BENOR licence
The BENOR label is owned by the Standards Bureau (NBN), which is the body responsible for the development and sale of standards in Belgium. The NBN is a public interest body, whose supervising Minister is the Federal Minister for the Economy.
The BENOR label certifies that a product or service complies with a technical quality reference framework adopted by all of the parties concerned by the product or service. Once adopted, this reference framework is detailed in documents called Prescriptions Techniques – Technische Voorschriften (PTV).
The BENOR label systematically covers all of the relevant features of the product or service for its practical application and implementation by the user, whether public or private. As a result, the performances stated on the product or service will comply with the quality expectations of the sector in question, as well as its customers.
The BENOR label is managed by an independent non-profit organisation BENOR vzw asbl, which is the association for management of the BENOR label. This association is made up of all the stakeholders concerned by the products and services that it covers. This is regardless of whether they are public or private users, manufacturers or service-providers.
The npo BENOR has designated OCBS-OCAB as Sectoral Organisation to manage the BENOR-mark in its sector.
OCBS-OCAB is also the certification body that handles the day-to-day management and the certification process of the label for steel for reinforced and prestressed concrete.
Implication
A BENOR licence is always based on the certification of products or services. This means that:
The manufacturer’s production check covers the raw materials used, as well as the production process itself and the product supplied. The measuring and testing equipment for products also forms part of this check.
The aim of the period external inspection is to assess the validity and reliability of the self-inspection exercised by the manufacturer. For this purpose, samples are taken for testing in an external laboratory.
The content and organisation of the industry or sector self-inspection of the manufacturer or service-provider, as well as the external inspection and tests are described in the BENOR regulations, ToepassingsReglement – Règlement d'Application (TRA).
Granting a licence to use the BENOR label is always accompanied by a certificate. This document features all of the relevant information about the holder of the label and the authorisation and product certified.
BENOR certifies the conformity of the products and services that it covers for the necessary requirements to reach the quality levels required, as determined by all of the parties involved in a production, construction or service process.