Computing and Engineering

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Incorporated by Reference (IBR) Portal provides a one-stop mechanism for access to standards that have been incorporated by reference in the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). These standards incorporated by the U.S. government in rulemakings are offered at no cost in “read only” format and are presented for online reading. There are no print or download options. Registration required to read.

Complied by the national Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST). The majority of standards developing organizations depend on the revenue from the sale of standards to support their programs and services. But a growing number of standards organizations make access to their standards for viewing or download available for no cost.

The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) provides free access to and downloading of their current standards on their website.

Read-only access to American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) standards and guidelines (current versions) via their website. ASHRAE publications focus on sustainable technology for the built environment, including building systems, energy efficiency, indoor air quality, refrigeration and sustainability.

ASSIST is the official source for specifications and standards used by the Department of Defense. ASSIST is a robust, comprehensive web site used by standardization management activities to develop, coordinate, distribute, and manage defense and federal specifications and standards, military handbooks, commercial item descriptions, data item descriptions, and related technical documents prepared in accordance with the policies and procedures of the Defense Standardization Program (DSP). Besides DoD-prepared documents, ASSIST also has selected international standardization agreements, such as NATO standards ratified by the United States and International Test Operating Procedures. Overview of ASSIST is at https://assist.dla.mil/online/faqs/overview.cfm

As stated, the mission of the DOE Technical Standards Program is to: "...enhance DOE's transition to a standards-based culture by providing information, coordinating activities, and promoting the use of consensus standards, and when needed, the development of DOE technical standards." The website includes a searchable database to efficiently access the most relevant information.

Read-Only access to freely available ICC International Building Codes via their website. Codes include the most recent editions of International Building Code (IBC), International Fire Code (IFC), International Mechanical Code (IMC), International Plumbing Code (IPC), International Residential Code (IRC) and more.

Please note that these free standards are a small subset of all ISO Standards, most of which must be purchased.

Full-text access to all the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) standards and codes (current and historical versions) via the NFPA website. NFPA publications focus on minimizing the risk of fire by establishing criteria for building, processing, design, service, and installation. To view the free access version of these standards and codes, you will be asked to sign in. Please create a free NFPA account for free viewing of their standards and codes.
Coverage: 1986 - present

Free access to all the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Recommendations and Reports (Radiocommunication)

Free access to nearly 3100 International Telecommunication Union - Telecommunications (ITU-T) Recommendations for the telecommunications industry.

Browse for and access standards and proposed Internet protocol modifications related to networking. Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) copyright information - https://trustee.ietf.org/about/faq/#reproducing-rfcs Has a liberal license for copying, distributing, and translating, but is not a typical Creative Commons license.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) calls its standards Recommendations.