Industrial Process Piping Codes and Standards

Understanding process piping codes and standards is critical to verify that final parts and assemblies match specifications in an engineering design. Many organizations provide or contribute to the development of codes and standards. This community of collective expertise influences the safety of industrial operations throughout the world. We rely upon all of the following and salute them:

ASTM International (formerly American Society for Testing & Materials) creates the material specifications and the standard test methods used to determine compliance for materials for a variety of applications.

ASME (American Society for Mechanical Engineers) material specifications are usually developed and specified for use in the fabrication of pressurized equipment service such as pressure vessels, heat exchangers, boilers, pipe, and pipe fittings. ASME selects and accepts ASTM materials adequate for pressure service with certain limitations. While most ASME and ASTM material specifications are nearly identical, there are many ASTM materials that are not acceptable for ASME code construction projects.

There are cases when a material is identified as meeting both the ASTM and ASME specifications. An example is the ASTM A335 chrome alloy piping specification accepted for use by the ASME committee. ASME assigns the prefix “S” followed by the ASTM designation. SA-335 is the ASME designation. In this example, the material can be identified with a shared numeric designation: A/SA-335.

All 50 states and the provinces of Canada have adopted the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code as law in part or in entirety. It is a legal requirement to follow this code when building power plants, boilers, and other types of industrial construction.

Other common industrial process material codes and standards include:

API (American Petroleum Institute) material standards are specific to the oil and gas industry.

NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) provides international codes and standards for electrical and fire suppression system installation.

MSS (Manufacturers Standardization Society) provides standards for the manufacture of industrial process valves and fittings.

ANSI (American National Standards Institute) standards provide uniform tolerance requirements for the measurements of pipe and fitting dimensions, such as thicknesses, outside diameters, elbow radius, overall lengths, etc., regardless of the manufacturer.

AISC (American Institute of Steel Construction) develops codes and standards for structural steel buildings, bridges, and other steel structures.