Across the country and abroad, different regulatory bodies uphold their own standards for commercial and industrial construction. These regulations are meant to help ensure consistently safer, more long-lived, and more environmentally sustainable infrastructure.
However, regulations also change with the times. As science marches on and political goals shift, so too do the industrial and commercial piping standards you are asked to meet in your construction and fabrication infrastructure. Join American Stainless in exploring the organizations behind these standards—and how to keep up when standards and regulations change.
A Brief Overview of Industrial and Commercial Piping Standards
In the United States, industrial piping standards are set mostly by private nonprofit and trade organizations such as the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the American Petroleum Institute (API), and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). In particular, ANSI standards ensure that industrial pipe and fittings are in compliance with universal standards for dimensions, tolerances, and materials to ensure compatibility, interoperability, and safety.
API focuses mainly on performance, inspection, and testing standards for industrial valves used in the oil and gas industry, such as in refineries and processing facilities. ASTM, meanwhile, sets metal fabrication standards for industrial parts, such as defining the chemical composition of stainless steel alloys and standardizing testing methodology for quality control.
These organizations are private-sector regulatory bodies and their standards do not carry the weight of law on their own, but federal, state, and local regulations will often use the standards they set as guidelines for their own legally enforceable regulations. In addition, adherence to these standards is often a condition of doing business with most engineering, procurement, and construction firms across the PVF industry.
Speaking of federal, state, and local commercial and industrial piping standards, there are also regulations set by the public sector to be mindful about. For example, the recent EPA lead pipe rule, finalized in October 2024, sets standards for plumbing systems across the country to phase out lead pipes within ten years. These plumbing rules are intended to minimize the risks of lead-contaminated drinking water.
Four Actionable Strategies for Adapting to New and Upcoming PVF Industry Regulations
Standards and regulations help you understand what it means for pipe and tube, valves, and fittings and flanges to be high-quality, as well as setting best practices for your team to follow in your projects to ensure better results.
Keeping abreast of shifting industrial piping standards can feel headache-inducing. But by following a few helpful strategies for adapting to regulatory changes, you can keep your projects living up to your customers’ highest standards:
1. Establish a Regulatory Monitoring System
Key private and public regulatory bodies like ASME, ASTM, API, and OSHA do not operate in secret. Ensuring your use of valves, pipe, and fittings is compliant with their standards means keeping your finger on their pulse.
By regularly tracking updates from official channels, you can stay informed on upcoming changes to commercial and industrial piping standards. Subscribing to PVF industry newsletters from trade associations like the American Supply Association, such as the Supply House Times and the PVF Roundtable, can keep you aware of upcoming changes in real-time and give you advice on how to prepare.
Keep your regulatory monitoring system running smoothly with a compliance officer or team to review and interpret new regulations, ensuring your business takes a proactive approach to compliance rather than a reactive one.
2. Invest in Training and Certification
Keeping up-to-date with industrial process line and plumbing rules requires a constant investment in your team’s skills. Provide continuous training for engineers, procurement teams, and quality control personnel to ensure they know how to comply with evolving commercial and industrial piping standards.
To keep your training programs on the cutting edge, you can partner with certification bodies to ensure that all materials and processes meet the latest industry and environmental regulations and conduct internal audits and mock inspections to assess your readiness for any upcoming regulatory changes.
3. Strengthen Supplier and Manufacturer Relationships
It’s up to the manufacturers in the PVF industry to comply with high product quality standards. Make sure the manufacturers you source from have their own proactive plans to keep up with metal fabrication standards and quality assurance best practices.
Work closely with your PVF manufacturers and establish supplier checklists to ensure that sourced valves, pipes, and fittings are in compliance. These measures will help you minimize the risk of accidentally using non-compliant components in your projects.
4. Engage in Industry Advocacy and Networking
As a project manager, you understand intuitively from doing your job day in and day out that Rome wasn’t built in a day, or by just one person working alone. People and businesses alike are stronger and more well-prepared when they work together.
Participating in industry working groups, trade organizations, and standards committees—in other words, becoming a part of the PVF industry community—gives you firsthand insights into upcoming regulatory trends you won’t find anywhere else. By attending industry expos, roundtables, and training workshops to discuss compliance strategies with peers and experts, you can come up with new strategies you wouldn’t have discovered on your own—and find the perfect fit for your business.
Stay On the Cutting Edge of the PVF Industry with American Stainless
With the US Southeast’s top PVF supplier on your side, you can ensure your compliance with commercial and industrial piping standards, thanks to quality products from world-class manufacturers at competitive prices, delivered ASAP. Get a quote today and discover the American Stainless difference.
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