The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1918 that promotes standards and programs that assess global business and government conformity to the standards. These standards replace the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) that were previously issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In addition, ANSI is the sole U.S. representative of two nontreaty, international organizations: the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)--for which ANSI is a founding member--and as part of the U.S. National Committee (USNC), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). Current ANSI standards, known as ANSI codes, are identified by a uniform coding system in the United States and abroad.

ANSI Pulications of Codes

Based on Census.gov, there are five publications of ANSI codes. The International Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS) 38-2000x publication, formerly known as FIPS 5-2, lists codes for the identification of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and insular areas of the United States. INCITS 31-200x, formerly known as FIPS 6-4, lists codes for the identification of counties and equivalent entities of the United States and insular areas of the United States. INCITS 454-200x, formerly known as FIPS 8-6, lists codes for the identification of metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas and related areas of the United States and Puerto Rico. INCITS 400-200X, formerly known as FIPS 9-1, lists codes for the identification of congressional districts of the United States, and INCITS 446-2008, which the U.S. Census Bureau uses to identify both legal and statistical entities for counties, American Indian areas, Hawaii and Alaska.

ANSI's International Classification for Standards

Based on StandardsPortal, International Classification for Standards (ICS) has a catalog comprised of three levels of ANSI codes. Codes in Level 1 are represented by two digits, covering standardization of 40 fields, including agriculture, metallurgy and road vehicle engineering. The 40 fields in Level 1 are then subdivided into 392 groups to form Level 2 ANSI codes.

Level 2 ANSI codes are listed as a field number and a three-digit number separated by a period mark. Only 144 of the 392 groups are further divided into 909 subgroups to form Level 3 codes. ANSI codes on Level 3 are listed as a field number, a period mark, a three-digit group number, another period mark and a two-digit subgroup number, such as 11.040.25. (The ANSI code 11 represents the health care technology field, the group .040 represents medical equipment and .25 represents syringes, needles and catheters.)

ICS 31: Electronics

ANSI codes or ICS codes range from 01, the field of generalities, terminology, standardization and documentation, to 97, the field of domestic and commercial equipment, entertainment and sports. ICS 31 represents the electronics field. A Level 2 group code for ICS field code 31 is .180, which represents printed circuits and boards -- 31.180.

Building and Construction Codes

ANSI publishes building and construction publications that include standards for abatement of dangerous buildings, building conservation, housing codes, fire codes, safety codes and uniform mechanical codes.

Boiler Pressure Vessel Codes

The International Boiler and Pressure Vessel Codes (BPVC) list standards for inspections, deterioration in design and material and also components during construction of nuclear power plants. Engineers and other technical professionals can purchase the 2010 BPVC Edition from ANSI.