- Main Navigation
- Products + Services
- Certificates + IDs
- Path to current document:
- Home
- Products + Services
- Products
- Market Access Services
TÃœV Rheinland GS Mark
TÃœV Rheinland - GS Mark
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. The German law requires us, as the certification body, to frequently check (usually annually) 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 safety testing and calibration of the measurement equipment.
The use of the GS Mark is controlled by the German Government.
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 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 organisations in Germany. It verifies the compliance of technical products with the safety requirements of the German safety law. These organisations 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. 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.
