- Author
-
Mahaffey, C. T.
- Title
- International Trends and Developments of Importance to the Metrication Plans of the U.S. Construction Community.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Washington, DC
- Report
-
NBS TN 976
1978
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Keywords
-
international building performance standards; metrication; internationally harmonized building regulations
- Abstract
- In 1974 the National Bureau of Standards' Center for Building Technology began an investigation of international developments in the construction field seeking to identify those of importance to U.S. metrication planning. This report identifies and describes a group of related developments selected on the basis of their importance and potential impact on the metric future of the U.S. construction community. The purpose of the report is not to discuss the merits of going metric, but rather to display the trends and developments in the metric building world that the U.S. is preparing to join. The report suggests that many nations, recognizing unique opportunities in a world that will soon have a common measurement system, have already begun to capitalize on the global adoption of SI--the International System of Units. The report describes the extensive efforts underway to reduce obstacles to trade caused by incompatible national regulations, standards, and certification to standards. It describes the trade implications of the Helsinki international agreements reached at the Helsinki meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe and being advanced in the proposed Standards Code developed by the negotiators involved in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). It describes the changes in the marketplace for building components brought about by the worldwide adoption of the international standard dimensioning module of 100 mm. It describes the launching and the status of the United Nations project aimed at the international harmonization of national building regulations; the involvement and reorganization of the building standards activity of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO); the significance of the international evaluation mechanisms developed by the European Union of Agreement; and, the initiation of international performance standards developed through ISO Technical Committee 59--Building Construction. All of which sh