The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) code for flanges and flanged fittings (ANSI B16.5) requires that the flange face has a specific roughness to ensure that this surface be compatible with the gasket and provide a high quality seal. A serrated finish, either concentric or spiral, is required with 30 to 55 grooves per inch and a resultant roughness between 125 and 500 microinches.
 
This allows for various grades of surface finish to be made available by flange manufactures for the gasket contact surface of metal flanges. These grades are often referred to by name e.g. stock finish. The exact definition of each grade may differ between manufacturers, but can be generalised as follows;