Codes:
- Provide minimum safeguards for people with regard to building to building safety
- Codes are mandatory if they are issued by the government. It is the law of the country. They are set by City, State and Federal agencies and approved by Federal and State Congress or City Council. Since the government is not a professional or scientific organization, codes are based on national standards by professional societies. The local code can be more stringent or less stringent than the national standard.
- Example :- NBC- National Building Code,
ECBC – Energy Conservation Building Code
Standards:
- Standards describe uniform methods for testing, design and practice. They are developed by consensus procedures that include public review and comments. Standards are not mandatory but they should be considered as minimum design requirement.
- Represent consensus on how a material, product or assembly is to be designed, manufactured, tested or installed to obtain a specific level of performance
- Standardize items
- Example :- ASHRAE- 62.1- Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality
ASHRAE- 90.1 -, Energy Standard for Buildings Excepts For Low- Rise Residential Building
AHRI 550/590- Performance rating of water chilling and heat pump water heating packages using vapors compression cycles
Guidelines:
- Guidelines are used in designing, testing, evaluating specific products, concepts and practice. They are developed by consensus procedures that include public review and comments. Standards are developed from guidelines after extensive public review.
- Address issues which are not adequately covered by Codes & Standards
- Standards and Guidelines are developed by professional societies, institutes and associations
- Example:- ASHRAE Guideline 1.1-2007 – HVAC & R Technical Requirements for the Commissioning Process
- ASHRAE Guideline 11 – Field Testing of HVAC Control Components
