Guide to technical standards

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If you need help, please contact Shiyi Xie, Liaison Librarian at 778-782-8023 or shiyi_xie@sfu.ca or Ask a librarian

What is a standard?

A standard is an official document developed by a recognized body, which sets criteria for developments in technical fields. Standards that are incorporated into law or government regulations are often referred to as codes. To view lists of standards published by standards organizations, see Standards Organizations' catalogues. 

There are several types of standards: 

  • performance standards
  • prescriptive standards
  • design standards
  • management system standards
  • service standards 
    (Standards Council of Canada, 2024)

Standard numbers

Standard numbers may include some or all of the following information, appearing in order from left to right (e.g., ISO/IEC 8859-1: 1998):

  • ratifying body (e.g., ISO)
  • developing body (e.g., IEC)
  • number (e.g. 8859)
  • part number (e.g., 1)
  • year developed (e.g., 1998)
  • year renewed (not given)

Standards search engines

  • EI Compendex: The essential engineering database, primarily for journal articles and conference papers, indexes 220,000+ technical standard records from 12 standard development organizations, such as AIAA, ACI, ASCE, ASTM, IEEE, IET,  ISO, SAE.   
  • Accuris (formerly IHS): The site provides a powerful search engine to standards, with the information on whether a particular standard has been superseded or revised recently.
  • CSA Group: The developing body for CSA standards. Its online store provides "browse by publisher," "browse by subject area," and search box for standards and codes. It indexes technical standard records from ASME, ASTM, CSA, IEC, ISO, NRC, etc. 

Accessing standards

SFU

SFU faculty, staff, and students have access to:

  • IEEE standards from IEEE Xplore
  • SAE standards from SAE Mobilus
  • Canadian electrical code, part 1 : safety standard for electrical installations [print]
  • CGSB standards from SFU depository collection (visit CGSB for free CGSB standards)
  • Techstreet, a vendor who provides individual standards on demand, SFU users have electronic access to selected standards from the following bodies:
    • CSA (Canadian Standards Association)
    • IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission)
    • ISO (International Organization for Standardization)
    • ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials)
  • Library Catalogue: SFU users can find standards by entering the organization and the standard number (eg "ISO 10218-1") or the title of the standard (eg, "Robots and robotic devices - Safety requirements for industrial robots - Part 1: Robots"). Please note that limiting your search by selecting "Standards" as the resource type is not recommended.  

Open Access

Canadian Government 

Standards Organizations 

If you are unable to locate a standard using the resources above, please suggest a title for purchase. If budget permits, the standard will be added to the collection. 

Educational resources

Owned by: Shiyi Xie
Last revised: 2025-05-13