1990

A period of accreditation leads to a name change

By the 1980s, the testing, inspection and certification industry had grown considerably, and Kiwa was one of many companies in operation. An investigation revealed significant differences in the methodologies these companies used and the degree of their reliability, and in 1981, the Ministry of Economic Affairs established the Dutch Certification Council (Stichting Raad voor de Certificatie).

The Council set out rules with which certification bodies had to comply in order to be accredited. In 1984, the Council evaluated the Kiwa Quality Mark and Kiwa Attestation, and Kiwa was accredited. Kiwa could now claim for both the Kiwa Quality Mark and the Kiwa Attestation that they had been ‘Accredited by the Dutch Certification Council’.

The accreditation brought with it a requirement for high-quality instruments used for inspections. Kiwa established a new Calibration section and system to ensure all measuring and laboratory equipment functioned properly.

In 1988, Kiwa’s concrete section was accredited by the Raad voor de Certificatie voor Kwaliteitssysteemcertificatie (Dutch Council for Quality System Certification). This was followed in 1989 by an accreditation for the plastics, metals and devices sections. The certificate was presented to Kiwa Director dr E.J.M. Kobus (pictured right) by Director of the Council, drs. H.C.W. Gundlach.

In 1985, the Certification Council (Raad voor de Certificatie) accredited Kiwa for the KOMO certificate and KOMO licence in the construction industry.

A name change to support further expansion

As Kiwa’s work in the water, construction and environmental sectors became more versatile, the company’s name – Keuringsinstituut voor Waterleidingartikelen Kiwa N.V. – no longer did justice to the breadth of its services. On 22 June 1990 the meeting of shareholders adopted an amendment to the Articles of Association, whereby the company’s official name was changed from to the short version of Kiwa N.V.

With the new name, Kiwa continued to grow. In 1992, the Kiwa Low Water Consumption Quality Mark was introduced for products with low water consumption, such as cisterns with flushing interruption and water-saving shower heads.
During a television program, drs. E.H.T.M. Nijpels presented the ‘Kiwa Low Consumption Quality Mark’.

By the end of 1992, fitters and installers in the water, electricity and gas sectors had to be certified as ‘Registered Fitters’. Certification came under the Quality System Certification Scheme, and Kiwa, KEMA and GASTEC were the issuers. Nine installation companies received the Registered Fitters Certificate from Gastec and Kiwa during the VSK Exhibition in 1994. By the end of that year, 200 companies had been certified.

In the 1990s, Kiwa’s certification and inspection services expanded even further, to include VCA Certification (safety certification for construction companies), Environmental System Certification (BS 7750) and certification via the Certiva Certification Scheme, a sector-specific scheme for the waste industry.

The highlight of this period of accreditation was Kiwa being accredited for process certification in 1993, making it the most versatile certification company in the Netherlands.

• product certification
• quality system certification
• certification of designs (attestation)
• process certification