The ASTM board of directors at its Oct. 27-28, 2009, meeting authorized the standard organization's management to develop the capability to offer certification services. The initiative will offer the opportunity for certification of products (materials, products, services and systems) as well as personnel.

The recent action by the ASTM board is a response to inquiries, particularly in the areas of new standards development activities, for the organization to provide certification to meet expressed needs for independent, third party demonstrations of compliance to standards. Similar requests have come from those facing regulatory pressures to demonstrate standards compliance.

"The board agreed that the ability for the Society to offer certification programs as a part of ASTM's portfolio of services – similar to our successful proficiency testing and training programs – is important in remaining relevant in the changing global marketplace," said James A. Thomas, the organization's president. "This is the first step toward certification in ASTM's 111-year history. The board approved this initiative to satisfy the requirements of ASTM's diverse stakeholder community and to meet the needs of industries relying on ASTM International standards."

Requests for an ASTM program may come from technical committees or directly from industry, purchasers or government bodies. A product certified through ASTM's program would be tested, at the direction of ASTM International, by a third-party laboratory to determine the product's ability to conform to one or more standards. All program initiatives will be based on the level of interest of the relevant technical committee as well as the support of industry.

For further information on the new certification program, visit the certification page of the organization's website, www.astm.org/cert; or contact Ken Pearson, senior vice president, ASTM International (610) 832-9672; kpearson@astm.org.