ETIM: definition
ETIM is the international technical classification for products used in trade and distribution. Each class describes a product type through standardised features, values and units. ETIM contains no products: it is the shared vocabulary that lets manufacturers and distributors describe their references unambiguously.
How ETIM is structured
- Classes: each product type, attached to a group;
- features for each class: for example, the heating capacity of a radiator;
- standardised values (“cast iron”, “steel”…) and units;
- successive releases of the reference model, which need to be tracked.
The current official release is ETIM 10.0, published in December 2024. ETIM International also publishes dynamic versions between two major releases. Identifiers remain language-independent; labels and synonyms are localised.
What ETIM is used for
It gives everyone a shared language. When a manufacturer publishes its products with ETIM codes — often through a FAB-DIS file — any distributor can interpret the specifications unambiguously: the same class, the same feature and the same unit. For a product catalogue, ETIM bridges official manufacturer data and the internal nomenclature.
The key formula is: ETIM provides the vocabulary; FAB-DIS fills in the rows.
Official sources
- ETIM International — model structure;
- ETIM International — release 10.0 and publication policy;
- ETIM International — purpose of the classification.
Sources accessed on 15 July 2026.