Technical standards are usually formal documents that specifies uniform design, manufacturing processes, performance and maintenance criteria and practices for a material, product, or method. Standards ensure quality, safety, and interoperability of systems and parts. Standards are usually issued by scientific, professional, or trade organizations or by governments.
Codes are standards for methods and materials used in buildings, processes, and products that governments have made mandatory in order to protect public safety.
A standard is usually cited by the acronym of the organization that issued it, followed by a number, and then the date it was issued. For example IEEE Std. 15.7-2018 is a standard for short-range wireless optical communication using visible light issued by IEEE in 2018.
Search the following databases to identify standards. You will not be able to read the full text of standards in these databases. Many standards can be purchased as a pdf available to only a single user. The library may be able to provide limited access to some standards, depending on licensing and price restrictions- contact the library if you need a specific standard.
2018 International Building Code by 
Building Codes Illustrated (eBook) by 
2020 Annual Book of ASTM Standards
Michigan Building Code 2015
Michigan Energy Code 2015In September, 2023, a federal appeals court ruled that technical standards developed by private companies or organizations that are incorporated into public law should be freely distributed. You can find links to many federal public safety standards here: https://law.resource.org/pub/us/cfr/manifest.us.html
IEEE published standards are available through the IEEE Xplore Digital Library for Detroit Mercy students, faculty and employees.
The U.S. government's Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) refers to many standards that must be followed by law. These standards are called standards incorporated by reference (IBR), and they are available for free online in "read only" format (they can not be printed or downloaded). "All users will be required to install the FileOpen plug-in and accept an online end user license agreement prior to accessing any standards."
The ANSI website hosts many IBR standards and links to the standards developing organizations websites for the rest at: https://ibr.ansi.org/Standards/Default.aspx#hosted-ansi
Several organizations offer free access to standards that may be used to fight Covid-19: