NFPA joins lawsuit to stop copyright infringement
Three standards development organizations - NFPA, ASTM, and ASHRAE - have filed a lawsuit against Public.Resource.org (Public Resource) to stop a massive copyright infringement, to ensure that the development of codes and standards in the United States is done at the highest levels of excellence and to protect public health and safety. Learn about the value of standards development organizations (SDOs).
About free access
Does NFPA provide free access to its codes and standards?
Yes. Even though NFPA owns those copyrights, we have offered free access to all of our codes and standards on our web site for the past 10 years.
Can the codes and standards be downloaded or printed?
This is a read-only site—documents cannot be downloaded or printed, because we rely on the revenues from people who want to own their own copies to fund the mission of NFPA. But for users who need to familiarize themselves with a code or check a requirement, this kind of access is invaluable.
Can the codes and standards be viewed on mobile devices and tablets?
Yes. The codes and standards are optimized for these devices.
Learn more about free access to NFPA codes and standards.
NFPA makes important safety codes and standards available for free online
As part of its commitment to enhancing public safety, NFPA makes its codes and standards available online to the public for free. Online access to NFPA's consensus documents conveniently places important safety information on the desktops of traditional users as well as others who have a keen interest. NFPA is committed to serving the public's increasing interest in technical information, and online access to these key codes is a valuable resource.
To review codes and standards online:
- View the full list of NFPA's codes and standards.
- Select the document you want to review.
- Select the edition of the document you want to review.
- Click the "Free access" link (under the document title)
- You will be asked to "sign-in" or create a profile to access the document in read-only format.
"One of the things we've done, over 10 years ago, is to take all of our codes and standards, which are our lifeblood, and put them up on the internet to be accessed by anyone," says NFPA President Jim Shannon.
"NFPA strives to make its documents as accessible as possible, because we believe this is the best way to accomplish our mission," says NFPA President Jim Shannon. "NFPA is proud to have been the first organization to have taken this bold step of creating free public access to privately developed codes and standards, and we are happy to see other organizations following our lead. There are some who argue that we should do more and immediately make all of our documents available online without any restrictions. Taking that action would be suicidal, however, since most of the money we need to fund our process and other vital mission activities comes from the sale of codes.
"It has also been suggested that we ask the industries that use our documents to pay for their development. This would also create significant problems, since one of the beauties of the system as it has always existed is that it provides us with an independent source of revenue. Nobody can influence us by threatening to withhold funds, because our system is funded not by a few big interests but by the thousands of users who pay for their copies of the code. "NFPA is proud to have been the first organization to have taken the bold step of creating free public access to privately developed codes and standards." Read more.