The American Society for Testing and Materials International (ASTM), founded in 1898, is a not-for-profit organization that provides a global forum for the development and publication of voluntary consensus standards for materials, products, systems, and services.. In today’s building environment, the emphasis is on safe, permanent, low maintenance products, of which stone leads the list in the minds of architects, designers, and consumers worldwide. Without a consistent, realistic set of standards and testing procedures for stone products, the stone industry as a whole would be in disarray. The standards that have been developed and set in place for these products are important tools to help protect end users, individual companies, and the industry from negative effects related to product failures.
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ASTM is recognized globally for testing and publishing Material Standards, which includes Natural Stone Products.
Materials standards help to prevent the use of stone products for unsuitable applications. Companies, agencies, and individuals use ASTM standards. Buyers and sellers of materials, products, and services include these standards in contracts; engineers, scientists, architects, and designers use them in their work; government agencies reference them in codes and regulations; and many others refer to them for performance information. Most architectural specifications require that stone meet certain specified ASTM or other testing standards before it will be accepted for use.
Learn more at the Natural Stone Institute.