At the end of the 19th century, steam and pressure vessels were a vital part of economic growth. Unfortunately, explosions of poorly maintained pressure vessels led to numerous severe accidents.

In 1872, Germany's first Pressure Vessel Survey Association (in German: Dampfkessel-Überwachungs-Verein, DÜV) was established to survey steam and pressure vessels regularly. The association's inspectors tested the vessels thoroughly in order to find the smallest damages and irregularities before they could lead to catastrophe. Their work was successful: within the next 20 years the number of steam and pressure vessels in use more than doubled, but the number of explosions went down.

The foundation of other DÜVs followed. The DÜVs took their names by area: the association founded in 1872 called itself Rhenish DÜV (Rheinischer DÜV) because it served the companies in the Rhine valley. It became the predecessor of today's TÜV Rheinland.

The associations, though private societies, took over some governmental duties of inspection and approval. Heading into the 20th century, the DÜVs began inspecting elevators and vehicles as well as other technical equipment. In 1936, the company name was changed to TÜV Rheinland (Technical Inspection Association Rhineland).

With the establishment of TÜV Rheinland e.V. in 1962, we became officially accredited as a governmental inspection body. This opened up numerous new business fields, ranging from the inspection and assessment of cranes to entire power plants.

For the private domain, TÜV Rheinland Product Safety (TRPS) is covering the testing and certification of a multitude of electrical and mechanical products inaccordance with German and European safety and health regulations. Moreover, private test marks related to different safety aspects (such as the EMC mark) have been introduced to allow companies to show off their products' special features.

Meanwhile TÜV Rheinland can look back on 130 years of experience dealing with safety and health related services for man, environment and machinery.

In 1988, TÜV Rheinland established its first subsidiary in Hong Kong, to provide Chinese manufacturers with European certification services. Backed by German experts stationed permanently in China, TÜV Rheinland Group China continuously extended our service scope in the last 15 years. At the same time, TÜV Rheinland has implemented the localization policy and has built up a strong team of Chinese certification engineers and auditors. The efforts are commonly recognized and rewarded by customers. Companies all over China with numerous types of products have received their "passports" to the world market.

Remarkable clients of TÜV Rheinland Group China, such as Qingdao Haier, Chunlan, Guangzhou Wanbao, Guangdong Kelon, Gree Appliances, Huawei Group, China Great-wall Computer, GD MD Group, TCL Int'l Electrical, Shunde Galanz, Dalian Shide, Dashang Group, Jinbei GM, Hafei Automotive, etc, are the leaders of related industries which acknowledged TÜV Rheinland Group China provides the best service quality.