Its predecessor organization, the Österreichischer Normenausschuss für Industrie und Gewerbe (Austrian Standards Committee for Industry and Trade), was founded in the First Republic of Austria on 23 September 1920, with 13 committees developing technical standards primarily for mechanical and electrical engineering.

With the Austrian Anschluss to Nazi Germany in 1938, it became a branch office of the German Deutsches Institut für Normung (DIN) standards organization, but resumed operations in its own right after World War II, and was a founding ISO member in 1946.

[1] On 1 March 2006, the Institute published ON rule ONR 168000, used to calculate the monetary value of a brand.

Austrian national standards have the acronym "ÖNORM" followed by one letter and a unique number.

By way of illustration: In the examples above, the letter "S" following "ÖNORM" indicates that these standards address topics not covered elsewhere (Sonstige Normengebiete in German).