2010 Activity Report - Bureau Veritas

In-Service Inspection & VerificationPreparing for newmarket openingsA new playing fieldA myriad of new opportunities arereshaping the business environmentfor recurrent in-service inspectionand verification services. Governmentsare imposing stricter health, safety andenvironment (HSE) standards. Regulatoryrequirements in Europe, includingcompulsory periodic inspections, arebeing harmonized across the MemberStates. Owners and operators areincreasingly liable for accidents andinjuries that occur in their facilities.In addition, equipment breakdownscan lead to costly production delaysor loss of business. Inspector training,methodology and IT tools call forever-greater specialization andinvestment. Finally, the installationand maintenance of energy-savingequipment, now mandated in manycountries, requires expertisein advanced technologies.These factors have altered the in-serviceinspection and verification playing fieldand generated two main trends. First,privatization of mandatory third-partyinspections. Governments are reducingtheir role in regulatory inspections.Markets are opening up in Europe underthe impetus of EU directives. Othercountries, such as China, Japan andthe United States, are decentralizingand delegating inspection activities.Secondly, outsourcing of compulsoryor voluntary inspections by companies.Service sector markets such as retailoutlets and banks are relying on secondpartyinspection to ensure HSE regulatorycompliance at all their sites or to applytheir own policies. Insurance companiesare abandoning traditional inspectionservices and granting liability coveragebased on reports from independent bodies.Rolling out a competitiveoperating modelBureau Veritas is ready to competein this new environment. It has expandedits geographical scope and the technicalcapabilities of its local teams to serveboth international and local companiesand provide comprehensive equipmentand facility solutions. Today we are rollingout a best-in-class, IT-driven ProductionCore Model (PCM) to handle resourceplanning, equipment inventories,inspection scheduling, reporting andinterfacing with customers. The PCM canbe adapted to the specifications of newmarkets as they open.HIGHLIGHTS• Expanded offerings with the additionof all Bureau Veritas health, safety andenvironment inspection services.• Three acquisitions: SMSI (USA)for elevator inspection, Halec (France)for ski lift facilities inspection andK. Certificazioni (Italy) for inspectionof electrical equipment and ionizingradiation appliances.• Disposal of specific non-coreinspection activities in the UK (portableelectrical appliances) and Spain(medical surveillance).• Rollout of our Production CoreModel across the network.• New licenses to operate obtainedin Russia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.20