Contact the ASD
Stakeholders and materially affected parties are encouraged to participate in the American National Standard (ANS) Development Process. The following resource is available to guide parties as to how and when they can participate by submitting to the Accredited Standards Developer (ASD) requests for official interpretation, comments on a draft project, ideas for ANS development projects and revisions, and unsolicited feedback, suggestions, and errata.
Submit Requests for Official Interpretation
Materially affected parties may submit requests for interpretation to the Accredited Standards Developer (ASD). Please be specific in your request, including the version of the standard, chapter, and specific standard. Official interpretations can only be provided by the Accredited Standards Developer following a vote of the Consensus Body and may take several weeks or months.
Submit Comments on a Draft Project
During Public Review Periods. Materially affected parties are encouraged to submit comments during Public Review Periods. Public Review Periods are announced through the ACCT Newsletter and other ACCT channels, and in ANSI’s Standards Action.
Outside of Public Review Periods. Materially affected parties are encouraged to:
- Participate in ACCT Volunteer Groups. Join and participate in ACCT Volunteer Groups that have roles in the Standards Development Process.
- Attend ACCT Events focused on ANS development projects, including but not limited to the ACCT Annual Conference, open meetings of the ACCT Board of Directors and the Consensus Body, and special public forums and webinars, which ACCT may hold from time, to time designed to update and educate stakeholders on ACCT ANS Development activities and projects and through which informal feedback may be solicited.
Submit a Volunteer Application Attend the ACCT Events View ANSI's Standards Action
Submit Ideas for Projects and Revisions
Materially affected parties are encouraged to:
- Submit ideas for ANS Projects and Revisions during Public Solicitation Periods, which ACCT may lead from time to time,
- Submit comments during the PINS Comment Period if they believe the PINS conflicts with or duplicates other ANS or if they require further clarification,
- Submit comments during the Public Review Period,
- Participate in ACCT Volunteer Groups that have roles in the ANS Development Process including but not limited to the ACCT Board of Directors, the Technical Information, Research, and Education Committee (TIRE), Standards Writing Groups, and the Consensus Body.
- Attend ACCT Events focused on ANS development projects, including but not limited to the ACCT Annual Conference, open meetings of the ACCT Board of Directors and the Consensus Body, and special public forums and webinars which ACCT may hold from time to time designed to update and educate stakeholders on ACCT ANS Development activities and projects and through which informal feedback may be solicited.
Submit a Volunteer Application Monitor Current ANS Project Monitor ACCT News about ANSI Updates
Submit Unsolicited Feedback, Suggestions, or Errata
Unsolicited feedback, suggestions, and errata may be submitted to the ASD outside of Public Review Periods, Public Solicitation Periods, or ACCT Events. Submitters should not expect a response. Unsolicited feedback and suggestions do not constitute a comment under ACCT's Accredited Procedures (AP).
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.