ACCT has been setting standards for the challenge course industry since 1994. Now in the 6^th Edition, the ACCT standards are recognized in many different countries and by many different organizations as the standards for the challenge course industry. The 6^th edition includes chapters on Installations, Inspections, Operations and Ethics.

In June 2007, an addendum to the 6^th edition was released which includes Practitioner Certification Standards and the criteria for a Qualified Challenge Course Professional (Certification Trainer/Tester only, more sections will be added in the 7^th edition).

The ACCT standards do not contain drawings or designs for challenge course elements. Contents of the chapters is as follows:

• Installation Standards - Minimum strength standards for various parts of a course.
• Inspection Standards - What should be covered in an inspection, some retirement criteria, and what a report should include.
• Ethics Standards - Code of conduct for vendors and members.
• Operations Standards - Course management specifics and facilitator competencies.
• Practitioner Certification Standards – outlines the requirements for a certification program and the requirements for each level of certification.
• Qualified Challenge Course Professional – outlines the criteria for a certification trainer/tester.

Appendices provide supporting material for each set of standards.
 

ACCT has undergone the process for Accreditation as an American National Standards Developer with its own standards development procedures, and was awarded accredited status in July 2006. ACCT’s scope of accreditation covers general standards for the challenge course industry.

ANSI is the American National Standards Institute. ANSI accredits standards setting organizations, as well as the standards they set. For more information on ANSI, click here

The ACCT standards setting procedures for ANSI standards can be downloaded here.  These procedures do differ slightly from internal standards setting procedures which are used to develop standards not submitted to ANSI.