Inspecting Authorities  Manufacturers, Traders, Suppliers

Partner and pilot of the clients on the world market
The worldwide estimated seal of quality "Made in Germany" owes its reputation to material testing that has essentially been influenced by the Materials Testing Office NRW in Germany. "We test, surveil and certify" is the service summary of the MPA NRW.
Material testing - not only a technical service
The MPA NRW was founded in 1947 in Dortmund and operates as a centre for testing, surveillance and certification for over 15,000 clients. The outpost in Erwitte has been operated as a fire testing centre since 1980. At the beginning of 1995 the MPA NRW became a state company due to the decree of the Department of Trade and Industry NRW. This is a commercially run, public company with the aim of cost coverage. Its services have therefore been directed more strongly towards client requests. Independence and objectivity remain to be the trademark of the state company when conducting mostly safety-relevant tests.
Harmonisation of the European standards
The MPA NRW does not understand material testing as a technical service only. The client can address himself to his person of contact in the testing laboratories at any time - for instance if he has questions concerning the harmonisation of European standards and their consequences for his products. Here the experts of the MPA NRW are a partner and pilot and are really at home with the subject: they played an active part in the unification of the European standards.
All testing sectors have been accredited resp. acknowledged by significant public and private bodies. The participation in many national and international standardization bodies and expert panels proves the high professional competence of the MPA NRW.
Today, the trade in goods and goods traffic in the inner-European market and also in international markets is no longer imaginable without the certificate of conformity - whether required by law or used voluntarily for a better market potential. In many cases it is compulsory to engage an independent testing and surveillance centre in order to obtain the certificates of conformity. Here is one of the main tasks of the state company. It helps small and medium-sized companies and industry to obtain the certificates of conformity without which they may not place their products on the European or international market.