Engineers will often need to locate standards or specifications in the course of their work. A standard is "a document established by consensus and approved by a recognized body, that provides, for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for activities or their results, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context "(definition from the ISO/IEC Guide 2:2004).
Standards may be developed by a variety of groups, such as government agencies, technical or trade associations, professional societies or associations, or international or national organizations.
