Draft Standards Update: BSR/ACCT 03-202X (revision of ANSI/ACCT 03-2019)

The following is an update regarding the draft standards submitted for public review in November of 2022, for which the comment period closed on January 9th, 2023.

The Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT) wants to thank the many volunteers and commenters that participated in the process - we sincerely appreciate your time and involvement! However, the ACCT believes that the vast number of comments received during that public comment period indicated that the standards draft (a proposed revision of the ANSI/ACCT 03-2019 standards) is not the direction that the industry wants to pursue at this time. Therefore, ACCT has decided to withdraw the draft submitted, per the ANSI (American National Standards Institute) standards process and in accordance with the ANSI Essential Requirements.

We still plan to consider the valuable feedback received during the public comment period and look forward to determining how some of the ideas may help inform future drafts. We also recognize and appreciate the extensive amount of work done to draft these revisions, and that will be a strong foundation as we move forward. Rest assured that input from our community holds immense value and will play a pivotal role in shaping our forthcoming efforts. This level of involvement is a cornerstone of our standards development process. We understand the effort it takes to provide feedback and collaborate on drafts. The passion for our industry's growth is deeply respected, and we encourage you to continue being a part of our journey. The process of revising a standard takes time and we encourage all industry stakeholders (also known as ‘parties with a direct and material interest’) to consider participating in the process if they are not already.

Once work on draft revisions to the standards begins again, the ACCT will be sending out an update with more information. But before that happens, we will be taking some time to carefully consider what the next steps in our standards development process will look like. One of the most critical parts of that effort is the work that the Accredited Procedures Task Force (the APTF) is doing right now. The APTF is a volunteer group made up of ACCT Staff, Board, Consensus Group, and TIRE members working to re-think, revise, and reorganize the process that we use to develop standards.  The ANSI standards process is one designed around the concept of consensus. As an ANSI-accredited standards developer (ASD), we understand how important stakeholder input and involvement is to building consensus, and this is a main area of focus for the APTF as we update our standards development process. We are making good headway, and we will be sharing more information on our progress as we move forward. 

In the meantime, if you have any questions, or want to learn how to get involved in the process, please contact Korey Hampton, ACCT Board Chair, at Korey.Hampton@ACCTinfo.org

More information about ACCT can be found on our website: ACCTinfo.org
More information about ANSI can be found at: ANSI.org