BIS Certification for Mild Steel Sliding Door Bolts (Aldrops)

A mild steel sliding door bolt - the aldrop you see on gates, main doors, storerooms and shutters across the country - is the sliding bar-and-staple fitting with a loop, made so a padlock can pass through and hold it shut. This certification applies specifically to the mild steel version, the most common and most affordable of the three material types (the others being stainless steel and non-ferrous/brass, each covered under its own separate standard and licence).

The governing standard lays down what a genuine aldrop must be: the materials it is made from, its dimensions, how it is manufactured, and its finish. In practice, this is builder hardware used in general building construction for locking doors and gates - simple in function, but produced in enormous volumes by a large and fragmented base of small and mid-sized units, which is exactly why the government brought it under compulsory certification.

Where your product sits within the standard determines your licence scope. The practical picture for this product:

The mild steel aldrop is the default, everyday security latch across residential and light commercial construction:

Because the aldrop's job is security through a padlock, testing focuses on the strength of the parts that resist forcing, along with dimensions, finish and material. A BIS-recognised laboratory checks samples, and BIS continues periodic surveillance while the licence is active:

The order carves out four specific exemptions. You may fall outside the requirement if you are: manufacturing purely for export; supplying bolts that are imported only as a part or component of a larger finished good or sub-assembly; a domestic maker importing to build products that are then exported; or a Udyam-registered micro unit whose plant & machinery investment (at original cost) does not exceed twenty-five lakh rupees and whose turnover did not exceed two crore rupees in the previous financial year, certified by a Chartered Accountant.

BIS expects documentation in three broad groups. For a fragmented, high-volume hardware sector, clean paperwork in the exact BIS format is what keeps a file moving:

• Administrative: company registration, factory licence, trademark proof, and - for foreign makers - the Authorized Indian Representative appointment.
• Technical: product drawings and specification, raw-material details, machinery list, in-house test equipment list, and the recognised-lab test report.
• Quality control: the quality manual, competent QC personnel details, and the process and quality-control flow for the product.

The route depends on where your factory is. Indian manufacturers follow the domestic Scheme-I process, laid out on our BIS Certification for Indian Manufacturers page. Manufacturers outside India go through FMCS with an Authorized Indian Representative - see our FMCS guide.

On grant, BIS issues a unique licence number (the CM/L number). The ISI Mark together with that CM/L number must appear on the product and its packaging in the manner the standard prescribes. For a mass-market hardware item sold across thousands of shops, that mark is what separates a genuinely certified aldrop from a look-alike, and it is what an inspector or buyer checks.

BIS is the certifying and enforcing authority, and non-compliance is dealt with under the BIS Act, 2016:

• Seizure of stock from the factory, warehouse or retail chain.
• Customs detention of imported consignments without a valid licence and marking.
• Fines and imprisonment as provided under the BIS Act, 2016.
• Removal from marketplaces and rejection by bulk buyers who require the ISI Mark.

Fasteners are a deceptively broad category - 19 notified products, overlapping standards, easy-to-miss exemptions and a demanding factory assessment. We work across the entire order as fastener specialists, not a general firm dabbling, and prepare every document to exact BIS format so your file keeps moving - for manufacturers in India and around the world.