What we do
The Office of Design and Engineering Standards is responsible for developing and promulgating national regulations and standards that govern the safe design and construction of ships and shipboard equipment. We also establish policy, provide technical clarifications, and resolves any appeals. Finally we represent the United States at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and are actively engaged with various standards committees (e.g., ASTM, IEEE, NFPC, etc) as well as classification society rules committees (e.g., ABS, LR, DNV, etc.).