15 U.S.C. § 5402 — Definitions

This section defines the following terms for this chapter.

(1) “Accredited laboratory” means a fastener-testing facility that performs end-of-line tests required by a “consensus standard” to verify that a lot matches its required grade marking. It must meet ISO/IEC Guide 25, or another document approved by the Director under section 5411a(c), including later revisions. It must also be accredited by a laboratory-accreditation body that meets ISO/IEC Guide 58, or another document approved by the Director under section 5411a(d), including later revisions.

(2) “Consensus standard” means a document’s provisions describing fastener characteristics when published by a “consensus standards organization” or a Federal agency. It does not include a “proprietary standard.”

(3) “Consensus standards organization” means the American Society for Testing and Materials, the American National Standards Institute, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Society of Automotive Engineers, the International Organization for Standardization, any organization identified in the Federal Register at 61 Fed. Reg. 50582–83 (September 26, 1996) as a United States, foreign, or international consensus standards organization, and any successor organization.

(4) “Director” means the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

(5) “Distributor” means a person who buys fasteners to resell them at wholesale to unaffiliated people in the United States. For this chapter, an original equipment manufacturer and its dealers are affiliated people.

(6) “Fastener” means a metallic screw, nut, bolt, or stud with internal or external threads and a nominal diameter of at least 6 millimeters when measured metrically, or at least one-quarter inch when measured in the English system. It also means a load-indicating washer. The item must be through-hardened, or represented as meeting a consensus standard requiring through-hardening, and must carry a grade-identification marking or be represented as meeting a consensus standard requiring that marking. The term does not include an item that is:
(A) part of an assembly;
(B) ordered as a spare, substitute, service, or replacement part, unless the package contains more than 75 such parts when sold, or the part is in an assembly kit;
(C) produced and marked as ASTM A 307 Grade A, or a successor standard;
(D) produced under ASTM F 432, or a successor standard;
(E) made specifically for aircraft use when the Federal Aviation Administration^* or a foreign airworthiness authority described in 14 C.F.R. parts 21.29, 21.500, 21.502, or 21.617 has approved its quality and suitability;
(F) made under a fastener quality assurance system; or
(G) made to a proprietary standard, whether or not that standard refers directly or indirectly to a consensus standard or part of one.

(7) “Fastener quality assurance system” means either of these:
(A) A system meeting the requirements, including later revisions, of ISO Standard 9000, 9001, 9002, or TS16949; QS 9000; VDA 6.1; or Aerospace Basic Quality System Standard AS9000.
(B) Any fastener-manufacturing system that (i) states that preventing defects through continuous improvement is a goal; (ii) pursues that goal through advanced quality planning, manufacturing-process monitoring and control, product verification in a detailed written control plan, process controls including process influences and statistical process control, production tests and measurement systems, and creation, retention, and maintenance of the electronic, photographic, or paper records required by the control plan; and (iii) either is certified under ISO/IEC Guide 62, or another document approved by the Director under section 5411a(a), by a third party accredited under ISO/IEC Guide 61, or another document approved under section 5411a(b), including later revisions, or is regularly or randomly evaluated by the end users to ensure that clauses (i) and (ii) are met.

(8) “Grade identification marking” means a grade mark or property-class symbol on a fastener that purports to show that the lot meets a specific consensus standard. It does not include a manufacturer’s insignia or part number.
(9) “Importer” means a United States distributor that contracts for the first purchase of fasteners made outside the United States.
(10) “Lot” means fasteners with one part number made by the same production process from the same coil or heat number of metal supplied by the metal manufacturer.
(11) “Manufacturer” means a person who makes fasteners for sale in commerce.
(12) “Proprietary standard” means a document’s provisions describing a screw, nut, bolt, stud, or load-indicating washer, issued by a person who (A) uses those items to make, assemble, or service its products and (B) develops and issues descriptions of those items that resemble consensus standards and carry that user’s identification.
(13) “Record of conformance” means one or more records for each lot sold or offered for sale that contain (A) the manufacturer’s name and address; (B) the fastener type; (C) the lot number; (D) nominal dimensions, including bolt or screw diameter and length, thread form, and class of fit; (E) the consensus standard or specifications used, including enough date, number, revision, and other information to identify them; (F) the material’s chemistry and grade; (G) coating material and characteristics and the applicable standard or specifications; and (H) test results or a summary of tests done to verify that the lot matches its grade marking or the marking it is represented to meet.
(14) “Represent” means describing one or more claimed fastener characteristics in a document or statement sent to a purchaser by any means.
(15) “Secretary” means the Secretary of Commerce.
(16) “Specifications” means characteristics required by the contract with the manufacturer or otherwise required for production. It does not include proprietary standards.
(17) “Through-harden” means heating above the transformation temperature, then quenching and tempering to achieve uniform hardness.