Valves are used in many applications throughout the industrial, commercial, and residential industries. Due to this wide range of uses, there are several major regulatory organizations which provide standards to ensure proper functionality, compatibility and safety for users.
The major standard organizations include the American Petroleum Institute (API), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the ASTM International (FKA American Society for Testing Materials), and the Manufacturers Standardization Society (MSS). While the organizations above were founded and are headquartered in the U.S., they have international reach today with their standards used around the world.
Engineers designing a valve for or using a valve in a product or system design for global use, should review the standard documents available from international and the applicable national standard organization.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a major international standards body with several important valve standards.
The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) creates or approves a majority of the European standards or Euro Norms (EN) and technical specifications for the member countries in the European Union.
Some valve standards from national standards bodies include ANSI Valve Standards (United States), BSI Valve Standards (United Kingdom), CSA Valve Standards (Canada), DIN Valve Standards (Germany), EEMUA Valve Standards (United Kingdom), and JSA Valve Standards (Japan). National standards bodies mainly approve product standards for use in their prospective countries from other standards organizations. In addition, they provide national accreditation services for standard and certification organizations and coordinate technical advisory groups to ISO.
Engineers designing a valve for or using a valve in a product or system design for specific industrial application, should review the standard documents available from applicable industrial society organizations. Some industry specific valve standards include:
- API Valve Standards
- ASHRAE Valve Standards
- ASME BPVC Valve Standards
- ASSE Valve Standards
- AWWA Valve Standards
- ISA Valve Standards
- NFPA Valve Standards
- SAE Valve Standards
Valve standards from safety focused organizations include NFPA Valve Standards and UL Valve Standards. Many of the standards from the other industry specific, national or international standards organization also pertain to safety aspects of products or assuring products perform safety in their applications without loss of life or damage to property.