administration of codes and standards in the us

huangyhg

administration of codes and standards in the us
in the uk all the design codes are owned and published by the british standard institution (bsi) regardless of subject.  for instance, bs5950 is steel design, bs8110 is concrete design bs5628 is masonry design, bs5268 is timber design etc etc.
we also have associations and institutes associated with the specifics, just as in america.  but they only publish guidance documents.
us = uk
american institute of steel construction = steel construction institute
american society of civil engineers = institution of civil engineers
american institute of timber construction = timber research and development association.
etc, etc you get the drift.
i have noticed that each of these associations publish their own code (aisc, aitc, api, aws, asme, astm).  in the uk these would all be published by the bsi.  
after all that, my question is simple.  is their an equivalent to the bsi in the us, in charge of issuing codes and standards, or is to up to each institution to issue codes as they see fit?
the short answer is "no".  there is no central organization in charge of issuing all codes and standards.  the closest organization to bsi would be ansi.  their mission statement is "the american national standards institute (ansi) is a private, non-profit organization (501(c)3) that administers and coordinates the u.s. voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system.
the institute's mission is to enhance both the global competitiveness of u.s. business and the u.s. quality of life by promoting and facilitating voluntary consensus standards and conformity assessment systems, and safeguarding their integrity."
in short, in the us these organizations are the code writers and their codes by themselves have no legal effect.  the design codes however do become legally binding when included by reference in local statues at state, county, or city levels.
for example the following link shows the status of the icc codes in the us:
in some cases, in order to get insurance, the insurers will have specific codes that must be met before they issue the policies, in addition to legal legislation.
in addition to ansi...
astm american society for testing and materials
with regard to building and related codes, the situation is much better for design professionals than it was several years ago. up to that point, there were three main regional model code writing bodies representing interests of jurisdictions in the west (icbo), north east (boca), and south-west (sbcci). in 1994 the three organizations got together and formed icc.
correction line 3 of first paragraph. south-west (sbcci) should read south-east (sbcci).
the local government, usually a state adopts a model building code, such as the ibc.  there is a big push to get all of the states to adopt it, but not all have yet.  the individual codes, say from aisc, aci, become legally enforcable when they are adopted as a referenced standard by the governing code.  for instance, in the 2000 ibc (which is what we use in new york state)it states that steel construction shall be in accordance with either the aisc lrfd spec of the aisc allowable stress design.  you have to know what the governing code is in the area where your project will be built.  it might soud coonfusing because it's not centralized, but it's not too bad.