British Standards Institution
Making excellence a habit
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| Non-profit distributing incorporated body operating under Royal Charter | |
| Founded | 1901 |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
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Number of locations
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73 offices in 28 countries |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
| Products | standards and standards related services |
| Revenue |
 £331.1m (2015) |
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Number of employees
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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.
BSI Group was founded as the Engineering Standards Committee in London in 1901. 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 a 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 in 182 countries. 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.
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. 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 shorter.
BSI also publishes standards-related books, CD-ROMs, subscription products and web-based solutions as well as providing training on standards-related issues.
With 80,000 clients, BSI Group is one of the world’s largest certification bodies. It audits and provides certification to companies worldwide who implement management systems standards. BSI also runs training courses that cover the implementation and auditing requirements of national and international management systems standards.
It is independently accredited and assesses a wide range of standards and other specifications including:
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