1. PC Training: Responding to Negative Voters (with Reason)
Intended Audience - recommended for PC Chairs, PC Secretaries, and Standards Committee Members
September 20, web training
Steve Ferguson
Required Reading – Procedures for ASHRAE Standards Actions (PASA)
PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason

2. PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason
My Background
Staff liaison to SSPC 90.1, 90.2
Help ensure all changes are processed in accordance with procedure
Approximately 40 addenda processed per year
Chair of ANSI Board of Standards Review (BSR)
Process all Standards by all Standards Developing Organizations except by audited designators (such as ASHRAE)
Member since 2006
PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason

3. PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason
Learning Objectives
This training module provides information that will help ensure you comply with ASHRAE and ANSI procedures:
Overview of procedures
Examples of how to comply
PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason

4. PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason
Procedures
ANSI Essential Requirements
2.6 Consideration of views and objections
In connection with an objection … submitted with a vote, an effort to resolve all expressed objections accompanied by comments related to the proposal under consideration shall be made, and each such objector shall be advised in writing of the disposition of the objection and the reasons therefor.
Each unresolved objection and attempt at resolution, and any substantive change made in a proposed American National Standard shall be reported to the consensus body in order to afford all members of the consensus body an opportunity to respond, reaffirm, or change their vote.
PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason

5. PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason
Procedures
ASHRAE Procedures for ANSI Standards Actions (PASA)
7.2.4 Voting Requirements for Standards Actions
A written response to negative voters with reason voting at a meeting or via letter ballot shall be issued advising each of the disposition of the objection and the reasons why.
PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason

6. PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason
Procedures
ASHRAE Procedures for ANSI Standards Actions (PASA)
7.2.6 Negative Votes on Letter Ballots of PCs and Project Subcommittees
Persons who cast negative votes on a letter ballot shall be asked if they wish to comment on reasons for their negative votes. If the vote passes with one or more negative votes, the results shall be held in abeyance until the comments are transmitted to all eligible voters and they are given an opportunity to reaffirm their vote, change their vote or to vote (by letter ballot or at the next meeting).
PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason

7. PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason
What does this all mean?
IF a PC member votes no on Publication Public Review motion, the following must occur:
There must be something in writing, at some point, that tells them what happened (the disposition)
There must be something in writing, at some point, that tells them why that happened (the reasons therefor)
All of that information must be provided to the PC voting members (the consensus body) and they must be offered the opportunity to reaffirm their vote, change their vote, or vote.
PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason

8. PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason
When do you do this?
At some point during the process
PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason

9. Examples of Putting it in Writing
Recorded in the minutes
A final vote for ‘publication’
Draft a response prior to the next letter ballot
There are pros and cons for each
PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason

10. Recorded in the Minutes
If you discuss the negative votes at a meeting, record a summary of what happened (the disposition) and why (the reasons therefor) in the minutes.
Distribute the minutes of the meeting, which includes the summary, to the PC members and specifically ask if anyone wants to change their vote, reaffirm their vote, or vote, to respond in writing.
Pro – you’ve already discussed it at a meeting, you don’t need to re-discuss it at a later meeting
Con – this usually requires a lot more paperwork and organization to document
PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason

11. A Final Vote for Publication
Take a final vote for publication with knowledge of unresolved objections at the end of the process.
Have written dispositions to all objections (comments and negative votes)
Provide all documentation to PC members and offer them the opportunity to change or reaffirm their vote, or vote.
Pro – all of the documentation is in one ballot, very easy to demonstrate compliance
Con – you may have to revisit something you’ve already reviewed and remember old conversations/conclusions
PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason

12. Draft a Response Prior to Letter Ballot
If a PC member votes no during a meeting and provides a reason.
Draft a disposition and reason therefor
Include the disposition and reason therefor in a continuation letter ballot to all PC members and offer them the opportunity to change or reaffirm their vote, or vote
Pro – you dispense with the negative vote right away
Con – you do it before public review occurs, and you may need to re-do the response if there are many public comments that do something different than what your original disposition.
PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason

13. PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason
My Advice
Do what works best for you and your committee
Be consistent
Be complete with paperwork
If you want to do something a little different, ask staff if it meets procedures if you’re unsure.
PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason

14. Frequently Asked Questions?
Can we require negative votes be put in the online comment database?
Can we put negative votes in the online comment database?
Who has to approve the written response to negative voters?
Can anyone respond to negative voters?
If multiple people submit the same negative vote, can there be one response?
Answers to these FAQs are 1) no we cannot require negative votes be put in the database. Voters can also do that if they want, but if they don’t, they still must be responded to. 2) No, all comments in OCD are linked to an individuals , and the individual must be logged in to enter comments, someone else cannot login for them and enter that information. 3) No one. There’s no requirement for anyone to approve a written response to negative votes like there is for comment responses, but if the vote passes, then the PC is agreeing that the written response has been considered and is valid. 4) Yes. 5) Yes, but it would be good to note in the disposition that it applies to multiple votes.
PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason

15. Frequently Asked Questions?
What do we do with negative votes that are not accompanied with a reason?
Can reasons for negative votes be summarized and responded to in groups?
When does it end?
Is “the committee found your comment unpersuasive” a suitable “reason therefore”?
What happens if we don’t response in writing and don’t offer PC members the chance to reaffirm their vote, change their vote or to vote?
Answers to these FAQs are 1) Nothing – if a negative voter does not provide a reason for their negative vote, you don’t need to respond to it, you do not need to tell that negative voter a disposition with reasons therefor since there’s nothing to respond to. Reasons therefor are in response to the initial reasoning statement. 2) Yes. 3-6) more on next slides
PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason

16. Frequently Asked Questions?
When does it end?
“When this process is completed in accordance with the written procedures of the standards developer, the standards developer may consider any comments received subsequent to the closing of the public review and comment period, or shall consider them in the same manner as a new proposal. “(Section 2.6 of the ANSI Essential Requirements)
This is not an infinite loop. New information after the close of public review may be reviewed, but does not have to be.
It can be considered as a ‘new proposal’
PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason

17. Frequently Asked Questions?
Is “the committee found your comment unpersuasive” a suitable “reason therefore”? No
“the committee found your comment unpersuasive” is a disposition
You need to provide a reason why it was unpersuasive. Is “the committee found your comment unpersuasive” a suitable “reason therefore”?
PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason

18. Good or Bad Reasons Therefor
Bad:The committee rejected your comments because it was not persuaded to change their position
Good: The committee was not persuaded to change their position because there is evidence to the contrary. [insert summary of technical justification relied upon].
Bad: Your math was wrong.
Good: your comment included a mathematical error that the PC discovered during discussion on their May 27, 2016 conference call. We’ve decided not to make the change because the requirement makes sense when you follow proper order of operations.
PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason

19. Frequently Asked Questions?
What happens if we don’t respond in writing and don’t offer PC members the chance to reaffirm their vote, change their vote or to vote?
Best case scenario – the standard is published, and ASHRAE is ‘dinged’ during our ANSI audit.
ASHRAE Standards Department has a goal of zero “dings” on our next ANSI audit
Worst case scenario – someone appeals
Not responding properly and not giving proper consideration to objections is a process violation
100% of appeals at ASHRAE and the ANSI BSR were upheld when this issue is alleged and found valid.
PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason

20. PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason
Conclusion
Goal is to ensure all procedures are followed
All objections need to be responded to in writing (including those that vote no and provide a reason)
All PC members need to be offered the opportunity to vote, change their vote, or reaffirm their vote in light of all of the documented information
PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason

21. PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason
Questions?
PC Chairs Training: Responding to Negative Votes with Reason