British Standards (BS) are the standards produced by the BSI Group which is incorporated under a royal charter and which is formally designated as the national standards body (NSB) for the UK. The BSI Group produces British Standards under the authority of the charter, which lays down as one of the BSI's objectives to:
Set up standards of quality for goods and services, and prepare and promote the general adoption of British Standards and schedules in connection therewith and from time to time to revise, alter and amend such standards and schedules as experience and circumstances require.
Conformance testing — an element of conformity assessment, and also known as compliance testing, or type testing — is testing or other activities that determine whether a process, product, or service complies with the requirements of a specification, technical standard, contract, or regulation. Testing is often either logical testing or physical testing. The test procedures may involve other criteria from mathematical testing or chemical testing. Beyond simple conformance, other requirements for efficiency, interoperability, or compliance may apply. Conformance testing may be undertaken by the producer of the product or service being assessed, by a user, or by an accredited independent organization, which can sometimes be the author of the standard being used. When testing is accompanied by certification, the products or services may then be advertised as being certified in compliance with the referred technical standard. Manufacturers and suppliers of products and services rely on such certification including listing on the certification body's website, to assure quality to the end user and that competing suppliers are on the same level.
The Common Criteria for Information Technology Security Evaluation is an international standard for computer security certification. It is currently in version 3.1 revision 5.
A certification mark on a commercial product or service is a registered mark that enables its owner to certify that the goods or services of a particular provider have particular properties, e.g., regional or other origin, material, quality, accuracy, mode of manufacture, being produced by union labor, etc. The standards to which the product is held are stipulated by the owner of the certification mark.
The CSA Group is a standards organization which develops standards in 57 areas. CSA publishes standards in print and electronic form, and provides training and advisory services. CSA is composed of representatives from industry, government, and consumer groups.
The presence of the logo on commercial products indicates that the manufacturer or importer affirms the goods' conformity with European health, safety, and environmental protection standards. It is not a quality indicator or a certification mark. The CE marking is required for goods sold in the European Economic Area (EEA); goods sold elsewhere may also carry the mark.
Product certification or product qualification is the process of certifying that a certain product has passed performance tests and quality assurance tests, and meets qualification criteria stipulated in contracts, regulations, or specifications.
The British Standards Institution (BSI) is the national standards body of the United Kingdom. BSI produces technical standards on a wide range of products and services and also supplies standards certification services for business and personnel.
The South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) is the official laboratory accreditation body for South Africa. Founded in 1996, SANAS is headquartered in Pretoria, South Africa. SANAS accreditation certificates are a formal recognition by the Government of South Africa that an organisation is competent to perform specific tasks.
A specification often refers to a set of documented requirements to be satisfied by a material, design, product, or service. A specification is often a type of technical standard.
A technical standard is an established norm or requirement for a repeatable technical task which is applied to a common and repeated use of rules, conditions, guidelines or characteristics for products or related processes and production methods, and related management systems practices. A technical standard includes definition of terms; classification of components; delineation of procedures; specification of dimensions, materials, performance, designs, or operations; measurement of quality and quantity in describing materials, processes, products, systems, services, or practices; test methods and sampling procedures; or descriptions of fit and measurements of size or strength.
The International Accreditation Forum, Inc. (IAF) is the worldwide association of conformity assessment accreditation bodies and other bodies interested in conformity assessment in the fields of management systems, products, services, personnel, processes, validation and verification and other similar programs of conformity assessment. Its primary function is to develop a single worldwide program of conformity assessment which reduces risk for businesses and their customers by assuring them that accredited certificates and validation and verification statements may be relied upon.
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is the National Standards Body of India under Department of Consumer affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Government of India. It is established by the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016 which came into effect on 12 October 2017. The Minister in charge of the Ministry or Department having administrative control of the BIS is the ex-officio President of the BIS. BIS has 500 plus scientific officers working as Certification Officers, Member secretaries of technical committees and lab OIC's.
British Approvals Service for Cables is an independent accredited certification body headquartered in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom. Here, the organization's dedicated testing laboratory also operates which is believed to be the largest of its type in Europe. BASEC was established in 1971 and principally provides product certification services for all types of cable and wire, ancillary products and management systems within the cable industry. The organization maintains operations throughout the world including Africa, Middle East, America, Asia and Europe.
Technical barriers to trade (TBTs), a category of nontariff barriers to trade, are the widely divergent measures that countries use to regulate markets, protect their consumers, or preserve their natural resources, but they also can be used to discriminate against imports in order to protect domestic industries.
The National Institute of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality (INMETRO) is a Brazilian federal autarky, linked to MDIC, the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade.
PD 5500 is a specification for unfired pressure vessels. It specifies requirements for the design, manufacture, inspection and testing of unfired pressure vessels made from carbon, ferritic alloy, and austenitic steels. It also includes material supplements containing requirements for vessels made from aluminium, copper, nickel, titanium and duplex. PD 5500 is the UK’s national pressure vessels code, although the code is used outside the UK. A new edition of PD5500 is published every three years. An amendment is usually published every year in September.
Good Garage Scheme is a series of same name automobile repair shop monitoring schemes in the United Kingdom (UK), claiming to improve industry repair standards for the benefit of consumers. The service is not run by an independent organisation, but by a company manufacturing lubricants and other automotive products, and any garage wanting to be member is required to recommend and sell the products from this company. The scheme provides some benefits to customers for example accountability and feedback, however the motivation and impartialness of the website has been called into question causing some controversy.
In Russia, a Certificate of Conformity, also called a Quality Certificate, Safety Certificate or Customs Certificate, affirms that a product or service conforms to legal safety and quality requirements. There are two types of certificate: one demonstrates conformity to the national standards known as GOST, and the other to a particular technical regulation. Certification may take place on either a mandatory or a voluntary basis. The certificate may be obtained: under contract; per consignment; or for serial production of commercial products.
