The TÜV Saarland is an organization focused on ensuring the safety of boilers and other industrial equipment. It originated from the Palatinate, a region in southwestern Germany that in 1871 created a steam boiler revision club. Its constitutional mandate is the "protection of people, environment and property from adverse effects of technical facilities or installations of all kinds".
In order to fulfill this mandate while maintaining its entrepreneurial independence, TÜV Saarland focused on customer-oriented services outside of its official activities. It grew in new business areas on average and profitable than other TÜVs.
History
TÜVs became part of the German landscape in the late nineteenth century, as part of public and workplace safety initiatives. To increase the safety of their equipment, steam engine and boiler owners founded regional "Dampfkessel-Überwachungs- und Revisions-Vereine" (DÜV) (steam boiler supervision and revision associations) as self-help organizations to independently monitor their processes. Their success in preventing accidents was such that in 1871 membership in such an association exempted the member from government inspections.
Because of their success in preventing steam accidents they were entrusted with other inspection tasks, and the DÜVs became TÜVs. In 1870, 43 TÜVs were operating. The TÜVs were originally formed to inspect steam boiler installations. A major part of their activity remains based on the inspection and certification of boiler and pressure equipment. As technology progressed over time, the 43 TÜVs merged, leaving 6 remaining in Germany (TÜV SÜD, TÜV NORD,TÜV Saarland, TÜV Rheinland,TÜV Hessen, and TÜV Thüringen.