute is chartered to act as coordinator and clearinghouse for voluntary standardization within the U.S. It was organized, not to develop standards, but to assign national status to standards adopted by the trade associations, technical societies, and other member organizations working on voluntary standards. It also serves as the focal point for U.S. participation in international nontreaty standardization activities.

Certain large corporations also generate written specifications. These include AT&T, General Motors, General Electric, and Standard Oil. Large retailers and merchandisers such as Sears or Wards also develop their own specifications and testing requirements. In other corporations, qualifications for materials typically derive from functional trial and use.