Engineering standards provide a basis for making technical decisions.
But when several solutions meet the same set of standards, engineering professionals may need to choose which solution is most appropriate for the project. The question is, what else should shape that choice?
Before formal engineering standards existed, people largely relied on knowledge gained through experience and established practices within their communities. These practices guided construction, but they varied between places and practitioners. As societies sought more consistent expectations, some began putting these requirements into formal rules. According to the Louvre Museum, the Code of Hammurabi dated around 1750 BC, was an early example of this approach, with rules governing building work and penalties when construction failed.
As manufacturing became increasingly mechanized, engineering professionals needed components to be consistent and reliable.
According to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the rise of industrialization created a growing need for standardized tools and work practices. This was one of the factors behind ASME’s founding in 1880, followed by the publication of its first Code for the Conduct of Trials of Steam Boilers in 1884. Standardization then spread across engineering disciplines.
The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) issued its first Specification for Structural Steel Buildings in 1923, followed by the American Concrete Institute’s (ACI) 318 in 1941, which established requirements for structural concrete design and construction. In mechanical engineering, the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC) was first issued in 1914, while the first edition of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 60364 series for electrical installations was published in 1970.
As engineering standards developed internationally, countries also established frameworks suited to their own engineering practices and regulatory environments. In Australia, Standards Australia became the nation’s peak non-government standards organization. It coordinates the development of Australian Standards covering areas such as structural design, building safety, electrical installations, materials, and mechanical equipment.
Together, these standards gave engineering professionals a more consistent basis for designing and assessing technical solutions. However, standards do not always point to a single solution because multiple approaches may satisfy the same requirements. This is where compliance alone may not be enough.
The focus then shifts to what the solution needs to be achieved in practice.
Engineering professionals may need to look at how a design is expected to perform under the conditions in which it will be used. The Engineering Institute of Technology (EIT) Civil Engineering Lecturer Dr Karoline Figueiredo addressed this distinction in an episode of EIT’s All Things Engineering podcast episode “The Critical Role of Infrastructure Planning in a Changing Climate” where she emphasized, “We need to shift from traditional codes and minimum design approaches to performance-based design strategies.”
She also highlighted several ways engineering professionals can approach this broader assessment:
Considering these factors together is where engineering judgement becomes important. Engineering professionals may need to interpret the information available, weigh different considerations, and determine the most appropriate approach for a given situation. Developing this level of judgement requires more than simply understanding codes and accredited standards.
The right engineering education builds the technical foundation, while strong research and industry exposure helps develop sound engineering judgement and the ability to apply it when making decisions on real projects. Continued learning through technical engineering webinars, conferences, and community engagements can also help engineering professionals stay informed as practices and technologies evolve. As EIT Civil Engineering Lecturer Dr Igor Shufrin puts it, “Judgement develops from seeing real structures, mistakes, and failures to recognize when something simply does not look right.”
Ultimately, sound engineering judgement is what a standard requires with what a project needs.
References
History of the AISC Specification
A Short History of the ACI 318 Structural Concrete Building Code
This article was published October 21st, 2026 and the content is current as at the date of publication.
Back to news