TÜV-GS Mark

News & Topics

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
►New ergonomics requirements for GS: EK1-ITB2000:2008 (February 2008)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EK1-ITB2000:2008, new ergonomics requirements for GS certification, went into effect on January 1st 2008. It refers to new standard ISO 9241-30x series.
EK1-ITB2000: 2008 Annex 1 (until / with release of ISO 9241-30x series)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
►PAH* test and evaluation are required for GS certification (January 2008)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
The committee for technical work equipment and consumer products has decided on 20 November 2007 the obligatory inclusion of the examination of PAH into GS certification. 
So far PAH examinations and evaluations could be done voluntarily and without reference to the GS mark. The necessary document has been revised according to the guidelines of the AtAV resolution and is published  as of 8 January 2008 (Document ZEK 01-08). After a transition period, the use of the new test specification is mandatory starting from 1 April 2008 for all GS bodies. The test specification contains also harmonized testing instructions for all GS test laboratories. This allows not only for harmonized test conditions, but also for the practical and fast examination of specimen to be tested for PAH.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
►TÜV Rheinland has a new GS Mark (June 2006)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In order to assist your company and your product to be continuously competitive in the European market, TÜV Rheinland Group has devised a new layout for the GS Mark,  incorporating the TUVdotCOM symbol into the mark. more 

---

GS Mark - General explanation

Although GS stands for Geprüfte Sicherheit (approved safety), you may think of it simply as German Safety.
The GS sticker indicates that the product was tested and certified for safety according to the "German Equipment Safety Law" by a trustworthy, independent institute. The GS mark is a type-approval mark, followed by periodic factory inspections covering the quality system for the product's production. This law requires us, as the certification body, to frequently check (usually annually or every 2 years, depending upon the certificate) whether the manufacturer is able to maintain all the specifications of the tested product in his mass production. During this factory inspection, we evaluate the implementation of the quality system as relevant for the production, the production environment, and production related testing and measurement equipment.

The GS-mark can be obtained for a variety of product categories:

• electrical and mechanical home appliances
• office equipment such as copy machines, fax machines, shredders, computers, printers, etc.
• laboratory and measuring equipment
• industrial equipment and machines
• toys
• others such as bicycles, helmets, ladders, furniture etc.

The GS mark, although not required by law, can and does make a great deal of difference in cases where a product's malfunction leads to an accident for which its manufacturer could be held responsible under Germany's (and the EU's) strict product liability laws. It is at the same time a convincing marketing aid creating customer confidence and purchasing motivation. Manufacturers often find it convenient and economical to obtain the GS-mark together with the legally required CE Marking. 

WHY IS THE GS MARK SO POPULAR?

There is some confusion about the terms CE, CB and GS among non-European manufacturers. We would like to give a short explanation to avoid misunderstandings.

The GS mark is a voluntary test-mark. It is attached to a product to highlight that a third party has tested its safety and that a continuous production control is maintained. The GS-mark was created to meet the demands of the industry, importers, distributors, trade-houses, public insurance and consumer organizations in Germany. It verifies the compliance of technical products with the safety requirements of the German safety law. These organizations could not afford to control the compliance of articles from all over the world by themselves, but wanted to avoid uncertainty concerning product liability and customer satisfaction. The idea of the GS-mark was so successful, that it became not only a marketing criteria but also found acceptance at consumers and distributors in other countries in and outside of Europe.

On the other hand, CE Marking is a mandatory regulation and not a test-mark. It was created by the European Union as a passport for customs officials, showing that the product may be traded freely within Europe. As it has to be attached to each and every product within the scope of the European directives, it has no special marketing value. Even before the introduction of CE marking, products had to comply with each country's safety regulations. Now they have to fulfil the same requirements as before, but have to show it by CE-marking.

Not to be confused with the CE Marking or the GS-mark, the CB Scheme is neither a test-mark nor a marking. It is a mutual recognition-scheme between test houses, based on IEC-standards. The members of this scheme are issuing their test marks based on CB-certificates and test reports which were issued by other members of the scheme. Consequently, it is unnecessary to repeat a complete type approval for each country. There maybe some additional tests done to check for national deviations.

TÜV Rheinland can offer services as a GS-test house, as a notified body for various European directives and as an NCB in the CB-scheme.

Search

Search term

• Search
  • full-text search
  • TUVdotCOM ID

Standort

Japan
choose another country