What is BIS certification?
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is India's national standards body. For a wide range of products — from electronics and appliances to cables, toys, and steel — BIS certification (commonly the ISI Mark) confirms that a product conforms to the relevant Indian Standard before it can be legally manufactured, sold, or imported in the country.
Certification isn't optional for notified products. Selling an uncertified product that falls under a compulsory scheme can mean seizure of stock, penalties, and reputational damage — which is why getting the process right from day one matters.
Step 1: Check if your product needs certification
The first step is determining whether your specific product falls under a notified Indian Standard, and if so, which scheme applies — ISI licensing, the Compulsory Registration Scheme (CRS), or a product-specific Quality Control Order (QCO). This depends on the product category, not the company, so two similar-looking products can fall under different rules.
Step 2: Prepare documentation
Once applicability is confirmed, you'll need technical documentation about your manufacturing process, quality control systems, and product specifications. For factory-based licensing, this includes details of your production facility and in-house testing capability.
Step 3: Sample testing
Samples of your product are tested at a BIS-recognised laboratory against the applicable Indian Standard. This step often determines your overall timeline, since lab scheduling and any retesting after non-conformance both add time.
Step 4: Factory inspection (for ISI licensing)
For ISI Mark licensing, a BIS officer inspects your manufacturing facility to verify that your in-house quality control setup can consistently produce conforming product — not just pass a one-time test.
Step 5: Licence or registration grant
Once documentation, testing, and (where applicable) inspection are complete, BIS grants the licence or registration. You can then legally use the ISI Mark or CRS registration number on your product, subject to ongoing surveillance and renewal requirements.
How long does it actually take?
There's no single answer — it depends on the scheme, product category, and how prepared your documentation and facility are going in. Rather than quote a generic timeline, we assess your specific product and give you a realistic estimate before you commit to anything.
FAQs
Do I need certification before or after setting up my factory?
For ISI licensing, your factory needs to be operational (with in-house quality control in place) before the inspection stage, since BIS is verifying your actual production process.
What happens if my product fails testing?
You'll need to identify and fix the non-conformance, then retest. This is why a pre-submission technical review of your product against the standard is worth doing before formal testing begins.
This article is general information about BIS/NABL compliance, not legal or regulatory advice. Requirements change — confirm current applicability for your specific product before acting.
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