EuropeActive has announced it will trial a new consumer health club certification scheme, to be known as FITcert.eu.

The certification has been developed within the European Standards Organisation CEN framework and prescribes standards for clubs covering operations, management, customer service, supervision and fitness trainer qualifications.

Officially known as EN17229, the new standards are now being transformed into a scheme of certification that will be overseen by the Netherlands' National Standards Organisation (NEN) and independent certification bodies.

The first two of the certification's five stages will be operated by EuropeActive, after which qualifying clubs can proceed into the conformity assessment and certification stages.

The trial will see 500 clubs go through a test phase to ensure the approach and systems are relevant and helpful in supporting operators to go through the scheme.

More than 300 clubs have already registered for the trial phase and will be assessed against the criteria of the standards to show that they conform to good practice for their operations and management.

Convenor of the CEN Working Group – and EuropeActive director of programmes – Cliff Collins said: "The new FITcert.eu scheme, one of the most important decisions ever taken by the European fitness sector, will help the industry to better define itself and to build confidence with our millions of users, governments, and health professionals.

"The standards are based on best practice and we intend to make sure that clubs who meet our assessment criteria can promote themselves through a charter mark of excellence, including on a directory of clubs".

Clubs interested in taking part in the trial phase can register their interest at ​​www.fitcert.eu.