In 2017, AENOR emerged as a commercial entity; it works in the fields of conformity assessment, training, and the sale of publications. Its long-term aim is to strengthen its ability to offer services that meet the evolving needs of the economic fabric.
AENOR was established as a company in January 2017. At that time, the Spanish Association for Standardisation and Certification, created in 1986, split into two organisations; on the one hand, the Spanish Association for Standardisation - UNE, the body legally responsible for developing standardisation in Spain, which also carries out cooperative activities. And on the other, AENOR, a knowledge management company that helps rectify competitiveness gaps via conformity assessment (certification, verification, validation, inspection, and testing), training, and information services. AENOR is a UNE company.
Currently, more than 80,000 working centres around the world have gained AENOR certificates. Its evolution in the field of conformity assessment reflects its constant efforts in helping overcome relevant competitiveness gaps at all times.
In its early years, the Spanish Association for Standardisation and Certification, created the basic infrastructure for developing certification activity, at that time limited to product certification. The first technical certification committees were formed, which currently number almost 40. In the first decade, product certification was related to construction and electrical equipment. It was only at the end of the 1990s that this was extended to new fields such as foodstuffs, crafts, and services. Today, more than 106,000 products and services are certified by AENOR.
In 1989, AENOR began to certify the quality of management systems according to UNE-EN ISO 9001. In 1992, the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro marked the beginning of its expansion into environmental policies. AENOR issued its first environmental management systems certificates in 1994.
There are currently 21,500 valid certificates for management systems issued by AENOR that support organisations in fields such as Quality Management, Environmental Management, R&D&I, Occupational Health and Safety, Energy Efficiency, Social Responsibility, and Risk Management. Similarly, AENOR has carried out more than 400 environmental verifications and validations and more than 6,000 inspections.
Two benchmark labs work in the field of analysis and testing. One is the AENOR Laboratory, part of AENOR and created in 2008. On the other, the Centro de Ensayos, Innovación y Servicio (CEIS), of which 85% is owned by the Spanish Association for Standardisation - UNE.
On the other hand, AENOR plays an important role in promoting the culture of quality through its training activities and information services. In 2017, 681 courses were given to nearly 8,500 students, while the sale of standards increased and 35 new editorial projects were undertaken.
As a global organisation, the international activity of AENOR is growing year by year. This can be seen in different fields: certification, training, and inspection, validation and verification services. A través de alguna o varias de estas actividades, AENOR está actualmente presente en 90 países de América, Europa, Asia y África.
Milestones of AENOR's history
Portugal