How to Get a BIS Licence for Hand Tools: Process, Documents, Fees and Timeline

Who needs this licence, and by when

The Hand Tools (Quality Control) Order, 2025 makes the ISI mark compulsory for nine spanners, wrenches and pliers. Large and medium enterprises have had to comply since 1 October 2026. Small enterprises must comply by 1 January 2027, and micro enterprises by 1 April 2027.

Indian manufacturers get the ISI mark through a Scheme-I licence from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). This guide walks through how that licence is granted, what you need to prepare, what it really costs for each tool, and how long it lasts. For the background on the order and the nine tools it covers, see our guide to the Hand Tools QCO 2025.

The basics: one licence per tool type, per factory

A BIS licence is granted to a manufacturing unit for a specific Indian Standard. If you make open-jaw spanners (IS 2028) and ring spanners (IS 2029), you need two licences. If you make IS 2028 spanners in two factories, you need two licences, one for each factory.

The licence also lists the varieties, sizes and brand names it covers. Adding a new size range or brand later requires an inclusion request to BIS.

Step 1: Confirm your standard and enterprise category

Match each product to its IS number — for example, combination pliers fall under IS 3650:1981 and single-ended adjustable wrenches under IS 6149:1984. Buy or download the current version of the standard, including amendments, since the QCO requires the latest version.

Have your Udyam Registration ready. It decides both your deadline and your marking fee.

Step 2: Check that your factory can meet the standard

BIS grants a licence only after it is satisfied with your manufacturing infrastructure, process controls, quality control and testing capability. Before applying, check:

Production: the main forging, machining, heat-treatment and finishing equipment is in-house, or outsourced processes are documented and controlled.

In-house testing: you have the equipment needed for routine tests under the standard — typically hardness testing, dimensional gauges and load or torque testing — with valid calibration certificates.

Raw material control: you keep test certificates for incoming steel. Records: you keep a register for in-process and final inspection.

Gaps found during the BIS factory visit are one of the most common reasons a licence is delayed.

Step 3: Get the product tested

Your tools must pass every requirement of the standard. Depending on the tool, the tests usually cover material composition, hardness, dimensions (including jaw opening and tolerances), proof load or torque, finish and marking, and — for slugging wrenches — resistance to impact.

Simplified procedure (Option 2): you get samples tested at a BIS-recognised laboratory before applying and submit the test report with your application. BIS then inspects the factory. BIS's grant-of-licence guidelines aim to finish this route in about 30 days if the test report and factory visit are both satisfactory at the first attempt.

Normal procedure (Option 1): you apply first, and BIS inspects the factory and draws samples itself for independent testing. BIS aims to finish this route in about 90 days; its FAQ notes it can take up to about four months.

Most manufacturers choose the simplified procedure because it is faster. Choose the lab early, since lab queues grow near deadlines.

Step 4: Prepare the documents

Applications are filed online on the Manakonline portal in the format prescribed by the BIS (Conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018. Each document's details should match exactly: firm name, factory address and brand names should read the same in your GST certificate, Udyam certificate, test report and application. Mismatches are a frequent cause of BIS queries.

Steps 5 to 7: Application, inspection and grant

Step 5 — submit and pay: pay the ₹1,000 application fee online. BIS checks the application and sends any questions by email. Respond quickly: time spent waiting on your reply adds directly to the timeline.

Step 6 — factory inspection: pay the inspection fee of ₹7,000 per man-day before the visit. The BIS officer checks your infrastructure, process controls and testing facilities, and under the normal procedure also draws samples.

Step 7 — grant of licence: when BIS approves the application, you pay the annual licence fee (₹1,000) and the annual minimum marking fee for your product. You receive your licence number, in the format CM/L-XXXXXXXXXX, and can start applying the ISI mark. The mark on the tool shows the IS number above it and your CM/L licence number below it.

BIS fees for every applicant

Annual minimum marking fee for each hand tool

This is the largest recurring cost. The figures below are from the BIS marking-fee schedule for Scheme-I products (September 2026 edition). You pay a per-piece marking fee on your ISI-marked production, subject to the annual minimum for your enterprise category.

Worked example

A small enterprise makes 80,000 open-jaw spanners a year. The per-piece fee is 80,000 × ₹0.20 = ₹16,000, and the small-enterprise annual minimum is ₹26,000. The per-piece fee is below the minimum, so the unit pays ₹26,000 that year.

A micro unit making the same quantity would pay ₹16,000, because its per-piece fee is higher than its ₹10,400 minimum. The concessions reduce the minimum, not the per-piece rate.

MSME and other concessions

A BIS notification dated 17 March 2026 sets the following concessions on the annual minimum marking fee. They apply until 31 May 2029. Your Udyam Registration (or start-up recognition) must be on file to claim them.

How long the licence lasts

The BIS (Conformity Assessment) Amendment Regulations, 2026 (25 February 2026) changed the validity rules for Scheme-I. A licence can now be granted initially for up to five years, and renewed for up to five years at a time.

The fees are still paid every year in advance, together with an annual production statement. If you miss the due date, the licence can be suspended. BIS's older FAQ page still mentions an initial grant of up to two years; the 2026 amendment replaced that rule.

After you get the licence

Mark everything: apply the ISI mark to the entire production covered by the licence, not only some batches. Keep conforming: maintain conformity to the standard and keep your quality control running as declared.

Allow surveillance: permit BIS factory visits, including surprise inspections, and give access to your records. Expect market checks: BIS can buy your ISI-marked tools from the market and test them in third-party labs.

Report changes, such as a change of factory address, and display your licence at the factory and quote it in commercial advertisements. Failing surveillance tests or breaking licence conditions can lead to suspension or cancellation of the licence.

How TechbyDR Services helps

We run a pre-inspection gap check of your factory, prepare the Manakonline application and document file, coordinate testing at a BIS-recognised lab under the simplified procedure, support you through the BIS inspection, and keep your licence in good standing with annual fees, production statements and scope inclusions for new sizes and brands.