While we in the USA are under no obligation to use formal design codes for our amateur-built aircraft, I think many of us still think it prudent to do so. FAR Part 23 has long provided concrete guidance for us. The "new" FAR Part 23 and the companion ASTM consensus standards allegedly provide more streamlined requirements tailored to the level of risk, which sound good in concept. My little Supervee project, for example, would fall into the lowest category, Level 1/Slow. One of the drawbacks to this standards-based approach is that the cost of the standards themselves becomes an obstacle for us little guys. There are a lot of standards, having been broken up into narrow topic areas, and they cost from $44-72 USD each. I can easily see the necessary collection of standards running somewhere in the ballpark of $700 in total. Does anyone have an opinion as to whether there is enough to be gained from the new standards to make that investment worthwhile? Without seeing (and paying for) the standards, it's hard to make an informed judgement. We can access the "historical" versions of Part 23 for free.