What Is A BIS Certificate? A Comprehensive Guide

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) issues BIS certifications in the country. A BIS certification serves to assure a product's quality, dependability and safety for consumer use. Knowing more about this certification can help you improve the quality of products and build a competent brand image. In this article, we examine what a BIS certificate is and what benefits it can provide, explore different types of registration schemes for BIS certification and outline the certification process.

What Is A BIS Certificate?

The answer to the question, ‘What is BIS certification?' is that it is a confirmation from the Bureau of Indian Standards that a product is of high quality, dependable and safe for customers to use. A government agency in India that promotes and oversees product and industry standards is BIS. To evaluate product samples during preliminary and monitoring efforts, the BIS uses three-branch, four local, and eight central laboratories.

Product certification, standard development, testing, hallmarking and calibration schemes are a few of the processes that the BIS is involved in. The central government prescribes it as mandatory for specific commodities because of public health concerns. Although it is optional, the government supports item certification by the BIS because:

• It safeguards the health of the general population

• It ensures the greatest level of quality

• It legally protects customers against goods that might be dangerous

• It contributes to the development of customer trust

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Benefits Of The BIS Certificate

Some ‌benefits of engaging with the BIS for certification include:

• BIS-registered objects follow a set of norms while in production, which ensures high-quality standards.

• Users trust BIS recognised devices as they offer excellent performance and dependability.

• BIS-certified items assist in safeguarding the environment by prohibiting the use of certain materials according to BIS's guidelines.

• When BIS-approved laboratories evaluate product samples, they grant BIS registration, ensuring reliable inspection and product quality.

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Different ‌Registration Schemes Of BIS

BIS offers certification for a variety of commodities through several schemes, including:

ISI mark registration of domestic manufacturers

Manufacturers of goods and services which require BIS certification may register following the standard procedure. Certain products‌ which require mandatory certification are on the set of products which qualify for expedited registration. As the government includes necessary BIS certification elements for the products suitable for streamlined registration, manufacturers are to register them using the simplified approach rather than the standard procedure. Standard BIS certification processes require the producer of an obligatory BIS-certified product to submit a BIS certification application to allowed authority in the jurisdiction along which the unit of manufacture is situated.

The producer of goods or services may give Form V of the BIS registration petition, together with all applicable papers and costs. The officers carry out a brief factory inspection after acquiring the certificate application. Officers from the Bureau of Industry and Security collect product samples, analyse them and get an independent test report. If the objects meet the stated quality requirements, they award the BIS certificate. After applying, they issue the BIS licence within four to six months.

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Registration under the simplified procedure of domestic manufacturers

BIS establishes a simplified technique to speed up ‌issuing a BIS licence. Manufacturers of products that fall under the streamlined procedure may apply for a BIS certificate using the simplified methodology. This can provide a BIS licence within a month of filing the BIS certificate application under an accelerated approval process. A manufacturer may submit a BIS registration application, all necessary documents, evaluation records and samples from an approved laboratory to the BIS.

If the test results meet the specified criteria, the officer evaluates the plant and provides a BIS certificate within a month after applying. The streamlined process applies to the issue of BIS licences for 'Other India First License' situations and all items stated under the simpler procedure, except for the following:

• Valves, cylinders and cement are examples of products that require authorisation from a different governmental entity.

• All goods that have received a BIS licence are subject to evaluation based on factory tests.

ECO mark registration

BIS certifies environmentally friendly objects in the ECO mark scheme. In this method, the BIS classifies all environmentally sustainable commodities that fulfil the core norms of Indian standards. BIS gives the articles an 'ECO' logo and an 'ISI Mark.' These show that the products comply with particular environmental standards and quality criteria.

The procedure for getting a BIS licence in the ECO mark programme is like the regular or expedited registration procedure for domestic producers. It is possible to request the BIS to add a BIS certificate mark to the ECO mark system if a manufacturer has an authentic BIS certificate mark for the product. The BIS takes the ‌steps to award a BIS licence for the ECO mark programme.

Foreign Manufacturers Certification Scheme (FMCS)

Applicants or overseas producers who apply for the Foreign Manufacturers Certification Scheme (FMCS) of the BIS can receive the specially designed ISI mark in around six months. Non-native manufacturers and brands can get BIS certificate for their products through the Compulsory Registration Scheme (CRS) and the compulsory BIS certificate programme. In 2000, the BIS established the FMCS to allow overseas applicants and manufacturers to acquire and display the ISI mark upon their products.

Foreign producers may open an enterprise in India and employ an Indian agent, who can source the relevant permits. The overseas applicant may submit a completed BIS registration request forms and the appropriate paperwork and costs, to the BIS. During the inspection process, the BIS collects samples for separate testing from the applicant's manufacturing and testing facilities.

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BIS Compulsory Registration Scheme (CRS)

BIS Compulsory Registration Scheme or CRS prescribes mandatory registration for 15 different categories of electronic products. Manufacturers of items that fall in the CRS are required to get BIS certificate for their products. According to a government order from 2012, a person may not create, market or keep things for distribution or import if it does not correspond to Indian standards or bears the mark of a BIS particular number of registration.

BIS issues a licence to electronic equipment manufacturers to use the standard mark corresponding with a specific R-number. Under the CRS, manufacturers can acquire a BIS certificate by completing Form-I, which is a declaration of the quality of products. For their goods and services, manufacturers may get test reports from a BIS-accredited laboratory. They can submit the confirmed test result to BIS together with an assurance of conformity for their product. They may also produce an affidavit showing that the product meets the BIS's requirements.

BIS Registration Process

BIS registration process includes both the licensing and monitoring stages. They conduct the following processes throughout the licencing procedure:

• Manufacturers are the ones who submit BIS registration applications.

• A BIS inspector subjects the factory to preliminary inspection.

• Following the inspection, they evaluate the sample product.

• When the evaluation is over, the officer decides on the conclusion.

Following the inspection, the examining officer undertakes a surveillance method so that they can conduct a full factory assessment. They include the following tasks in the surveillance procedure:

• The inspection authority visits the facility to verify the results of the tests.

• The examining officer sends the test samples to independent laboratories for analysis.

• The complainant gets comments or a summary of the investigation from the report.

• The BIS generates a report based on the performance analysis.

• After the BIS evaluates the report, they give the licence.

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Documents Necessary For BIS Certificate

Various documents may be required for a certification, which depends on the ‌BIS registration system you adopt. A manufacturer may provide the following general documents for certification:

• Proof of the company's offices and the factory location, including name and address

• Documents proving the manufacturing unit's existence, such as an Incorporation Certificate, a Certificate of registration or a Memorandum

• If appropriate, an MSME or SSI certificate

• Flowchart of the manufacturing process, which includes all steps in the production process starting with unprocessed material to the final product stage

• A list of manufacturing machinery and information on the machinery

• A comprehensive record of testing laboratories and equipment

• Copies of current testing equipment calibration certifications

• If appropriate, a third-party lab test result under Indian Standards

• Layout and location chart of the factory's premises

• If relevant, a report from an internal or external test

• A permission letter from the CEO in name of the approved signatory if the approved representative signed the application.

• Nomination data of Indian delegate and nomination document in the event of an overseas manufacturer or applicant

Please note that none of the companies, institutions or organisations mentioned in this article are associated with Indeed.