The BM TRADA Story

BM TRADA is proud to be part of Element, the market leader in Testing, Inspection and Certification services.  

BM TRADA exists to help make certain that the materials, products and processes that we test, inspect and certify for our customers are always safe, quality, compliant and fit for purpose.  What we ultimately deliver is Certainty to those sectors where failure in service is simply not an option.  

Our Origins

BM TRADA has a long history and heritage that we are justifiably proud of and we can trace our origins back over 80 years to 1934.

We are a global testing, inspection and certification company that delivers critical services in materials testing, product qualification testing, inspection and certification to the Fire and Building Products marketplace, where failure in service is simply not an option. 

Everything BM TRADA does is designed to help our customers to develop better products and processes; get their products to market on time; save time and money; and minimize the risk associated with product and process development as well as product production. 

Our purpose as a business is a simple one. To help our customers to make certain that all of the materials, products and processes we test, inspect and certify for them, regardless of the industry sectors they operate in, are always safe in their end application; are of marketable quality; are compliant with all relevant standards and industry regulations; and are ultimately fit for purpose. 

In 1934, a forerunner of what later became the Timber Research and Development Association (TRADA) was set up, its mission, to promote the use of wood in construction in the face of a growth in the use of alternative materials. 

60 years later in the mid 1990s and following a management buyout of TRADA’s operating companies, the testing, inspection and certification services were grouped together under the three brands, BM TRADA Certification, Chiltern International Fire and TRADA Technology. 

In 2013, these three businesses came together and rebranded as BM TRADA, part of an exercise to clearly position the organization as a single leading international Testing, Inspection and Certification business.

In 2015, BM TRADA was acquired by Exova, which itself was subsequently acquired by Element Materials Technology.     

Today BM TRADA is part of the Element Group, a global network of more than 6,000 engaged experts, operating out of over 200 laboratories, located in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia.

We are the fastest growing testing, inspection, certification and calibration business in the world.