ANS Development Process
1. Project Initiation
1. Project Initiation
1A. FILING A PINS (PROJECT INITIATION NOTIFICATION SYSTEM
The ACCT American National Standard (ANS) Development process is initiated with the filing of a Project Initiation Notification System (PINS) for publication in Standards Action, ANSI’s weekly periodical that serves as a billboard for ASD announcements, keeping the ANS standards process transparent and allowing stakeholders to participate. Through the PINS filing, ACCT announces its intent to propose a new American National Standard (ANS) or to revise, reaffirm, or withdraw an existing ANS. The announcement of ACCT's engagement in new ANS activity will be published through ACCT's website, ACCT channels, and may be published through other relevant trade channels to reach materially affected persons.
The filing of the PINS is initiated by the ACCT Board of Directors, acting on behalf of the ASD, in alignment with ACCT Strategic Planning and Association policy. For revisions or new ANS projects, the PINS filing announces the scope of work and identifies those stakeholders who are likely to be impacted. Once posted in Standards Action, materially affected persons have 30 days to submit comments about the PINS.
1B. PINS DELIBERATION
The ASD issues written responses to any comments received claiming duplication or conflicts during the 30-day PINS comment period and initiates stakeholder deliberation within 90 days, as needed. Once deliberation is complete, the ASD submits a PINS Deliberation Report to the commenter(s) and ANSI.
1C. CONVENING A CONSENSUS BODY (CB)
The ACCT Consensus Body plays an integral role in ACCT’s ANS Development process and embodies the ANSI ethos of balance and fair representation of stakeholder interests. Membership on the Consensus Body is open to all interested parties having a direct and material interest in the activities of the Consensus Body. The Consensus Body must be sufficiently diverse to ensure reasonable balance without dominance by any single interest group.
The Consensus Body is primarily responsible for (a) voting on approval of American National Standards (ANS) within its scope, and (b) complying with policy and procedures for official interpretations of the ANSI/ACCT Standards.
Either before initiating a PINS or during the early stages of Project Initiation, ACCT will convene a Consensus Body with reasonably balanced representation of stakeholder interests. ACCT’s Accredited Procedures (AP) call for members representing five interest categories — (1) Producer, (2) Servicer, (3) User-Commercial, (4) User-Educational, and (5) General Interest — although additional interest categories may be added during a PINS submission if it is determined that the scope of the project would benefit from specific expertise or impact an under-represented stakeholder group.
HOW ACCT MEMBERS & STAKEHOLDERS CAN PARTICIPATE
- Apply to be a member of ACCT Volunteer Groups that have roles in the ANS Development Process, including but not limited to the Consensus Body, ACCT Board of Directors, Technical Information, Research, and Education Committee (TIRE), or Standards Writing Task Groups.
- Monitor Standards Action to learn about new or revised ACCT American National Standards (ANS) initiatives.
- Engage by submitting comments during PINS Comment Period if you believe an ACCT project conflicts with or duplicates another American National Standard (ANS)
PROJECT INITIATION FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
ACCT submits a Project Initiation Notification System (PINS) form to ANSI and begins forming a Consensus Body (CB).
RESOURCES
NEXT STEPS
ACCT STANDARDS DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES
- ACCT’s Standards Development Process. Learn more about ACCT’s ACCT Standards Development Process. Digital resources, answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), and information to help you learn when and how to get involved.
- Current ANS Development Project. Learn more about ACCT’s current Standards projects.
- ACCT Board of Directors. View roster, upcoming meetings, ACCT guiding documents, and minutes from previous meetings; register to attend an upcoming Board Meeting.
- ACCT Consensus Body. View roster of the ACCT Consensus Body, view meeting schedule and minutes, register to observe a meeting, and apply to be a Consensus Body Member.
- ACCT Accredited Procedures. Download Procedures for Organization, Development, and Maintenance of Challenge Course Standards by the Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT), ACCT’s governing document for ANS Development.
- Frequently Asked Questions. A collection of the Standards FAQs from the pages in this section.
- ANSI Essential Requirements. View and download ANSI Essential Requirements.
- Understanding Standards Development Definitions and Acronyms. A guide to understanding common terminology, abbreviations, and acronyms found in the Standards Development Process.
- Contact the ASD. Submit requests for official interpretation, comments on a draft project, ideas for projects or revisions, and unsolicited feedback, suggestions, or errata.
Disclaimer. ACCT has created the following resources on its American National Standards (ANS) Development Process for educational purposes only. It is not intended to be policy or procedure, or to represent the sole way ACCT may develop standards. ACCT's ANS Development Process is guided by the ANSI Essential Requirements and ACCT's procedures, which may change from time to time.