ISP GmbH – Institut für Sportstättenprüfung: more than 25 years focusing on the safety of sports facilities!
On 1 March 1999, certified expert and graduate engineer Dr Uwe Schattke founded the Bad Laer-based Institut für Sportstättenprüfung, i.e. the Institute for Sports Facility Testing. At that time, the institute was exclusively dedicated to testing and assessing sports hall floorings. In 2005, the company reached its first milestone by becoming a member of the International Association for Sports Surface Science (ISSS). Two years later, ISP’s current director Dennis Frank joined the company.
Then the service portfolio was expanded to include synthetic turf and synthetic systems for indoor and outdoor use, as well as safety surfacing for playgrounds and exercise areas. Since then, ISP's reputation has steadily grown.
In 2007, the institute was accredited according to the standards DIN EN ISO/IEC 17025 about general requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories, followed by the accreditation through World Athletics in 2008. At the end of 2014, after the institute had been awarded the RAL quality marks for plastic surfaces (RAL-GZ 943) and for synthetic turf systems (RAL-GZ 944) in outdoor sports facilities, today's ISP GmbH was founded.
In the following years, the company has additionally been involved in standardisation work, including in the committees for standards DIN 18035-6 (synthetic surfaces in outdoor sports facilities), DIN 18035-7 (synthetic turf systems), DIN 18032-2 (sports hall floors) and DIN 18032-3 (safety against ball throwing), as well as at European level through participation in the standardisation process of CEN/TC 217/WG 2 (sports hall floors), CEN/TC 217/WG 6 (outdoor sports surfaces) and CEN/TC 217/WG 11 (test methods).
IIn 2020, ISP GmbH moved to a new building in Münster, which is now the company's headquarters. Since then, the laboratory has been recognised, among others, by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the World Curling Association. Today, ISP GmbH operates as a testing laboratory and conformity assessment body, conducting comprehensive tests on all types of floor coverings, sports facility equipment and sports facilities.
The facilities are carefully inspected in accordance with the relevant standards, existing damage is assessed, the need for renovation is determined, and even test methods and device developments are created and tested to reflect the current state of the art.
The portfolio of ISP GmbH has also been expanded to include services such as testing existing floors, monitoring recycling processes, examining equestrian facilities, construction supervision during the installation of sports surfaces and conducting its own research projects for testing sports surfaces. ISP’s customers are mainly industrial companies, sports and leisure facility operators and users, as well as public administrations, institutions, authorities and associations.
Our Mission StatementSafety and Quality in Focus
What began as a one-man show in 1999 is now a company with ten employees. Our main goal at ISP GmbH is to ensure that sports facilities and playgrounds are safe. We also attach great importance to saving resources, something we guarantee by setting high standards.
The needs and desires of our customers are at the heart of our daily work, and we do our utmost to meet their requirements. In accordance with our own corporate mission, individual advice and support, a competent, reliable and careful approach, as well as continuously developed measurement technology that meets the latest standards, form the basis for our way of working. ISP GmbH aims to offer high-quality, tailor-made services for any requirement. That is why, more than 25 years after the company was founded, our focus is still primarily on our customers.
You, too, can benefit from our expertise and extensive experience. Contact us with any questions you may have about synthetic turf pitches, sports flooring, safety surfacing for playgrounds and sports hall equipment (flooring, walls, installation elements).
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