Product Certification Scheme

(updated on 21 05 2007)
The Product Certification Scheme of BIS aims at providing Third Party Guarantee of quality,
safety and reliability of products to the ultimate customer. Presence of ISI certification mark
known as Standard Mark on a product is an assurance of conformity to the specifications. The
conformity is ensured by regular surveillance of the licensee's performance by surprise
inspections and testing of samples, drawn both from the market and factory.
1.INTRODUCTION
The Bureau of Indian Standards, empowered through a legislative Act of the Indian Parliament,
known as the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986, operates a product certification scheme,
and has till date granted more than 30 000 licences to manufacturers covering practically every
industrial discipline from Agriculture to Textiles to Electronics. The certification allows the
licensees to use the popular ISI Mark, which has become synonymous with Quality products for
the Indian and neighbouring markets over the past 50 years. The Bureau's predecessor, the
Indian Standards Institution began operating the product certification Scheme in 1955. Presently
more than 19000 licences are in operation covering about 1000 products. Please click here for IS-
wise List of Licences.

2. OPERATING PRINCIPLE

The BIS Product certification Scheme operates in an impartial, non discriminatory and
transparent manner. The documents stating the powers, rights and responsibilities of BIS and the
affected sectors of society are published by the Government of India as the Bureau of Indian
Standards Act, 1986, Rules and (Certification) Regulations, 1988.  The specific procedure for
operating a licence are given in another document called the Scheme of Testing and Inspection
(STI), described later. Procedures provide for maintaining a very high degree of confidentiality
and integrity among its personnel who perform certification related tasks. A body called the '
Certification Advisory Committee' composed of persons from varied sectors like manufacturers,
consumers, Government agencies, industries associations reviews the performance of the scheme
and advises on key policy issues. Internally, a senior functionary designated as 'Additional
Director General (Marks)' is responsible for ensuring that the scheme operates within the
framework of rules and procedures established.

3.CERTIFICATION SYSTEM

The BIS product certification scheme is essentially voluntary in nature, and is largely based on
ISO Guide 28, which provides general rules for third party certification system of determining
conformity with product standards through initial testing and assessment of a factory quality
management system and its acceptance followed by surveillance that takes into account the
factory Quality management system and the testing of samples from the factory and the open
market. All BIS certifications are carried out in accordance with Indian Standards, which are
amenable to certification. A large number of operational elements of the BIS product
certification scheme correspond with the requirements of ISO Guide 65.

4.TYPES OF LICENSING

Although, the scheme itself is voluntary in nature, the Government of India, on considerations of
public health and safety, security, infrastructure requirements and mass consumption has
enforced mandatory certification on various products through Orders issued from time to time
under various Acts. While BIS continues to grant licences on application, the enforcement of
compulsory certification is done by the notified authorities. For the list of items brought under
mandatory certification, together with the corresponding Indian Standard Number, and the
authorities responsible for enforcing the orders, please click here.

Under separate arrangements with Statutory agencies, some products have been placed under
special certification schemes of lot or batch inspection carried out by BIS Inspecting officers. A
majority of Gas cylinders, regulators and valves are certified through such schemes. Under
agreement with UNICEF, Deep well hand-pumps, a critical potable water supply source for rural
areas is also certified under a lot inspection scheme.

For all other products, the manufacturer is permitted to self certify the products after
ascertaining its conformity to the Standard licensed for. Through its surveillance operations, the
Bureau maintains a close vigil on the quality of certified goods.

Overseas applicants and Indian Importers are also granted licence for use of ISI mark under
separately designed schemes. For details, please see BIS Foreign Manufacturers Scheme and
Indian Importers Scheme.

5. OPERATIONAL AREAS

The BIS Product Certification Scheme is open to manufacturers in all countries without
discrimination.  While a licence can be granted for any Indian Standard specifying product
characteristics, which is amenable to certification, the broad areas of technologies now under
certification are:
     Textiles
 Chemicals and Pesticides
 Rubber and Plastic products
 Cement and concrete products
 Building materials
 Pumping, irrigation, drainage and sewage equipment
 Pipes and fittings for water supply
 Basic metals and fabricated metal products
 Machinery and equipment
 Electrical, electronics and optical equipment
 Automotive components
 Agriculture, food and tobaccos
  Black tea and beverages
 Packaged drinking water and Natural mineral water
 Leather products
 Wood products
 Paper and pulp products
 Testing instruments

6. Resources:

The finances of the Bureau are self managed, with certification operations accounting for more
than 90 percent of the revenue. The BIS employs a staff complement of engineers and scientists to
cater to all its fields of operations. They are trained into evaluation and assessment techniques to a
high degree of professional competence. All preliminary and surveillance inspections are carried out
by qualified personnel only. BIS has set up eight laboratories in different cities of India for testing
samples of products taken during preliminary and surveillance operations. In addition, independent
laboratories having demonstrated ability and a quality system complying with ISO/IEC Guide
17025:1999 have been recognized for testing of samples.

The certification scheme operates through a network of 33 Branch Offices set up in State capitals
or major industrial towns and 5 Regional Offices overseeing the work of the Branch offices .

PROCEDURE FOR GRANT OF BIS LICENCE FOR DOMESTIC MANUFACTURERS

(Updated on 21 05 2007)

The applicant has the option to choose any of the following two procedures for grant of BIS
licence:

i) Normal Procedure – In the normal procedure, the applicant is required to submit the filled in
application along with required documents and requisite fee to the nearest BIS branch office.
Subsequently, after recording of the application, a preliminary factory evaluation is carried out by
BIS officer to ascertain the capability of the applicant/manufacturer to produce goods according
to the relevant Indian Standard and to verify the availability of complete testing facility and
competent technical personnel. Samples are tested in the factory and also drawn for independent
testing. Grant of licence is considered by BIS provided the samples pass during independent
testing, preliminary evaluation is satisfactory and the applicant agrees to operate the defined
Scheme of Testing & Inspection and pay the prescribed marking fee. For details, click here.

ii) Simplified Procedure – In the simplified procedure, applicant is required to furnish the test
report(s) of the sample(s) got tested by him in the BIS approved laboratories, along with the
application. If the test report(s) and other documents are found satisfactory, a verification visit is
carried out by BIS. The licence is granted thereafter if the verification report is found
satisfactory. The applicant also has the option to get the documents and other details as specified
in the application, certified by a Chartered Engineer and submit the same to BIS. The licence then
shall be granted after scrutiny of the documents and report submitted by Chartered Engineer. By
this procedure the licence is expected to be granted within 30 days of receipt of application by
BIS, provided all required documents are furnished and found satisfactory. For details, click here.

Note 1: Simplified procedure is available for all products except certain items under mandatory
certification like gas cylinders, valves, regulators, cement, etc.

Note 2: If any licence granted as per simplified procedure is cancelled in the event of failure of
verification samples, the fresh application shall only be considered as per normal procedure.

Note 3: All India first licence for any product shall be granted as per normal procedure only.

Note 4: There is a separate scheme for Foreign Manufacturers (click here) and Indian Importers
(click here).

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SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURE FOR GRANT OF LICENCE FOR DOMESTIC MANUFACTURERS

(Updated on 21 05 2007)

The simplified procedure has been introduced with a view to reduce the time taken for grant of
licence after submission of application. In this procedure, applicant is required to furnish the test
report(s) of the sample(s) got tested by them in the BIS approved laboratories, along with the
application. If the test report(s) and other documents are found satisfactory, a verification visit is
carried out by BIS. The licence is granted thereafter, if the verification report is found
satisfactory. The applicant also has the option to get the documents and other details as specified
in the application, certified by a Chartered Engineer of relevant discipline and submit the same to
BIS. The licence then shall be granted after scrutiny of the documents and report submitted by
Chartered Engineer. By this procedure the licence is expected to be granted within 30 days of
receipt of application by BIS, provided all required documents are furnished and found
satisfactory. Eligibility Criteria for Chartered Engineer has been laid down by Institution of
Engineers at their site (www.ieindia.org) as "Any life Corporate Member of the Institution of
Engineers (India) can designate himself as a Chartered Engineer (C Eng)".Reports from such
Chartered Engineers may be accepted for processing applications. Similarly, reports from Engineer
Members of other Institutions like Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers (www.iiche.org), The
Institute of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (www.iete.org), Institute of Electrical
and Electronic Engineers (www.ieee.org), Indian Institute of Metals (www.iim-india.com) and other
similar institutions may also be accepted.

1 Application

1.1 If application is submitted without verification by Chartered Engineer

Applicant has to submit application in the prescribed Application Form and a Self Evaluation-cum-
Verification Report along with prescribed documents and a copy of test report not older than one
month covering all requirements according to the relevant ISS from a BIS recognized testing
laboratory together with the specified application fee of Rs. 1000/- and verification fee of
Rs.4000/-plus applicable taxes for grant of licence under Product Certification Scheme of BIS.

1.2 If application is submitted after verification by Chartered Engineer (Not applicable in case
of All India First licence for any product)

Applicant has to submit application in the prescribed Application Form and a Self Evaluation-cum-
Verification Report duly certified by Chartered Engineer of relevant discipline (Section C of Self
evaluation cum Verification report) along with prescribed documents and a copy of test report not
older than one month covering all requirements according to the relevant ISS from a BIS
recognized testing laboratory together with the specified application fee of Rs. 1000/-. If
Verification report by Chartered Engineer is not satisfactory and a visit by BIS officer becomes
necessary, special inspection charges of Rs 4000/- shall be payable to BIS. It may also be desirable
for the applicant to contact the concerned branch office of BIS to find out the samples/raw
materials, etc. required to be tested for covering a specified range/type, etc. of the product in the
licence.
The application form along with prescribed documents and requisite fee is required to be submitted
to the Branch Office under whose jurisdiction the manufacturing unit is located. Click here for
locating relevant branch office. One application should be submitted for one product and for one
manufacturing location.

The application form, documents to be attached with the application form including Self Evaluation-
cum-Verification Report and list of BIS recognized labs is available on the BIS website
(www.bis.org.in).

The licence is granted to the applicant for varieties of products covered under a given Indian
Standard amenable to certification if he has the capability to manufacture and test the product at
the specified location. Applicant is also required to agree to operate the prescribed Scheme of
Testing and Inspection (STI) and pay the Marking Fee during the course of operation of licence.
Marking fee rates and STIs (different for different products) are available on BIS website
(www.bis.org.in) (also see Para 2 under clause 3.1).

The test reports issued by the following laboratories will be accepted for processing the
applications (also please see notes below):

a) All BIS recognized laboratories.

b) Labs of CSIR, ICAR and other similar laboratories.
c) All labs under control of Central Govt. like NTH, RTC etc.
d) All labs under control of State Govt. which are NABL accredited.
e) All Labs of National Level Institutions like IITs, National Metallurgical Institute etc.
f) Labs of Department of Central Universities.
g) Labs of National Institute of Technologies.
Note 1: In case of BIS accredited labs, if the specific product is not covered in the list of items
for which the laboratory is approved but are similar to the products for which the lab is approved,
the test report of such lab may be accepted.

Note 2: Applicant shall invariably declare parameters, wherever applicable, at the time of
submission of samples with laboratory for testing. For any clarification in this regard, laboratory or
concerned BIS Branch office may be approached.

Note 3: Before submission of the samples for testing in any of the approved labs, the applicant
shall ensure from the laboratory preferably in writing that they have complete testing facility for
the specific product and they shall issue complete test report as per relevant Indian Standards in a
definite time period.

For products having testing facilities available only in BIS laboratories (and not in any of the labs
indicated above) OR where the testing charges of the products in laboratories indicated above are
several times higher than those charged by BIS laboratories, BIS laboratories would accept
samples of such products from applicants and carryout testing after collecting testing charges
fixed by BIS. Applicant however should clearly indicate the related Indian Standard Specification
Number, quantity and description etc. of the product which they intend to get tested in their
request to BIS lab for testing. Test Report shall be issued to prospective applicant by BIS
laboratories and such test reports may contain endorsement on each page as “For BIS Internal Use
Only”.

This scheme excludes processing of applications for products like LPG Cylinders where joint
inspection by BIS along with other Statuary bodies like Chief Controller of explosives is involved,
Cement where permission to manufacture cement is given by Cement Desk of Ministry of Industry.
Nearest BIS BO may be contacted to ascertain details for such products.

2 Recording

If the application is found complete in all respect along with Self Evaluation Report, Test Reports
and other documents, it will be recorded and assigned an application number. The application is
acknowledged and the number is conveyed to the applicant for future reference.

3 Processing

3.1 If verification is to be done by BIS Officer

The concerned BO where the application has been submitted further scrutinizes the application,
self evaluation-cum-verification report and test report(s) submitted by the Applicant. A factory
visit is normally arranged within 15 days of the submission of application to verify capabilities of
the organization with respect to Manufacturing and Testing facilities and competence of Quality
Assurance Personnel.
During the visit, sample(s) of product from regular production is also tested, sealed for
Independent Testing in BIS approved laboratory. After receipt of its Test Report(s), the case will
be reviewed. If the sample is found failing, marking shall be stopped immediately and a notice for
cancellation of Licence shall be given. Decision on cancellation shall be taken based on the merit of
the case and as per BIS Act, Rules and Regulations.

In case of discrepancies observed during verification visit, all corrective actions shall be required
to be completed by the applicant in such a time that process of grant of licence is complete within
30 days. However, extension in time required for compliance, if any, shall be given to applicant in
writing and thus, any delay will be in the account of applicant. The total time for processing the
application in such cases shall not exceed three months. In such cases if the independent test
report from BIS or its approved laboratories (sample of which was drawn during verification visit)
is received in the meantime and found failing, the application may be rejected and applicant advised
to furnish fresh application under the normal procedure after improving the quality of the product.

3.2 If verification is done by Chartered Engineer

The applicant would submit a certificate (Section C of Self evaluation cum verification report) from
a certified registered Chartered Engineer of relevant discipline certifying the installation and
working of manufacturing machinery, test equipments (as per ISS), production process, competency
of testing personnel, conformity of the test reports to applicable Indian Standards and other
details as per relevant Indian Standards as furnished by the applicant in the self evaluation-cum-
verification report.

On the basis of the certificate by Chartered Engineer, BIS shall consider the grant of licence if all
documents including test reports of the samples are found satisfactory .

4 Grant of Licence

Grant of licence shall be considered by the Competent Authority after scrutiny of required
documents submitted by the applicant and verification of the same by BIS to its satisfaction as per
BIS Act, Rules and Regulations and guidelines formulated for the purpose. The details of such
documents are as under:

a) Application (Form 1) (to be submitted by the applicant)

b) Self Evaluation Report (Form II) (to be submitted by the applicant along with application)
c) Verification of the Self Evaluation Report
(by BIS-Section B of Form II/by Chartered Engineer- Section C of Form II)
d) Test report(s) submitted by the applicant meets the criteria of the ISS applied for. Test
report(s) submitted shall not be older than one month covering all requirements including long term
tests, if any and tests on all raw materials (conformity of which have been specified as mandatory
in the relevant Indian Standard).Testing shall be got done according to the relevant ISS from any
of the labs indicated above for the particular product. Where applicant is using BIS Standard
Marked raw materials, the applicant shall not be required to furnish test report of these raw
materials. However, verification of such raw materials shall be done by BIS officer during
verification visit/surveillance visit (if verification is done by Chartered Engineer) and samples of
the same may be drawn for testing in BIS or its recognized laboratories as a market sample.

For products, where there is no testing facility available in any of the laboratories indicated
above,licence shall be granted based testing in the factory for which the applicant should have
complete testing facility in-house for all tests as per related Indian Standards.

After processing for grant of licence is complete, the applicant is advised to deposit the advance
minimum marking fee as applicable and the annual licence fee through Bank Draft within seven days
and thereafter the approval letter of grant of licence is issued.

Process of grant of licence is expected to be completed within 30 days of submission of the

application, if all pre-requisites are met by the applicant. At the time of submission of the
application, it should be complete in all respects along with Fee, Self Evaluation Report, Valid Test
Reports (not more than one month old) and other prescribed documents/ requisite details.

5. Validity

The initial validity period of the licence is one year. Licence can be renewed for further period of
one/two years, subject to satisfactory operation of licence as observed during periodic
inspections, factory & independent testing of samples drawn from factory and market. The licensee
shall apply to BIS on the prescribed Renewal Form along with renewal application fee of Rs. 500/-,
annual licence fee of Rs. 1000/- and marking fee, as applicable.

6. Fee

1. Application fee of Rs. 1000/-(to be submitted with the filled-up application)

2. Charges for verification visit @ Rs. 4000/- per man day for first day and Rs.3000/- for
subsequent days (to be submitted with the application) (If verification is to be done by BIS)
3. Advance annual minimum marking fee (as prescribed by BIS) (different for different products)
(details available on BIS website) (To be deposited at the time of grant of licence and submission
of renewal application) (Annual licence fee of Rs.1000/- is also to be paid at the time of grant of
licence)
4. Renewal application Fee (Rs. 500/-) and Annual licence fee (Rs. 1000/-) (to be submitted at the
time of renewal along with duly filled-in prescribed Renewal Form)
5. The testing charges of the sample(s) drawn during verification visit( if verification is done by
BIS) shall be paid by the applicant along with the application or during verification visit which shall
be adjusted in marking fee to be paid by the applicant at the time of grant of licence.
6. Special visit(s), if required e.g. for inclusion of varieties, resumption of marking etc. for any
shortcoming in the verification by Chartered Engineer @ Rs. 3000 per man day (after grant of
licence).
7. Concession in minimum marking fee for second or subsequent licences would be applicable as
under:

Minimum Marking Fee (Rs.) Concession (Rs.)

Up to 20000 ---
20001 – 23000 Minimum Marking Fee minus 20000
23001 – 35000 3000
35000 – 50000 4000
50001 – 65000 5000
65000 – 80000 6000
Above 80000 8000

Note: Licence with highest minimum marking fee shall be treated as the first licence, for the
purpose of concession in Minimum Marking Fee.

8. Applicable Govt. taxes

For further information please contact: Branch office under whose jurisdiction the manufacturer

is located. (http://www.bis.org.in/cert/JurisdictionofBOs.htm)

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