S.I. No. 255/1992 - European Communities (Units of Measurement) Regulations, 1992

I, DESMOND O'MALLEY, Minister for Industry and Commerce, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), and for the purpose of giving effect to Council Directive No. 89/617/EEC of 27 November 1989^1 hereby make the following Regulations:

1.

• (2) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 9th day of September, 1992.

2.

3.

• (2) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in the Council Directive has, unless the contrary intention appears, the meaning in these Regulations that it has in the Council Directive.

4.

• (2) Subject to Regulations 7, 8 (2) and 9—

^1O.J. No. L357, 7.12.89, p.28.

^2O.J. No. L39, 15.2.80, p.40.

^3O.J. No. L2, 3.1.85, p.11.

( a ) the unit of measurement, therm for gas supply, specified in Chapter IV of the Annex to the Council Directive may be used until the 31st day of December, 1992, and shall not be used thereafter,

( b ) the other units of measurement specified in Chapters III and IV of the Annex to the Council Directive and set out in Schedule 2 to these Regulations may be used until the 31st day of December, 1993, and shall not be used thereafter,

( c ) for the specific fields of application specified in Chapters II and IV of the Annex to the Council Directive and set out in Schedule 3 to these Regulations, the units of measurement listed therein may be used until the 31st day of December 1998, and shall not be used thereafter, and

( d ) for the specific fields of application specified in Chapter II of the Annex to the Council Directive and set out in Schedule 4 to these Regulations, the units of measurement listed therein may be used until such date as may be specified in regulations under the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972).

5.

6.

7.

( b ) The indication expressed in an authorised unit shall predominate and a supplementary indication shall be expressed in characters no larger than those of the corresponding indication in an authorised unit.

( c ) In case of conflict between an indication of quantity expressed in an authorised unit and a supplementary indication, the latter shall be disregarded.

• (2) Subject to paragraph (3), a unit of measurement which ceases to be authorised may continue to be used for—

( a ) products and equipment already on the market or in service on the commencement of these Regulations,

( b ) components and parts of products and of equipment necessary to supplement or replace components or parts of the said products and equipment.

• (3) A person shall not on or after the 1st day of January, 1993, offer or supply for sale, rental or lease any weighing instruments, for retail use, other than instruments indicating only in metric units.

8.

• (2) These Regulations shall not affect the use in the field of air and sea transport and rail traffic of units, other than those authorised by these Regulations, which have been laid down in international conventions or agreement binding the Community or the Member States.

9.

• (2) Except in the case of a retail transaction or a transaction relating to packaged goods where an unauthorised unit of measurement is used without its metric equivalent, it shall not be an offence or unlawful to use in any transaction, by agreement between the parties thereto, any unit of measurement which was hitherto customarily used in trade in like transactions.

10.

• (2) ( a ) A reference in any such enactment to a unit of measurement which by virtue of these Regulations ceases to be authorised shall be construed as a reference to the appropriate unit authorised by these Regulations.

( b ) A reference in any such enactment to a measurement in a unit of measurement which by virtue of these Regulations ceases to be authorised shall be construed as a reference to the equivalent measurement in a unit authorised by these Regulations.

SCHEDULE 1

LEGAL UNITS OF MEASUREMENT REFERRED TO IN REGULATION 4 (1)

1.1 SI base units

Definitions of SI base units:

Unit of length

The metre is the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1/299 792 458 of a second.

(Seventeenth CGPM (1983), Resolution 1).

Unit of mass

The kilogram is the unit of mass; it is equal to the mass of the international prototype of the kilogram.

(Third CGPM (1901), page 70 of the conference report).

Unit of time

The second is the duration of 9 192 631 770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium 133 atom.

(Thirteenth CGPM (1967), resolution 1).

Unit of electric current

The ampere is that constant current which if maintained in two straight parallel conductors of infinite length, of negligible circular cross-section and placed one metre apart in a vacuum, would produce between the conductors a force equal to 2 x 10^-7 newton per metre of length.

(CIPM (1946), resolution 2, approved by the ninth CGPM (1948)).

Unit of thermodynamic temperature

The kelvin, unit of thermodynamic temperature, is the fraction 1/273 16 of the thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of water.

(Thirteenth CGPM (1967), resolution 4).

Unit of amount of substance

The mole is the amount of substance of a system which contains as many elementary entities as there are atoms in 0.012 kg of carbon 12.

When the mole is used the elementary entities must be specified and may be atoms, molecules, ions, electrons, other particles or specified groups of such particles.

(Fourteenth CGPM (1971), resolution 3).

Unit of luminous intensity

The candela is the luminous intensity, in a given direction, of a source which emits monochromatic rays with a frequency of 540 x 10^12 hertz and whose energy intensity in that direction is 1/683 watt per steradian.

(Sixteenth CGPM (1979), resolution 3).

1.1.1. Special name and symbol of the SI unit of temperature for expressing Celsius temperature

Celsius temperature t is defined as the difference t = T—T0 between the two thermodynamic temperatures T and T0 where T0 = 273.15 kelvins. An interval of or difference in temperature may be expressed either in kelvins or in degrees Celsius. The unit of 'degree Celsius' is equal to the unit 'kelvin'.

1.2 Other SI units

1.2.1. Supplementary SI units

(Eleventh CGPM, 1960, resolution 12).

Definitions of supplementary SI units:

Plane angle unit

The radian is the plane angle between two radii which, on the circumference of a circle, cut an arc equal in length to the radius. (International standard ISO 31-1, December 1965).

Solid angle unit

The steradian is the solid angle which has its apex at the centre of a sphere and which describes on the surface of the sphere an area equal to that of a square having as its side the radius of the sphere.

(International Standard ISO 31-1, December 1965)

1.2.2. Derived SI units

Units derived coherently from SI base units and supplementary SI units are given as algebraic expressions in the form of products of powers of the SI base units and/or supplementary SI units with a numerical factor equal to 1.

1.2.3. Derived SI units having names and symbols

Units derived from SI base units or supplementary units may be expressed in terms of the units listed in Chapter I.

In particular, derived SI units may be expressed by the special names and symbols given in the above table: for example, the SI unit of dynamic viscosity may be expressed as m^-1 .kg · s^-1 or N · s.m^-2 · or Pa · s.

1.3. Prefixes and their symbols used to designate certain decimal multiples and submultiples

The names and symbols of the decimal multiples and submultiples of the unit of mass are formed by attaching prefixes to the word 'gram' and their symbols to the symbol 'g'.

Where a derived unit is expressed as a fraction, its decimal multiples and submultiples may be designated by attaching a prefix to units in the numerator or the denominator, or in both these parts.

Compound prefixes, that is to say prefixes formed by the juxtaposition of several of the above prefixes, may not be used.

1.4. Special authorised names and symbols of decimal multiples and submultiples of SI units

Note: The prefixes and their symbols listed in 1.3 may be used in conjunction with the units and symbols contained in Table 1.4.

Note: The prefixes listed in 1.3 may only be used in conjunction with the names 'grade' or 'gon' and the symbol 'gon'.

The unified atomic mass unit is one-twelfth of the mass of an atom of the nuclide ^12C.

The electronvolt is the kinetic energy acquired by an electron passing in a vacuum from one point to another whose potential is one volt higher.

The value of these units, expressed in SI units, is not known exactly.

The above values are taken from CODATA Bulletin No. 11 of December 1973 of the International Council of Scientific Unions.

Note: The prefixes and their symbols listed in 1.3 may be used in conjunction with these two units and with their symbols.

Note: The prefixes and their symbols listed in 1.3 may be used in conjunction with the above units and symbols, with the exception of the millimetre of mercury and its symbol. The multiple of 10 a is, however, called a 'hectare'.

Combinations of the units named in Schedule 1 form compound units.

SCHEDULE 2

LEGAL UNITS OF MEASUREMENT REFERRED TO IN REGULATIONS 4 (2) (b)

UNITS IN GENERAL USE

UNITS IN SPECIALISED FIELDS OF APPLICATION

Until the date specified in Regulation 4 (2) (b) of these Regulations, the units listed above may be combined with each other or with those in Schedule 1 to these Regulation to form compound units.

SCHEDULE 3

LEGAL UNITS OF MEASUREMENT REFERRED TO IN REGULATION 4 (2) (c)

Until the date specified in Regulation 4 (2) (c) of these Regulations, the units listed in this Schedule may be combined with each other or with those in Schedule 1 to these Regulations to form compound units.

SCHEDULE 4

LEGAL UNITS OF MEASUREMENT REFERRED TO IN REGULATION 4 (2) (d)

Until the date referred to in Regulation 4 (2) (d), the units listed in this Schedule may be combined with each other or with those in Schedule 1 to these Regulations to form compound units.

SCHEDULE 5

NATIONAL METRIC STANDARDS

Part 1 Description of national standard of the metre

The Irish copy of the international metre being a bar about 1030 millimetres long, of simple H section, 24 millimetres wide by 24 millimetres high, made of 58% mickel steel having the upper face of web in neutral plane and a polished scale engraved thereon, bearing the inscription

An Méadar Náisiúnta, Éire 1969

The metre bar has also the following markings on the face:

( a ) NI 58% No. 15481 20°C

( b ) SIP Geneve Made in Switzerland

( c ) X NI 58% at its left extremity

( d ) 5036 at its right extremity

Part 2 Description of national standard of the kilogram

The Irish copy of the international prototype of the kilogram being a mass of stainless steel "Immaculate V" (25% chrome, 20% nickel) in the form of a cylinder of revolution, of diameter approximately equal to its height, and has rounded edges.

It is constructed of a single polished piece, without an interior cavity or attached pieces; on the upper face is placed the following identification mark:

É

1 Kg

69

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 9th day of September, 1992.

DESMOND O'MALLEY

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations are made to give effect to Council Directive 89/617/EEC amending Council Directive 80/181/EEC as amended by Council Directive 85/1/EEC on the approximation of the laws of Member States relating to units of measurement. The Regulations provide for the phased withdrawal of practically all remaining imperial units of measurement.