History

In Bulgaria, as early as in 1932 the Ministry of Public Works made the first attempts for normalizing by standardizing the plans and profiles of windows and doors; but in fact not all manufacturers abided by the norms. As a result of these attempts, in April of 1938 The Bulgarian Institute for Norms (BIN) at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, headquartered in the Sofia Chamber, was founded. Institutions from a wide variety of backgrounds including government, industry, academic and special interest groups were involved in its founding - the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Chamber of Engineering and Architecture, the Ministries of Public Construction, of Public Works, of Commerce, of Agriculture, of Warfare, of Railways, the Bulgarian National and Agricultural Cooperative Banks, the Industrial and the Craftsmen Unions, and other interested fellowships and private entities.

Over years the standardization activity in Bulgaria has passed through various managing forms and was subordinated to different governmental entities. In 1964 by the adoption of the first Law on standardization the Committee for Standardization and Metrology was established as the body for state management of national standardization. By the Law on National Standardization (State Gazette, iss. 55/18.06.1999) the management, coordination and organization of standardization work have been assigned to the “Standardization” Directorate to the State Agency for Standardization and Metrology (SASM). By amendment and supplement of Law on National Standardization (State Gazette, iss. 13/05.02.2002) Bulgarian Institute for Standardization (BDS) as a successor of the former “Standardization” Directorate at the State Agency for Standardization and Metrology has been established as an independent legal entity, subsidized by the state budget with headquarter Sofia.

By the new Law on National Standardization, which was adopted in 2005 the Bulgarian Institute for Standardization (BDS) was established.

The Bulgarian Institute for Standardization (BDS) as the national standardization body is entitled to represent the interests of the Bulgarian national standardization in the international and European standards organizations. Since 1955 BDS is a member of ISO. Since 1958 BDS is a member of IEC.

In 2007 Bulgaria was accepted as a National Member of CEN and CENELEC.

Milestones in the History of BDS

1932 First standardization initiatives

1938 Bulgarian Institute for Norms (BIN) was established

1938-1940 The first 112 Bulgarian Norms (BIN) were published

1941 Institute for Rationalization (IR) was established as a successor of the BIN

1948 Institute for Economic Rationalization (IER) was established

1949 The first 90 Bulgarian Standards were published

1955 Bulgaria becomes member of ISO (International Organization for Standardization)

1958 Bulgaria becomes member of IEC (International Electrotechnical Committee)

1962 Permanent Commission and Institute for Standardization at Union for Economic Mutual Aid were established

1963 Institute for Standardization, measure and measure devices (ISMMD) was established

1964 The first Law on Standardization was adopted

1965 Regulation on applying the Law for Standardization was adopted

1970 Committee for Quality, Standardization and Metrology was created

1975 State Committee for Standardization was created

1981 Main Office for Standardization of the State Committee for Science and Technical Progress was established

1987 Committee for Quality was established

1991 Bulgaria became an affiliate member of CEN

1991 Committee for Standardization and Metrology was established

1997 Bulgaria was accepted as a CENELEC affiliate member

1999 Law on National Standardization was adopted (SG issue 55/18.06.1999)

1999 State Agency for Standardization and Metrology was established

2002 Amendment and Supplement of Law on National Standardization was adopted (SG issue 13/5.12.2002)

2002 Bulgarian Institute for Standardization was established

2005 A new version of Law on National Standardization was adopted (SG issue 88/04.11.2005)

2006 Bulgarian Institute for Standardization (BDS) was transformed from a state body into a private non-profit organization

2007 Bulgaria was accepted as a full member of CEN and CENELEC

2007 Bulgaria was accepted as a member of IECEE