Recognized and accepted standards support trade and commerce while protecting the environment, health, safety, and security. As an engineer, you will encounter codes and standards throughout your career. If you work with boilers, for example, you must become familiar with ASME's Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. If you are a project engineer, you will become familiar with other codes and standards, for example OSHA's Safety and Health codes. If you work in a highly regulated industry such as power or mining, you must be well versed in its standards. Codes and standards are a basic fact of every engineer's life, whether for quality, safety, or reliability.

Codes and standards are intended to enhance the safety of workers and the public. Many voluntary standards are developed as consensus standards, meaning that they are developed using a process that exhibits the attributes of openness and transparency, results in a standard that is acceptable to a substantial majority of those materially affected by the standard, and provides for due process for those interested in the standard. The standards of ASME and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), for example, are widely recognized as contributing to the enhancement of public safety. As such, they are incorporated in both public and private sector endeavors. Others, such as those of the American Petroleum Institute (API), are recognized by specific industries as a recommended standard for design and operations. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a coordinating body for US and international consensus standards written by others, and accredits organizations, including ASME, to develop American National Standards.

Today, as the world economy undergoes a shift toward globalization, the process of developing standards must also become more global. While there are many benefits to global codes and standards, there are also many obstacles. Overcoming those obstacles is one of the many challenges of the 21st century.