Conformance mark

Much equipment and tools have conformance marks stamped, inscribed, moulded, or printed on them to indicate that the tool or equipment in question meets the standards set by the body indicated by the mark or marks in question.

They are different from maker's marks that indicate the origin of manufacture.

An early example of a conformance mark might be the use of a hallmark on precious metals to indicate that the marked item will meet a particular assay standard.

Examples of such marks include the Underwriters Laboratories mark in the USA, and the CE mark in the European Economic Area except Switzerland, but additionally including Turkey.

Apart from the national standards bodies that are members of ISO, there are other organisations that provide conformance standards. This can often be noted on electro-technical equipment, with marks appearing from one or several of the bodies listed below. In many cases, these originated as national standards organisations which provided commercial testing and assessment services. These commercial activities have then often been outsourced or taken over by trans-national businesses, which have retained the historical (national) conformance mark but have expanded the business internationally.

• AENOR - Spain, Asociación Española de Normalización y Certificación (Spanish Association for Standardisation and Certification) http://www.aenor.es/
• ASTA-BEAB - Originally the UK, http://www.astabeab.co.uk/, now part of Intertek http://www.intertek.com/aboutintertek/intertek_history.shtml/?lang=en
• B-mark - Poland, Polskie Centrum Badan I Certyfikacji (Polish Centre for Testing and Certification) http://www.pcbc.gov.pl/ang/index1.htm
• Baseefa - formerly part of the Health and Safety Executive in the UK. http://www.baseefa.com
• BABT - certification services for manufacturers and suppliers of radio and telecommunication products http://www.babt.com/
• BASEC - certification services for manufacturers of cable products http://www.basec.org.uk/
• BIS - India, Bureau of Indian Standards http://www.bis.org.in
• BSI - United Kingdom, British Standards Institution http://www.bsi-global.com
• CCC S&E - China, China Compulsory Certification Scheme http://www.cqc.com.cn
• CEBEC - Originally Belgium http://www.cebec.sgs.com/cebec_index_v2/product_certification_cebec/cebec_safety_mark_cebec.htm, now part of SGS http://www.sgs.com/about_sgs/in_brief.htm
• CERTIF - Portugal, Associação para a Certificação de Produtos (Association for the Certification of Products)http://www.certif.pt/
• CSA - Canadian Standards Association http://www.csa-international.org
• DEMKO - Originally Denmark, Dansk Elektrisk Materiel Kontrol (Danish Electrical Equipment Supervision) http://www.iecee.org/ARTICLES/demko.htm, now part of Underwriters Laboratories
• DIN - Germany, Deutsches Institut für Normung (German Institute for Standardization) http://www.din.de/cmd?lang=en&level=tpl-home&contextid=din&languageid=en
• ELOT - Greece, ΕΛΟΤ - ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΟΣ ΟΡΓΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΤΥΠΟΠΟΙΗΣΗΣ Α.Ε. (Hellenic Organization for Standardization) http://www.elot.gr/home.htm
• ENEC - European Norms Electrical Certification http://www.eepca.org/fact_enec.shtml
• ES - Hong Kong, EMC and Safety Mark
• ETL - Originally Electrical Testing Laboratories, now part of Intertek http://www.intertek.com/aboutintertek/intertek_history.shtml/?lang=en
• EVPU - Slovakia, Elektrotechnický výskumný ústav a projektový (Electrotechnical Research Company)http://www.evpu.sk/
• EZU - Czech Republic, Elektrotechnický zkušební ústav (Electrotechnical Testing Institute) http://www.ezu.cz/
• FIMKO - Originally Finland http://www.fimko.fi/home.html, now part of SGS http://www.sgs.com/about_sgs/in_brief.htm
• GS - Geprüfte Sicherheit ("Tested Safety") or GS mark
• IEC - International Electrotechnical Commission
• IMQ - Italy, Istituto Italiano del Marchio di Qualità (Italian Institute for the Quality Mark) http://www.imq.it/portale/index.jsp?code=513
• IRAM - Argentina/Latin America, Instituto Argentino de Racionalización de Materiales http://www.iram.com.ar/
• ISI - India, Indian Standards Institution, now Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)
• KEMA KEUR - Originally Netherlands, now part of DEKRA [1]
• LCIE - Originally France http://www.lcie.com/, now part of Bureau Veritas http://www.bureauveritas.com/wps/wcm/connect/bv_com/Group/Home/About-Us/Our-History/
• MEEI - Hungary, Magyar Elektrotechnikai Ellenőrző Intézet Kft. (Hungarian Institute for Testing Electrical Equipment), now part of the TÜV Rheinland Group http://www.tuv.com/meei/en/history.html?print=1
• NEMKO - Norges Elektriske Materiellkontroll (a Norwegian private organization that supervises safety testing for electrical equipment manufacturing) http://www.nemko.no/
• NOM ANCE or NOM NYCE - Mexico, Norma Oficial Mexicana [2]
• NSAI - Ireland, National Standards Authority of Ireland
• PCT - Russia; actually "GOST-R" Государственные стандарты Российской Федерации (ГОСТ-Р) (Gosudarstvennyi standarty Rossiiskoi Federatsii, Federal Agency on Technical Regulating and Metrology) http://www.gost.ru/wps/portal/pages.en.Main
• PSE - Japan http://www.meti.go.jp/english/policy/denan/procedure/index.htm
• SEMKO - Originally Sweden, Svenska Elektriska Materielkontrollanstalten AB(),now part of Intertek http://www.intertek.com/aboutintertek/intertek_history.shtml/?lang=en
• SAA - Standards Association of Australia http://www.standards.org.au/
• SABS - South African Bureau of Standards http://www.sabs.co.za/
• Safety Mark - Singapore http://www.safety.org.sg/documents/Guidelines%20on%20the%20use%20of%20safety%20mark.pdf
• SEE - Luxembourg, Service de l'Energie de l'Etat (State Energy Service) http://www.see.etat.lu/
• SEV - Schweizerischen Elektrotechnischen Verein (Swiss Electrotechnical Association) http://www.electrosuisse.ch/
• SII - Israel, Standards Institution of Israel http://www.sii.org.il/siisite.nsf/EngHomePage?OpenForm
• SIQ - Slovenia, Slovenian Institute of Quality and Metrology http://www.siq.si/
• Sira - formerly part of the British Scientific Instrument Research Association now independent Sira
• SNZ - Standards New Zealand http://www.standards.co.nz/default.htm
• TSE - Turkey, Türk Standardları Enstitüsü (Turkish Standards Institution) http://www.tse.org.tr/
• TÜV - Technischer Überwachungsverein (Technical Monitoring Association)
• ÖVE - Österreichischer Verband für Elektrotechnik (Austrian Electrotechnical Association) http://www.ove.at/
• VDE - Verband der Elektrotechnik, Elektronik und Informationstechnik (German Association for Electrical, Electronic and Information Technologies)
• UL - Underwriters Laboratories
• UkrTEST[3]/UkrSEPRO - Ukraine, Ukrainian Testing and Certification Centre of Electric Equipment (Previously DERJSTANDART[4])
• WRAS - (Water Regulations Advisory Scheme) UK [5]

External links

• http://www.int-app.tuv.com/downloads.asp - An extensive collection of images of the various marks and the countries/organisations they are from, click on the mark to know what it is used for.
• http://www.cbscheme.org/cbscheme/html/cbadherence.htm - A similar, slightly more comprehensive list.
• http://www.swecheck.com.au/pages/product_approvals.htm - Another list, with symbols not in the above two.