What is Consensus?
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accredits standards developers and their procedures for consensus based on adherence to the ANSI Essential Requirements for Due Process of American National Standards. According to the Essential Requirements:
"Consensus means substantial agreement has been reached by directly and materially affected parties. This signifies the concurrence of more than a simple majority, but not necessarily unanimity. Consensus requires that all views and objections be considered, and that an effort be made toward their resolution."
Overview
This information is intended as an overview and may be incomplete. For the complete consensus process, see the most current revion of the Procedures for Development of Z136 Standards.
LIA is the ANSI-Accredited Standards Developer (ASD). The consensus body that votes to approve/disapprove Z136 American National Standards is the Z136 Standards Committee (Z136 SDC). For each draft standard, the voting members of Z136 SDC are invited to join a Consensus Body Balloting Group (CBBG), which is a subgroup of the consensus body that has committed to review the draft standard and submit a ballot to approve/disapprove it. Of the members of the CBBG, 75% must respond to the ballot and 2/3 of that number must approve it. Members of the CBBG may submit comments with their vote, while members of the public may submit comments and objections during public review periods, which do not count as a vote. The subcommittee that writes the content of the standard must address all comments and objections and make a good faith effort to build consensus. Any remaining unresolved negative votes, unresolved objections, or substantive changes made to the draft are recirculated to the CBBG members to afford an opportunity to reaffirm or change their previous vote; members who did not previously vote may still cast a vote during the recirculation ballot based on the circulated changes and comments. Committee approval of the standard does not necessarily imply that all members voted for its approval. Anyone with unresolved objections has the right to appeal at the ASD-level and later at the ANSI-level, limited to procedural issues and not considering technical issues. ANSI does not approve the content of American National Standards, but approves the process by which they are developed. ANSI reviews supporting documentation submitted by LIA to affirm that we followed our accredited procedures (which meet all of ANSI's Essential Requirements for Due Process) during the development process.
For detailed information on our full consensus process, including our membership requirements and appeals process, see the:
ANSI-Accredited Procedures for the Development of Z136 American National Standards [PDF].