TÜV SÜD America Inc. Company History

Welcome to the website for TÜV SÜD America Inc. This site focuses upon the operations of the TÜV SÜD AG Group in North America (NAFTA region). Please select from the following links to learn more about TÜV SÜD.

• TÜV SÜD AG
• History of TÜV
• About TÜV SÜD America Inc.

TÜV SÜD AG
TÜV SÜD AG (www.tuev-sued.de) is a leading technical service company active in the Industry, Product and Transport sectors. Its range of services encompasses consultancy, inspections, tests and expert opinions as well as certification and training. Our objectives are reliability, safety and quality as well as environmental protection and cost effectiveness.

Established over 140 years ago as a steam boiler inspection association, TÜV SÜD is a globally active, future-oriented company, represented internationally by more than 600 locations. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, TÜV SÜD is the largest of the German TÜVs with 2006 revenues of EUR 1.17 billion and over 11,000 employees.

History: The TÜVs
Independent TÜVs (Technischer Überwachungsverein, English translation: Technical Inspection Association) were founded in the 1870's by the German steam boiler industry. These regional organizations helped regulate and supervise the safety of steam installations in the interest of public safety.

The original TÜV association in Bavaria, founded over 140 years ago, had 43 industry members and employed just two safety inspectors. With the advancement of technology, its presence and capabilities quickly expanded. In the 1900's the group began working not only with electrically powered devices but also passenger elevators, diesel engines, sprinkler systems, and hydroelectric power plants. These inspection services further expanded into the transportation and motor vehicle industries and later to the nuclear energy industry. As late as the 1980's, the TÜV associations (TÜV Bayern being one of the largest) continued to operate independently in the federal states of Germany and their activities and name became synonymous with public safety, quality, and environmental protection.

Deregulation, liberalization, and harmonization of trade practices in Europe in the late 1980's and early 1990's allowed TÜV Bayern, whose activities were limited to Bavaria, to compete with other inspection agencies on both a national and international level. To meet this challenge, TÜV Bayern joined forces with other regional TÜVs: TÜV Hessen and TÜV Sachsen; establishing TÜV Bayern Holding AG a holding organization for technical safety services. In 1997 TÜV Südwest joined TÜV Bayern Holding AG and formed TÜV Süddeutschland Holding AG, the largest of the TÜV organizations. In 2004, TÜV Süddeutschland changed its name to TÜV SÜD AG.

Globally, there are several TÜV organizations, including TÜV SÜD AG, TÜV Rheinland, TÜV Nord, RW TÜV, and others. The largest of the TÜV organizations is TÜV SÜD.

TÜV SÜD America understands the importance of impartiality in carrying out its certification activities. We manage conflict of interest and ensure the objectivity of our certification activities

TÜV SÜD America Inc.
TÜV SÜD America Inc., a subsidiary of TÜV SÜD AG, is a business-to-business engineering services firm providing international safety testing and certification services. Founded in 1987, TÜV SÜD America has grown to more than 1,000 experts in over a dozen locations throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Operating under the brand names of Product Service, Management Service, Industry Service, Automotive and PetroChem, TÜV SÜD America has partnered with thousands of companies throughout the NAFTA region, assuring product and management systems excellence, and acceptance in the global marketplace.

Product Service division
TÜV SÜD America is a NRTL (Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory) and SCC-certified, providing a full suite of services, including CE Marking assistance, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), electrical & mechanical testing, and many additional global conformity assessment services that help companies gain product compliance to enter individual country markets.

Our Medical services unit is the leading Notified Body for a number of EU Directives including: Medical Devices Directive, Active Implantable Medical Devices directive and the In Vitro Diagnostic Directive. In addition, TÜV SÜD America provides FDA 510(k) reviews and third-party inspections, an SCC-qualified ISO 13485 registrar for the Canadian Medical Devices Regulations, EMC testing service provider (60601-1-2), NRTL services, Japanese approvals, and more.

Our EMC (Electromagnetic Compatibility) services unit is a leading provider of EMC testing solutions in the military and aerospace/defense fields. Services include testing to MIL-STD-461, RTCA/DO-160, EUROCAE/ED-14, Def-Stan 59-41, Multiple-Burst and Multiple-Stroke Lightning and HIRF testing up to 9500 Volts/meter.

Our environmental testing unit provides dynamics (vibration & shock), acoustic, climatic and fluid dynamics testing from our accredited labs, simulating the most hostile environments.

Management Service division
TÜV SÜD America is an accredited Management Systems Registrar in the U.S., Europe and Asia, providing ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO/TS 16949, AS9100, ISO 13485, TL 9000, OHSAS 18001, ISO 27000, SQF, ISO 22000, Supplier Auditing Services and ESD S20.20 certification services.

Industry Service division
TÜV SÜD America provides a variety of global conformity assessment services for industrial markets, which include consulting, third-party inspection, material testing, inspection & certification, design reviews, pressure equipment testing services, type approvals and Notified Body services for pressure equipment manufacturers and materials producers seeking to export product to the European Community.

Automotive division
TÜV SÜD Automotive provides engineering services for the automotive industry in all fields of motor vehicle technology. From locations worldwide, TÜV SÜD Automotive offers a wide range of services including engineering, testing, battery, consultancy and homologation.

PetroChem Inspection Services, Inc.
PetroChem is a leading provider of Non-Destructive Examination and Testing services (NDE/NDT) for the petrochemical and other process-related industries. Employing nearly 400 employees, the organization is headquartered in Pasadena, TX.

Click here for a list of TÜV SÜD America's accreditations.

For more information, contact us.