- Notification of intent to file an appeal to the Standards Council on Technical Meeting action must be filed within 20 days of the NFPA Technical Meeting
- Standards Council decides, based on all evidence, whether to issue the standard or to take other action
One of the primary responsibilities of the NFPA Standards Council as the overseer of the NFPA standards development process is to act as the official issuer of all NFPA standards.
Consent Standards. Some standards receive no challenged proposed changes, and therefore, no NITMAMs are filed. In some cases, NITMAMs are submitted but none are certified as proper by the Motions Committee. In either case, where no NITMAMs are submitted or no NITMAMs are certified as proper for a specific standard, the standard is not placed on the agenda for the NFPA Technical Meeting, but rather is sent directly to the Standards Council for issuance. Such standards are “Consent Standards”.
Issuance of Standards. When the Standards Council convenes to issue an NFPA standard, it also hears any appeals related to the standard. Appeals are an important part of assuring that all NFPA rules have been followed and that due process and fairness have continued throughout the standards development process. The Standards Council considers appeals based upon the written record and by conducting live hearings during which all interested parties can participate. Appeals are decided on the entire record of the process, as well as all submissions and statements presented. After deciding all appeals related to a standard, the Standards Council, if appropriate, proceeds to issue the Standard as an official NFPA Standard. Subject only to limited review by the NFPA Board of Directors, the decision of the Standards Council is final. The new NFPA standard becomes effective twenty days following the Standards Council’s action of issuance.