Every employee of the VDE Institute is obligated to observe the vision, guidelines and quality policy and to observe the rules for responsible action so that the services provided are in accordance with the law and the internal rules.
Quality, protection, safety, sustainability are the values that the VDE Prüf- und Zertifizierungsinstitut (VDE Institute) consistently represents and promotes.
Our services always deliver the highest quality and thus meet the requirements of the market to a high degree, taking into account the mandate for accident, information security, environmental and consumer protection set out in the principles of the VDE Group.
In doing so, we want to meet the needs of the present generation without jeopardizing the possibilities of future generations.
We have social responsibility and are committed to consumers and environmental protection as well as information security as the mainstay of our actions.
The VDE Institute with its responsible, well-trained and highly motivated employees and its connection to the VDE Group offers a social and technological leadership position for the range of services it offers.
The activities performed by VDE Institute are targeted toward maintaining and supporting technical sciences and their applications.
Helping to define and advance the “state of technology” and working to improve accident, information security, consumer and environmental protection are two of our major contributions.
The foundation for this is our technical-scientific work in the field of electrical and information technology and our knowledge of the ensuing environmental impacts as well as the regulations out of the VDE institute information security directive.
The following individual objectives apply:
These are achieved by:
a) VDE testing and certification activities;
b) our involvement in national, European and international committees, focusing on drafting standards (e.g., DIN VDE, EN, IEC) and on applying and advancing the “state of technology”, especially in the field of electrical engineering;
c) our involvement in the drafting of standards by the committees of the DKE German Commission for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies;
d) preparation and preliminary work to define solutions to the technical-scientific challenges facing VDE;
e) support of, and collaboration on, research projects;
f) support of, and involvement in, technical-scientific events;
g) cooperation with other technical-scientific associations in Germany and abroad;
h) training electrical engineering experts in the fields of standards and applied safety technology;
i) identifying and mapping social-technical correlations and their impacts to provide an objective basis for discussing the benefits and/or hazards, environmental compatibility and efficiency of technology;
j) defining benchmarks for the safe generation and efficient application of electricity, as well as for occupational health and safety, and accident research and minimization in the field of electrical engineering;
k) maintaining the exchange of ideas and experience at national and international level through attendance at expert conferences, discussion meetings, seminars and appropriate international congresses, symposia and the like;
l) compliance with legal and regulatory requirements in global operations, review of diverse processes, products and services;
m) consideration of information security requirements of interested parties;
n) consideration of the needs of interested parties regarding climate change.
VDE Institute is free from financial or any other influences; it is a non-profit, independent and impartial institute.
The VDE-Institut serves with the subject of enterprise the statutes of the VDE Association.
Its services are aimed in particular at preventing accidents with electronic, electrical and information technology products and at strengthening confidence in the safety of products throughout the life cycle. In doing so, the defined protection objectives ensure confidentiality, integrity and availability of the values to be protected by the VDE Institute and its interested parties.
Its services comply both with the state of technology as defined in pertinent standards, specifications, rules and safety requirements and with the requirements defined by law and in specific directives.
All services are based on the obligation of management, including the management of the laboratory and the certification body, to the policy of
Based on risks and opportunities and focusing on quality policy objectives, the VDE Institute always strives at all levels to improve the quality of its services, taking into account customer satisfaction and market needs, as well as improving the effectiveness of its management system.
Climate change and the related requirements of interested parties are relevant to the VDE Institute and are taken into account in risk and opportunity assessments. This also applies to information security.
To ensure the quality of measurement and calibration results as well as the control of suitability of performed testing and calibration the VDE Institute commits oneself to participate in relevant, technical and economical reasonable proficiency testing under the consideration of requirements on a basis of laws and directives within the scope of regulatory recognitions / authorizations as well as decisions of the sector committees.
Our services are customer oriented; they inspire trust and do not end once the job is done. We continue to support our customers even after the task has been completed.
The measures are integrated into the structural and process organization of the services. The management system meets the criteria of national legislation including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the rules in the TISAX VDA procedure for information security, of EC/EU Directives, for which VDE Institute is notified throughout the EU, together with the requirements of DIN EN ISO 9001:2015, DIN EN ISO/IEC 17020:2012, DIN EN ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015 and DIN EN ISO/IEC 17025:2018 under special consideration of the flexibility of scope of accreditation according to DAkkS Category A as well as DIN EN ISO/IEC 17065:2013 and DIN EN 27001:2024-1 for the performance of testing and certification services in the areas of smart technologies, information security and interoperability for interconnected components and systems.
The effectiveness of the measures is monitored using internal audits and improved if necessary.
Management reviews ensure that the services provided by VDE Institute are tailored to customer requirements; if necessary, measures are adjusted to improve these services.
Integrity and the observance of external and internal rules is the basis of responsible action and an integral part of our activities.
Compliance rules according to our Code of Conduct form a central element of proper corporate management for VDE Institute. They are a prerequisite for those measures aimed at ensuring that our services fully comply with legislation and laws, and with our own internal rules.
In addition, we aim to ensure that social standards and moral concepts are upheld by our wholly ethical conduct and compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
The basic rights of our staff are protected; the health and safety of our employees are paramount. VDE Institute does not tolerate corruption or irregular dealings in any shape or form that aim to influence the decision-making process.
Our compliance management is designed as a chain of action: “Prevent”, “Identify”, “React”. Our aim is to firmly and permanently anchor this awareness in all executives and employees. We comprehensively clarify incidents that are not consistent with our compliance rules.
VDE Institute uses its compliance management to minimize risks and to increase efficiency and effectiveness.
A compliance management is employed in administrative functions to perform monitoring and coordination tasks; they act as the point of contact for respective incidents and report regularly to the company’s management.
Compliance management forms an integral part of the annual management review.
Integrity and adherence to the very highest compliance standards form the most important business foundation for VDE. We want to ensure that VDE and the companies of the VDE Group are in full compliance with the law.
In addition to the existing reporting channels, the whistleblower system offers employees and external third parties (e.g. customers, suppliers, business partners, etc.) a secure way to (also completely anonymously) report possible violations of applicable laws or VDE’s compliance rules without having to fear reprisals. The prerequisite, however, is that the reports are made to the best of one's knowledge and in good faith.
Link to the whistleblower system
