GS Mark

Although GS stands for "Geprufte Sicherheit" (approved safety) you may think of it simply as "German Safety". The GS sticker indicates that the product was tested and certified safe by a trustworthy, independent institute, in accordance with the "German Product Safety Law". The GS mark is a type-approval mark, followed by periodic factory inspections focussing on the quality system for product production. This law requires us, as the certification body, to regularly verify (usually annually) whether the manufacturer is able to maintain product specifications in mass production. During this factory inspection, we evaluate the implementation of the quality system as relevant to production, the production environment, and production related testing and measurement equipment.

New GS Mark Old GS Mark

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 clear up any misunderstanding.

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 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 Product 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 with consumers and distributors in other countries inside and outside 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, to show that a product can be traded freely within Europe. As it has to be attached to each and every product within the scope of 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 fulfill the same requirements as before, but show it through 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 issue their test marks based on CB-certificates and test reports issued by other members of the scheme. Consequently, it is unnecessary to repeat a complete type approval for each country, though some additional tests may be done to check for national deviations.

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

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