It has become accepted that unless we are purchasing something unique, such as a piece of art, we expect it to conform to a set standard and that it will be exactly like all the other units of the same type from the same manufacturer. We also expect that items purchased from one manufacturer will be compatible with similar units from another manufacturer.

This however has not always been the case. In early manufacturing, each component was unique and manufactured to perform a specific job for a particular manufacturer. This was why a ‘fitter’ was called such. His job was to adjust and manufacture the pieces so they ‘fitted’ together.

This caused fundamental problems with compatibility with even simple components such as nuts and bolts, let alone with more complex units such as pipe flanges and pipe fittings.

It therefore became apparent very quickly that there needed to be some sort of national standard to which specifiers could refer to ensure they always got what they required and manufacturers could consult so they could produce a standard compatible product.

This resulted in the following national standards being set up:

BS – British Standards Institute founded in 1901

ANSI – American National Standards Institute founded in 1918

ASTM – A voluntary standards organisation formed in 1898

DIN – The German Institute for Standardisation founded in 1917

Today these institutes publish the worldwide standards for engineering products.

We at Chimipetro manufacture a wide range of pipe fittings and flanges to meet all these standards, so that you can specify the right product in the certain knowledge that it will be compatible with your installation.