Editing Standardization (section)

===National standards body===
By the end of the 19th century, differences in standards between companies were making trade increasingly difficult and strained. For instance, an iron and steel dealer recorded his displeasure in ''[[The Times]]'': "Architects and engineers generally specify such unnecessarily diverse types of sectional material or given work that anything like economical and continuous manufacture becomes impossible. In this country no two professional men are agreed upon the size and weight of a girder to employ for given work."

The [[BSI Group|Engineering Standards Committee]] was established in London in 1901 as the world's first national standards body.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bsigroup.com/upload/Corporate%20Marketing/Financial%20Performance/BSI_Group_Annual_Report_and_Financial_Statements_2010.pdf|title=BSI Group Annual Report and Financial Statements 2010|page=2|access-date=3 April 2012|archive-date=26 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120926174910/http://www.bsigroup.com/upload/Corporate%20Marketing/Financial%20Performance/BSI_Group_Annual_Report_and_Financial_Statements_2010.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Robert C McWilliam 2001">{{cite book|first=Robert C.|last=McWilliam.|title=BSI: The first hundred years|year=2001|publisher=Thanet|place=London|isbn=978-0727730206|url=http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/content/book/102072|access-date=2014-01-23|archive-date=2014-02-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201220104/http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/content/book/102072|url-status=live}}</ref> It subsequently extended its standardization work and became the British Engineering Standards Association in 1918, adopting the name British Standards Institution in 1931 after receiving its Royal Charter in 1929. The national standards were adopted universally throughout the country, and enabled the markets to act more rationally and efficiently, with an increased level of cooperation.

After the [[First World War]], similar national bodies were established in other countries. The {{Lang|de|[[Deutsches Institut für Normung]]|italic=no}} was set up in Germany in 1917, followed by its counterparts, the American [[American National Standards Institute|National Standard Institute]] and the French  [[AFNOR|Commission Permanente de Standardisation]], both in 1918.<ref name="Ping" />