Codes
Codes provide minimum safeguards for people with regard to building safety and fire prevention. Codes protect health, safety and welfare as they relate to the residential and commercial built environment.
Building codes are an enforceable body of rules that govern the design, construction, alteration, and repair of buildings. Code books are an essential aid to architects, engineers, designers, and builders for creating buildings that comply with the code adopted by a jurisdiction. Such codes are based on requirements for the safety, health, and quality of life of building users and neighbors, and vary from country to country, city to city.
Standards
Standards are developed as an extension of code requirements. Standards represent consensus on how a material, product or assembly is to be designed, manufactured, tested or installed to obtain a specific level of performance.
Standards typically outline a series of options for performance of building systems and assemblies and are often referenced by codes but are not strictly enforceable due to the provisions for multiple options, unless adopted by a jurisdiction as its code, which is rare and presents problems, as they are not meant to be enforceable. Standards do not reference codes, whereas codes sometimes reference standards as options for compliance.
ISO Standards
ISO has developed over 18 000 International Standards on a variety of subjects and some 1100 new ISO standards are published every year. The full range of technical fields can be seen from the listing International Standards. Users can browse that listing to find bibliographic information on each standard and, in many cases, a brief abstract. The online ISO Standards listing integrates both the ISO Catalogue of published standards and the ISO Technical programme of standards under development.