Twenty-Eighth Annual Report on Federal Agency Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards and Conformity Assessment

Published

January 8, 2026

Author(s)

Karen Reczek

Abstract

In FY 2024, of the 23 federal agencies that reported, four federal agencies added a combined total of six government unique standards (GUS) in lieu of voluntary consensus standards (VCS.) No other agency added or rescinded any GUS in lieu of VCS, leaving a total of 81 previously reported GUS in lieu of VCS still in use. This analysis does not reflect the use of standards by the Department of Defense (DoD) or the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as they report their use of GUS on a categorical basis via a different reporting mechanism. Agencies demonstrate the effectiveness of the NTTAA and Circular A-119 by their continuous review of opportunities to rescind GUS in favor of using VCS, and their involvement with the private sector through the VCS process. These activities suggest that federal agencies are cognizant of the benefits of meeting their mission needs by actively seeking to use VCS developed by the private sector.

Citation

NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR) - 8595

Report Number

8595

NIST Pub Series

NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.IR.8595

Local Download

Keywords

Agency use of standards, government unique standards, GUS, NTTAA, voluntary consensus standards, VCS

Citation

Reczek, K. (2026), Twenty-Eighth Annual Report on Federal Agency Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards and Conformity Assessment, NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.IR.8595, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=960789 (Accessed January 10, 2026)