Building trust, The history of DNV 1864-2014

Modern society relies on trust. The safe use of advanced technologies is essential for everyday life, and globalised markets depend on reliable information about products and processes provided by a third party who bridges the distance separating suppliers from recipients. For 150 years, Det Norske Veritas (DNV) has been applying technical and scientific expertise to define standards and provide the impartial information essential for the invisible infrastructure of trust.

From its foundation in 1864 as a society to inspect and classify Norwegian merchant ships, DNV has grown into one of the world’s largest organisations for inspection, certification and verification services. This book recounts its history from the earliest years to the present day, with particular emphasis on the past four decades.

It analyses how DNV’s maritime activities were internationalised as part of the globalisation of world trade, and how diversification accelerated rapidly after Norway’s offshore industry took off in the early 1970s. A detailed account is given of the way DNV developed its services in a complex interaction with markets, governments and international organisations regulating technological risk. It concludes with an account of the merger of DNV and Germanischer Lloyd in 2013 to create the present DNV GL group, which has about 16 000 employees and is active in more than 100 countries worldwide.