The previous waves of this survey were conducted by the Industrial studies and statistics Service (Sessi) of the Ministry for Industry, which in January 2009 became the Centre for industrial statistics at INSEE. Since CIS2010, the survey is managed by Insee.

Multiannual

The survey is biennial and covers three years (2008, 2009 and 2010 for CIS2010).
It takes place between June and December.
It is carried out via the Internet, with the possibility of replying by paper on request. Companies receive a letter with the survey cover letter containing the internet link and the username and password to complete the survey online.

Legal unit

The sample is directly linked with the Sirene register.

The national sample contains 21,318 units, the regional extension part contains 8,052. The 8 regions that have been extended are: Bretagne , Languedoc-Roussillon, Poitou-Charentes, Rhône-Alpes, Île-de-France , Haute-Normandie, Franche-Comté, Réunion, Guadeloupe and Martinique.

The sampling plan is stratified by business sector and size class for the other units.