What Are Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) and Why They Matter

Understanding Standards Development Organizations (SDOs)

Approximately 93% of global trade is affected by standards or technical regulations, impacting trillions of dollars in commerce worldwide.

For hardware startups, this means that the technical designs of your product may have a key constituent you may have never heard of—Standards Development Organizations (SDOs).

SDOs are specialized entities responsible for creating, establishing, and promoting technical standards across industries to ensure products and systems are safe, reliable, and of good quality. Unlike mandatory regulations enforced by government agencies, SDOs develop voluntary consensus standards through open, balanced processes that allow meaningful participation from all stakeholders.

These voluntary standards become the foundation for product compliance, even though they carry no force of law unless adopted by regulatory authorities. However, most jurisdictions have truth-in-advertising laws that make compliance claims legally meaningful, and standards often serve as industry benchmarks for negligence claims in legal proceedings.

For hardware startups, understanding SDOs is crucial because these organizations create the technical requirements that determine whether your product can enter markets, gain customer trust, and avoid liability issues.

Key Points

• Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) create voluntary technical standards that affect 93% of global trade and determine whether hardware products can enter markets, gain customer trust, and avoid liability issues.
• While voluntary standards carry no legal force, non-compliance can result in market rejection, insurance issues, and increased liability exposure, as standards often become benchmarks for determining reasonable care in legal proceedings.
• Hardware startups should strategically purchase standards when their engineering teams need direct access to technical specifications for design decisions, compliance verification, or when customers explicitly require compliance documentation.
• Standards access costs range from $200-$1500+ for individual documents to $10,000+ for annual subscriptions for enterprise plans; cost optimization strategies include prioritizing safety-critical standards and considering consultant services for interpretation.
• ANSI-accredited SDOs like ASTM, UL, and IEEE follow rigorous consensus-based processes involving balanced stakeholder participation from manufacturers, testing labs, regulators, and consumer groups to ensure standards reflect broad industry perspectives.

How SDOs Work

SDOs operate through a rigorous consensus-based development process designed to ensure standards reflect broad industry perspectives rather than narrow interests. The consensus-building process requires openness, balance of interests, due process, appeals mechanisms, and general agreement among stakeholders.

The standards development process typically follows several key phases. First, organizations identify the need for a new standard or revision to an existing one. Next comes feasibility assessment, where SDOs evaluate whether sufficient industry interest and resources exist to support development.

During the drafting phase, technical committees composed of subject matter experts create the initial standard document. This is followed by extensive review and comment periods where stakeholders can provide input and suggest modifications. The voting phase allows committee members and affected parties to formally approve or reject the proposed standard.

Developing an American National Standard generally takes 18 to 36 months depending on the standards developer's procedures. As one expert noted, "developing a new standard may take two or three years in order to develop consensus, move through the balloting and piloting process, and fix issues".

The process doesn't end with publication. SDOs maintain ongoing oversight with periodic review cycles to ensure standards remain current with technological advances and industry needs. This maintenance phase is critical because it keeps standards relevant as technology evolves.

Who is Involved in SDOs

SDO participation involves a carefully balanced ecosystem of stakeholders to ensure standards reflect diverse perspectives and avoid dominance by any single interest group. The consensus process requires meaningful participation from a broad and balanced range of stakeholders, which may include manufacturers, testing laboratories, regulatory bodies, academic institutions, and consumer advocacy groups.

Manufacturers bring practical experience about production challenges and market requirements. Testing laboratories contribute expertise in measurement techniques and validation methods. Regulatory bodies provide insight into safety requirements and enforcement considerations.

Academic institutions offer research-based perspectives and theoretical foundations, while consumer groups represent end-user interests and safety concerns. This balanced representation is essential because standards must work for all parties in the value chain.

The ANSI accreditation process specifically requires openness, balance, consensus, and due process to ensure no single stakeholder group can control outcomes. Technical committees typically include representatives from each stakeholder category, with voting procedures designed to prevent any one interest from dominating decisions.

Professional associations, trade organizations, and government agencies also participate as observers or voting members depending on their expertise and stake in the standard's outcomes. This multi-stakeholder approach ensures standards are technically sound, commercially viable, and serve the public interest.

ANSI-Accredited SDOs

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) serves as the coordinating body for the U.S. voluntary standards system, accrediting SDOs that follow rigorous consensus-based processes. ANSI accreditation signifies that procedures meet essential requirements for openness, balance, consensus, and due process.

American National Standards (ANS) represent the highest level of standards credibility in the United States. These voluntary consensus standards undergo neutral oversight and must demonstrate broad stakeholder support before receiving ANSI approval.

Major ANSI-accredited SDOs serve different specialization areas. ASTM International focuses on materials testing and technical standards across industries. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) develops fire safety and electrical codes. UL (formerly Underwriters Laboratories) specializes in product safety certification, publishes over a thousand safety standards, and performs tens of thousands of product evaluations annually.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) creates standards for electrical and electronic systems. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is an international standards body, with ANSI serving as the U.S. national member body that coordinates U.S. participation in ISO's international standards development.

Since NIST ITL's ANSI accreditation in 1984, there has been a tenfold increase in SDOs in information technology, reflecting the growing complexity and specialization required in modern standards development.

For hardware startups, ANSI accreditation provides assurance that standards were developed through legitimate consensus processes, making them more defensible for compliance claims and more likely to be accepted by customers, regulators, and business partners.

When Hardware Startups Need to Buy Standards

Hardware startups should buy standards when their team needs direct access to technical specifications for design decisions, compliance verification, or customer requirements. The decision to purchase full standard documents versus relying on consultant interpretation depends on several strategic factors.

Product Development Integration: If your engineering team regularly references specific technical requirements during design phases, owning the standards becomes essential. Standards contain detailed test methods, material specifications, and performance criteria that consultants may summarize but cannot fully replicate without violating copyright restrictions.

Customer and Regulatory Requirements: When customers explicitly require compliance documentation or regulatory submissions reference specific standards, you need direct access. Enterprise buyers often demand detailed compliance evidence, making consultant summaries insufficient for due diligence processes.

Multiple Product Lines: Startups developing several related products benefit from owning relevant standards rather than paying consultants for each project. The cost-benefit analysis shifts when standards apply across multiple development cycles.

Scoping Methodology: Start by identifying which standards actually apply to your specific product category and target markets. Many startups over-purchase standards by assuming broad applicability. Focus on standards that directly impact safety, performance, or market access rather than tangential requirements.

Phased Access Strategy: Consider purchasing core safety standards immediately while deferring optional performance standards until later development phases. This approach balances compliance needs with cash flow constraints typical of early-stage companies.

Independent compliance advisors often provide more objective guidance on standards scoping compared to traditional testing laboratories, which may have incentives to recommend comprehensive testing packages.

Standards Access Options and Cost Strategies

Standards access comes through four primary channels, each with distinct cost structures and strategic implications for hardware startups.

Direct Purchase from SDOs: Individual standards can cost from a few hundred dollars to over $1,500 depending on the issuing organization and complexity. UL standards often range from about $300 to $800, while specialized ASTM materials standards may cost more. This approach works for startups needing only a few specific documents.

Standards Aggregators: Platforms like Accuris and Techstreet offer subscription-based access to collections from multiple SDOs. Annual subscriptions for standards access can range from a few thousand dollars to over $10,000 for small teams, offering broader access options but typically requiring upfront payment. These platforms include search capabilities and update notifications that individual purchases lack.

Enterprise Licensing: Larger organizations negotiate site licenses covering unlimited users and automatic updates. While enterprise licenses can be expensive (often $10,000+ annually), they generally become more cost-effective than individual licenses for teams with more than 10-15 regular users.

Consultant Services: Independent compliance advisors provide standards interpretation without transferring full documents. Hourly consulting rates for guidance on standards can vary widely, and this approach may be more suitable for startups depending on needs.

Cost Optimization Strategies: Startups should prioritize standards that directly impact product safety and market access. Consider shared subscriptions with partner companies or industry consortiums to reduce individual costs. Some testing laboratories provide standards access as part of certification services, though this creates vendor dependency.

Version Control Considerations: Standards undergo regular updates that can affect compliance status. Subscription services automatically provide updates, while individual purchases require manual tracking. Standards typically undergo 5-year review cycles, making update management crucial for long-term compliance.

Independent advisors often provide more transparent cost guidance compared to testing laboratories that may bundle standards access with expensive testing packages, allowing startups to make strategic decisions about when full document ownership is necessary.

Professional Organizations

Professional engineering societies and trade associations play complementary roles to formal SDOs by providing industry-specific expertise and practical implementation guidance for standards compliance.

Organizations like the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) develop specialized standards within their domains while also participating in broader SDO activities. These groups bridge the gap between formal standards development and real-world application.

Trade associations such as the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) and Medical Device Manufacturers Association (MDMA) provide industry-specific interpretation of standards requirements. They often publish guidance documents, host compliance workshops, and facilitate networking between startups and experienced compliance professionals.

Professional organizations offer several advantages for hardware startups. They provide access to subject matter experts who understand both technical requirements and practical implementation challenges. Many offer mentorship programs connecting startups with experienced engineers who have navigated similar compliance challenges.

These organizations also serve as early warning systems for emerging standards and regulatory changes, helping startups anticipate future requirements during product development rather than retrofitting compliance later.

Conclusion

Standards Development Organizations create the technical blueprints that determine your hardware product's market viability, but accessing these documents requires strategic thinking beyond simple compliance checkboxes.

Smart hardware startups recognize that voluntary standards aren't optional when market success is at stake—they're how innovators earn permission to scale. The key insight is that buying standards isn't all-or-nothing. Effective scoping helps determine when your team truly needs full document ownership versus leveraging consultants or phased access strategies.

Independent compliance advisors often provide broader and more objective guidance than traditional testing laboratories, helping startups navigate the complex landscape of ANSI-accredited SDOs and avoid over-purchasing unnecessary documents.

View compliance as a competitive enabler that builds customer trust and reduces liability exposure, not just a regulatory hurdle. Strategic standards access accelerates development while protecting your innovation investment.