Motto Partner for Progress Number of employees 1,480 (2013) | Revenue 172 million EUR (2013) Founded 1948 Net income 8.5 million EUR (2013) | |
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Type Privately held company, LLC Area served 50+ countries (as of January 2016) Key people Dr Paul G.M. Hesselink (CEO) Subsidiaries Bautest GmbH, Koac. NPC, Kiwa Nordic Holding AB | ||
Kiwa NV is a European institution for testing, inspection and certification (TIC), headquartered in Rijswijk, Netherlands. Kiwa is active worldwide in some 50 countries. Established in 1948 as the Judging Institute for Water Supply Articles, it was known throughout the 20th century as simply Kiwa and participated in the safety analysis of many European and international new technologies as well as the drafting of safety standards for numerous devices and components. Kiwa provides safety-related certification, testing, inspection, auditing, advising and training services to a wide range of clients, including manufacturers, policymakers, regulators, service companies and consumers.
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History
Kiwa was founded in 1948 by the Water board (Netherlands) with the aim of monitoring the quality of drinking water across the Netherlands. Demands were made that articles in drinking water processing and management, such as water pipes , fittings and valves, had to be met. Kiwa argued and performed various tests on such items. Products that meet the requirements are still marked with the Kiwa label. Kiwa's stringent testing methodologies expanded the organization to become active in more European markets and eventually internationally in independent quality assessment and quality certificates for products and services in various industries and sectors.
Certifications
The issuing of quality declarations in the form of certificates forms the basis of the organization's activities. Kiwa is defined as an independent party or a company/institution that meets the requirements of a product, service, system or person. The requirements are established in consultation with all stakeholders including producers, consumers, certification bodies and a so-called Committee of Experts in a particular field. Once certified products and services are provided with a trademarked label as visual identification. Kiwa provides certification labels both in-house as well as licensed. These include transport and logistics, management systems (eg ISO 9000 and ISO 14001 ), agro, feed & food (including HACCP), health care, safety and corporate social responsibility.
Testing and inspections
Kiwa has a network of testing laboratories in Europe and the Far East for testing a several categories of products. Through them it offers testing and inspection services in the areas of roofing and outer walls, gas and gas installations, infrastructure, calibration, polymers, drinking water installations, sports floors, and solar panels. Most of its clients are from manufacturing and the process industries, public and private utilities, government agencies and international institutions. Kiwa is globally active in over forty countries with offices in many European states as well as in Taiwan, Peru and China.
Business structure and development
Kiwa is organized into the so-called Service Lines 'Assurance'. One line is for certification and related activities and the other for 'Information' and other activities. A service line is made up of a number of units, each with its own focus. The business units are in themselves an independent unit. Kiwa grew both organically as well as through strategic acquisitions. The first large acquisition took place in 2005 with Gastec Apeldoorn, the former GIVEG. Subsequently, it carried out several other acquisitions in the Netherlands and elsewhere in the world in various market segments. As of 2014 it has offices in 13 countries and agents in 15.