SAE International’s AMS F Committee (Corrosion Heat Resistant Alloys Committee) has been busy during October reaffirming a number of the AMS standards under their jurisdiction. Document Center Inc. notifies customers who have purchased these Aerospace Material Standards about the change in status, but we do have folks who want to know more about what this means.
Meeting the requirements of good standards management, SAE requires all active standards (those that are current but not stabilized) to be reviewed at least every five years. Should a document be found to be acceptable exactly as it is, the standard is republished as a Reaffirmed Edition.
This reaffirmed status is noted on the new issue as a line item under the original date of the release of the Edition. Other than that, the balance of the document is exactly as it was when original published at that revision level. So if the revision was noncurrent (not acceptable for new design, just for replacement purposes), the reaffirmed edition also is noncurrent.
Should you repurchase one of these standards? Yes, the answer is the traditional “it depends!” If you only use the document to fulfill contracts or for internal reference, there is little need. You may want to mark your copy “reaffirmed” and leave it at that. However, if you are audited for ISO 9000 compliance or some other certification scheme, you may want to buy a reaffirmed edition. You will then be secure in the knowledge that your auditor cannot find fault with your documentation.
Some recent reaffirmations are the AMS 2241 Revision R, “Tolerances, Corrosion and Heat-Resistant Steel, Iron Alloy, Titanium, and Titanium Alloy Bars and Wire,” AMS 5528 Revision H, “Steel, Corrosion-Resistant, Sheet, Strip, and Plate, 17Cr – 7.1Ni – 1.1Al, Solution Heat Treated, Precipitation Hardenable,” AMS 5542, Revision N, “Nickel Alloy, Corrosion and Heat-Resistant, Sheet, Strip, and Plate, 72Ni – 15.5Cr – 0.95Cb(Nb) – 2.5Ti – 0.70Al – 7.0Fe, Annealed,” and AMS I 23011, Revision B, “Iron-Nickel Alloys for Sealing to Glasses and Ceramics (NONCURRENT Aug 2007).”
All current and many obsolete SAE standards, including the AMS standards, can be purchased on our website, www.document-center.com, in paper and pdf format. Or contact us by phone (650-591-7600), fax (650-591-7617) or email (info@document-center.com). Document Center is the standards supplier that not only provides you with the documentation you need, but also with the expertise to help you use and maintain your collection. Why use anyone else?