A request for interpretation may be either 'official' or 'unofficial' (personal). An official interpretation is defined as a written explanation of the meaning of a specific provision of a standard or guideline, as determined by an existing cognizant Project Committee (PC) or an Interpretation Committee (IC), in response to a written request. An unofficial interpretation is defined as a written explanation of the meaning of a specific provision of a standard or guideline, as determined by the ASHRAE Technology Department Staff, in response to a written request.
Procedures for Requesting an Interpretation - (February 2023) (PDF)
ASHRAE will not normally respond to a follow-up request for official interpretation to confirm a previous unofficial interpretation. A typical response time for an unofficial interpretation is 30 days, while the official interpretation might require 6-12 months for response. Responses to requests for official interpretations must be approved by the cognizant committee, which normally meets twice a year in conjunction with the ASHRAE Society meetings.
Requests for official interpretation must meet the requirements of Section 10 of the Standards Committee Reference Manual. See procedures below.
The official interpretations are available on the ASHRAE Standards website here.
An interpretation shall not be used to change the content of a standard or guideline. Requests that are in fact not requests for interpretation but rather proposals for changes to published standards or guidelines will be referred to the cognizant PC if one exists.
Request Interpretation of ASHRAE Standard or Guideline