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Types of ASTM Documents
According to ASTM's Form and Style Manual, ASTM publishes the following types of documents:
While these documents all serve a specific purpose, ASTM refers to all of them as "standards".
Specification
An ASTM specification contains an explicit set of requirements to be satisfied by a material, product, system, or service.
Test Method
An ASTM test method is a document that can set out requirements and is a definitive procedure that produces a test result.
Practice
An ASTM practice is a document that can also set our requirements and contains a set of instructions for performing one or more specific operations that does not produce a test result. A practice underscores a general usage principle.
Guide
An ASTM guide is a compendium of information or series of options that do not recommend a specific course of action. It suggests an approach method or agreed way of measuring, testing, or specifying what is reliably repeatable in different circumstances and places, wherever it needs to be applied.
Classification
An ASTM classification is a systematic arrangement or division of materials, products, systems, or services into groups based on similar characteristics such as origin, composition, properties, or use.
Terminology
An ASTM terminology document is comprised of definitions of terms; explanations of symbols, abbreviations, or acronyms.
additional resources
- See ASTM's Key Document and Forms to view:
- Form and Style Manual for ASTM Standards or "Blue Book"
- Draft Standard Templates
- Walk through an ASTM document.