Standard Revisions, Modifications and the Document Naming Scheme: An Overview
Changes made to standards are done through written revisions or modifications to the published standard.
A “revision” to an existing standard is a substantial change, such as those made to test or performance parameters, which could affect the pass/fail outcome. Revisions require NOCSAE Board approval.
A “modification” to a standard is a minor editorial change which does not affect the pass/fail criteria and does not require NOCSAE Board approval. Modifications are to be adhered to as soon as the standard document is released.
More information about the effective dates of standards and their implementation can be found here: https://nocsae.org/standards/.
Standard Document Naming Convention
Each standard has its own unique document number that follows this naming convention: NDXXX-YYmZZ. The letters YY correspond to the year the document was last revised. The letters following the “m” reflect the year the document was last modified (ZZ or ZZa, etc.) So, for example, ND001-17m17b was last revised in 2017 and was also last modified that year. A list of modifications and revisions are provided at the end of each standard document, where applicable.
The following highlights some of the standard changes taking place through recent history.