Every new standard project begins as a technical contribution in one of TIA's technology-oriented engineering committees or subcommittees. A Project Initiation Notice (PIN) form is completed and submitted for approval by TIA staff. After the project is approved for initiation, the formulating engineering committee or subcommittee will continue to develop the technical parameters of the project.

When the proposed standard nears completion, the engineering group will chose to submit the document for approval as a "TIA Standard", an "American National Standard," or both.

In order to develop an American National Standard, the draft of the proposed document must be circulated as an industry-wide ANSI "Standards Proposal" (SP) ballot/pink ballot. During the balloting period, the ballot is available for pulblic review and any interested entities may submit one of three responses to the ballot: "affirmative," "affirmative (with comment") or "negative (with comment)."

After the final draft of the document has obtained industry consensus, the balloting information and supporting documents are reviewed by TIA, to ensure that process requirements have been met. Upon completion of this review, the document information is forwarded to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Board of Standards Review (BSR) with request for approval. If the document is approved as an American National Standard, the respective TIA committee will approve the ANSI/TIA standards for publication.