ASME BPE


ASME BPE is an international standard developed as an aid for the design and construction of equipment intended for use in the manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals. The standard is approved as an American National Standard by the American National Standards Institute. The first edition of the standard was approved on May 20, 1997. New editions of the standard are generally approved and published every two years.

False claims of codification

At least as early as April 19, 2011, ASME published a web page which falsely indicated the ASME BPE standard had been adopted by the State of California. The statement was based upon California's codification of Section 443, Group L—known as the "L Occupancy"—within Part 1 of the California Building Code. The web page claimed that the "L Occupancy" referenced the ASME BPE standard, but no such reference appears as described. A codification of the ASME BPE standard via such a reference is generally precluded by the building code's own requirement that any content that is not a building standard as defined in California's Health and Safety Code Section 18909 shall not be construed as part of the provisions of the California Building Code.
The web page has been removed.