please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article relies too much on references to primary sources . please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . july 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message this article contains content that is written like an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . may 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message bsi group making excellence a habit type non profit distributing incorporated body operating under royal charter founded 1901 headquarters london united kingdom number of locations 73 offices in 28 countries 1 area served worldwide products standards and standards related services revenue 331.1 m 2015 2 number of employees over 3 500 2015 subsidiaries list of bsi countries website www.bsigroup.com bsi group also known as the british standards institution or bsi is the national standards body of the united kingdom . bsi produces technical standards on a wide range of products and services and also supplies certification and standards related services to businesses . contents 1 history 2 standards 2.1 activities 3 management systems assessment and certification 4 testing services and healthcare 5 milestones 6 acquisitions 7 see also 8 notes and references 9 external links history edit bsi group headquarters building in gunnersbury west london featuring the bsi group logo bsi group was founded as the engineering standards committee in london in 1901 . 3 it subsequently extended its standardization work and became the british engineering standards association in 1918 adopting the name british standards institution in 1931 after receiving its royal charter in 1929 . in 1998 a revision of the charter enabled the organization to diversify and acquire other businesses and the trading name was changed to bsi group . the group now operates internationally in 182 countries . 4 the core business remains standards and standards related services although the majority of the group s revenue comes from management systems assessment and certification work . 5 standards edit main article british standards a standard is a published document that contains a technical specification or other precise criteria designed to be used consistently as a rule guideline or definition . all standards take the form of either specifications methods vocabularies codes of practice or guides . all formal standards are developed with a period of public enquiry and full consultation . they incorporate the views and expertise of a very wide range of interests from consumers academia special interest groups government business and industry . as a result standards represent a consensus on current best practice . standards are designed for voluntary use and do not impose any regulations . however laws and regulations may refer to certain standards and make compliance with them compulsory . for example the physical characteristics and format of credit cards is set out in standard number bs en iso iec 7810 1996 . adhering to this standard means that the cards can be used worldwide . as the uk s national standards body bsi is responsible for producing and publishing british standards and for representing uk interests in international and european standards organizations such as iso iec cen cenelec and etsi . formal british standards are titled bs for british standard xxxx p yyyy where xxxx is the number of the standard p is the number of the part of the standard where the standard is split into multiple parts and yyyy is the year of publication . bsi produces standards on a wide range of products services and processes from nuts and bolts to sustainability risk organizational resilience and nanotechnology . activities edit bsi produces british standards and as the uk s national standards body is also responsible for the uk publication in english of international and european standards . bsi is obliged to adopt and publish all european standards as identical british standards prefixed bs en and to withdraw pre existing british standards that are in conflict . 6 however it has the option to adopt and publish international standards prefixed bs iso or bs iec . in response to commercial demands bsi also produces commissioned standards products such as publicly available specifications pass private standards and business information publications . these products are commissioned by individual organizations and trade associations to meet their needs for standardised specifications guidelines codes of practice etc. because they are not subject to the same consultation and consensus requirements as formal standards the lead time is much shorter . bsi also publishes standards related books cd roms subscription products and web based solutions as well as providing training on standards related issues . management systems assessment and certification edit bsi group is the world s largest certification body . it audits and provides certification to companies worldwide who implement management systems standards . bsi also provides a range of training courses regarding implementation and auditing to the requirements of national and international management systems standards . it is independently accredited 7 and assesses a wide range of standards and other specifications including iso 9001 quality iso 13485 quality management systems for medical devices iso 14001 environment iso 50001 energy management systems bs 65000 organizational resilience ohsas 18001 occupational health and safety iso iec 27001 previously bs 7799 for information security iso iec 20000 previously bs 15000 for it service management ; pas 99 integrated management bs 25999 business continuity greenhouse gas emissions verification rspo roundtable on sustainable palm oil sa8000 social accountability and food safety standards and specifications including iso 22000 . as9100 as9110 as9120 aerospace eu emissions trading system eu ets bsi has 80 000 clients in 182 countries and operates across all continents including antarctica . 8 bsi group also offers a range of training services on how businesses can implement and audit management systems effectively . testing services and healthcare edit bsi group kitemark certification symbol within testing services bsi s best known product in the uk is the kitemark a registered certification mark first used in 1903 . 3 the kitemark which is recognised by 82 % of uk adults 9 signifies products or services which have been assessed and tested as meeting the requirements of the related specification or standard within a kitemark scheme . bsi also conducts testing of products for a wide range of certifications including for ce marking . ce marking must be applied to a wide range of products intended for sale in the european economic area . frequently manufacturers or importers need a third party certification of their product from an accredited or notified body . bsi holds notified body status for 15 eu directives 10 including construction products marine equipment pressurised equipment and personal protective equipment . bsi also conducts testing for manufacturers developing new products and has facilities to test across a wide range of sectors including construction fire safety electrical and electronic and engineering products . within healthcare bsi provides regulatory and quality management reviews and product certification for medical device manufacturers in europe the united states australia japan taiwan canada and china . 11 it is the market leader in the usa the world s biggest healthcare market . 12 milestones edit bsi is the world s first national standards body . 13 bsi created one of the world s first and most enduring quality marks in 1903 when the letters b and s for british standard were combined to produce the kitemark logo . bsi was instrumental in the formation of iso the international organization for standardization in 1947 and of its european equivalent cen in 1964 . bsi pioneered the development of management systems standards the first of which was bs 5750 the original quality management systems standard which formed the template for the iso 9000 series of quality standards first published in 1994 . bsi published the world s first environmental management standard bs 7750 in 1992 . this led to the publication of the first international environmental management standard iso 14001 in 1996 . bsi also published the world s first sustainability standard bs 8900 in 2006 . bsi s management systems operation in the uk has been carbon neutral since 2006 . 14 bsi reduced staff s business travel by 200 000 miles per annum and invested in carbon offsetting in the uk and bulgaria . bsi has been nominated a business superbrand in the uk every year since 2004 . bsi is currently ranked no. 42 out of 500 organizations . 15 16 acquisitions edit starting in 1998 bsi group has adopted an aggressive policy of international growth through acquisition as follows 17 1998 ceem usa and international standards certification pte ltd singapore 2002 kpmg s certification business in north america 2003 bsi pacific ltd hong kong 2004 kpmg s certification business in the netherlands 2006 nis zert germany ; entropy international ltd canada & uk ; benchmark certification pty ltd australia ; asi qs uk 2009 supply chain security division of first advantage corp. usa ; certification international s.r.l italy ; eurocat germany 2010 glcs the leading certifier of gas related consumer equipment in the uk and one of the top three in europe 18 the certification business of bs services italia s.r.l. bss ; systems management indonesia smi . 2013 may 9 2013 ncs international and its daughter company ncsi americas inc. 19 2015 january 24 eorm a us consultancy specialising in environmental health safety ehs and sustainability services 20 2015 30 january the management systems certification business of pwc in south africa 21 2016 4 april espion ltd and espion uk experts at managing and securing corporate information 22 2016 15 august atrium environmental health and safety services llc experts in occupational safety industrial safety and environmental compliance 23 see also edit european committee for electrotechnical standardization cenelec european committee for standardization cen european telecommunications standards institute etsi international electrotechnical commission international standards bs 25999 bs 65000 iso iso 9000 iso 14000 iso 22000 iso iec 20000 iso iec 27000 management system sa 8000 standardization standards organization the international customer service institute ticsi trading standards institute notes and references edit press release . bsi reports highest profits and revenue in 114 year history . www.bsigroup.com . retrieved 22 april 2016 . bsi group financial information . bsigroup.com . bsi group . retrieved 22 april 2016 . a b robert c mcwilliam . bsi the first hundred years . 2001 . thanet press . london press release . bsi reports highest profits and revenue in 114 year history . www.bsigroup.com . retrieved 22 april 2016 . bsi group annual report and financial statements 2014 page 20 pdf . www.bsigroup.com . retrieved 5 june 2015 . european committee for standardization benefits and principles archived august 7 2009 at the wayback machine . info ukas.com 2008 11 15 . united kingdom accreditation service certification body schedules . ukas.com . retrieved 2012 04 03 . global contact details . www.bsigroup.com . retrieved 5 june 2015 . annual review 2006 page 15 pdf . retrieved 2012 04 03 . bsi group annual report and financial statements 2009 page 97 pdf . retrieved 2012 04 03 . bsi group annual report and financial statements 2009 page 11 pdf . retrieved 2012 04 03 . bsi group annual report and financial statements 2009 page 24 pdf . retrieved 2012 04 03 . bsi was founded in 1901 annual review 2006 page 24 pdf . retrieved 2012 04 03 . http www.bsigroup.com en gb about bsi media centre press releases 2004 4 bsi brand joins the super league bsi press release 2004 superbrand official top 500 2012 history of bsi group . bsigroup.com . 1929 04 22 . retrieved 2012 04 03 . bsi press release 22 march 2010 . bsigroup.com . 2010 03 22 . retrieved 2012 04