The Non-automatic Weighing Instruments (EEC Requirements) Regulations 1993

• (a) is satisfied that there is reasonable ground to believe that any such instrument, goods or document as is mentioned in paragraph (1) or (2) above is on any premises, or that any offence under Part I or Part II has been, is being or is about to be committed on any premises; and

• (b) is also satisfied either—

• (i) that admission to the premises has been refused, or a refusal is apprehended, and that notice of intention to apply for a warrant has been given to the occupier, or

• (ii) that an application for admission, or the giving of such a notice would defeat the object of the entry, or that the case is one of urgency, or that the premises are unoccupied or the occupier temporarily absent,

the justice may by warrant under his hand, which shall continue in force for the period of one month, authorise an authorised person to enter the premises, if need be by force.

• (4) In the application of paragraph (3) above to Scotland, “justice of the peace” includes a sheriff.

• (5) An authorised person entering any premises by virtue of this regulation may take with him such other persons and such equipment as may appear to him to be necessary; and on leaving any premises which he has entered by virtue of a warrant under paragraph (3) above, being premises which are unoccupied or the occupier of which is temporarily absent, he shall leave them as effectively secured against trespassers as he found them.

• (6) If any authorised person or other person who enters any work-place by virtue of this regulation discloses to any person any information obtained by him in the work-place with regard to any secret manufacturing process or trade secret, he shall, unless the disclosure was made in the performance of his duty, be guilty of an offence.

• (7) Nothing in this regulation shall authorise any authorised person to stop any vehicle on a highway.

• (8) In this regulation, “credentials” means authority in writing from a local weights and measures authority for the exercise by an authorised person of the powers conferred on him by this regulation.

Obstruction of authorised persons etc

39

• (1) Any person who—

• (a) wilfully obstructs an authorised person in the execution of any of his duties or functions under any provision of these Regulations; or

• (b) without reasonable cause fails to give an authorised person acting as aforesaid any assistance or information which the authorised person may reasonably require of him for the purpose of the performance by the authorised person of his functions under the Regulations,

shall be guilty of an offence.

• (2) If any person, in giving an authorised person any such information as is mentioned in paragraph (1)(b) above, gives any information which he knows to be false, he shall be guilty of an offence.

• (3) Nothing in these Regulations shall be construed as requiring a person to answer any question or give any information if to do so might incriminate him.

Offences and penalties

40

• (1) Any person guilty of an offence—

• (a) under regulation 4(3)(a) and (5), 16(3)(a), 17(4), 18(8), 23(1) or (3), 26(5), 38(6) or 39(1) or (2) shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale;

• (b) under regulation 4(3)(b) shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale.

• (2) Where the commission by any person of an offence under the provisions mentioned in paragraph (1) above is due to the act or default of some other person, that other person shall be guilty of the offence, and a person may be charged with and convicted of the offence by virtue of this regulation whether or not proceedings are taken against the first-mentioned person.

Offences by corporations

41

• (1) Where an offence committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or any person purporting to act in any such capacity, he as well as the body corporate shall be deemed guilty of the offence.

• (2) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, paragraph (1) above shall apply in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his functions of management as if he were a director of the body corporate.

Prosecutions

42

Proceedings for any offence under Parts II and IIIshall not, in England and Wales, be instituted save by or on behalf of a local weights and measures authority or the chief officer of police for a police area.

Adaptations for Northern Ireland

43

In their application to Northern Ireland, these Regulations shall have effect subject to Schedule 5.

SCHEDULE 1 — ANNEX III OF COUNCIL DIRECTIVE OF 20TH JUNE 1990 ON THE HARMONISATION OF THE LAWS OF MEMBER STATES RELATING TO NON-AUTOMATIC WEIGHING INSTRUMENTS

The technical documentation must render the design, manufacture and operation of the product intelligible and enable an assessment to be made of its conformity with the requirements of the Directive.

The documentation shall include in so far as relevant for assessment:

• general description of the type,

• conceptual design and manufacturing drawings and plans of components, sub-assemblies, circuits etc,

• descriptions and explanations necessary for the understanding of the above, including the operation of the instrument,

• a list of the standards referred to in article 5, applied in full or in part, and descriptions of the solutions adopted to meet the essential requirements where the standards referred to in article 5 have not been applied,

• results of design calculations made and of examinations, etc,

• test reports,

• the EC type-approval certificates and the results of relevant tests on instruments containing parts identical to those in the design.

SCHEDULE 2 — ANNEX I OF COUNCIL DIRECTIVE OF 20TH JUNE 1990 ON THE HARMONISATION OF THE LAWS OF MEMBER STATES RELATING TO NON-AUTOMATIC WEIGHING INSTRUMENTS

The essential requirements that must be met by the instruments referred to in Article 1(2)(a) are set out below. The terminology used is that of the Organisation Internationale de Métrologie Légale[^f00018].

Preliminary observation

Where an instrument includes or is connected to more than one indicating or printing device used for the applications listed in Article 1(2)(a), those devices which repeat the results of the weighing operation and which cannot influence the correct functioning of the instrument shall not be subject to the essential requirements if the weighing results are printed or recorded correctly and indelibly by a part of the instrument which meets the essential requirements and the results are accessible to both parties concerned by the measurement. However, in the case of instruments used for direct sales to the public, display and printing devices for the vendor and the customer must fulfil the essential requirements.

Metrological requirements

Units of mass

1

The units of mass used shall be the legal units within the meaning of Directive 80/181/EEC[^f00019], as last amended by Directive 85/1/EEC[^f00020].

2

Accuracy classes

• (2.1) The following accuracy class have been defined:

I	special
II	high
III	medium
IIII	ordinary

3

Classification

• (3.1) Instruments with one weighing range Instruments equipped with an auxiliary indicating device shall belong to class I or class II. For these instruments the minimum capacity lower limits for these two classes are obtained from Table 1 by replacement in column 3 of the verification scale interval (e) by the actual scale interval (d).

If d < 10−4g, the maximum capacity of class I may be less than 50 000 e.

• (3.2) Instruments with multiple weighing ranges

Multiple weighing ranges are permitted, provided they are clearly indicated on the instrument. Each individual weighing range is classified according to 3.1. If the weighing ranges fall into different accuracy classes the instrument shall comply with the severest of the requirements that apply for the accurcy classes in which the weighing ranges fall.

• (3.3) Multi-interval instruments

• (3.3.1) Instruments with one weighing range may have several partial weighing ranges (multi-interval instruments).

Multi-interval instruments shall not be equipped with an auxiliary indicating device.

• (3.3.2) Each partial weighing range i of multi-interval instruments is defined by:

• its verification scale interval ei with e(i + l) ≥ ei

• its maximum capacity Maxi with Maxi = Max

• its minimum capacity Mini with Mini= Max (i − l) and Mini= Min

where:

• i = 1, 2, . . . r,

• i = partial weighing range number,

• r = the total number of partial weighing ranges.

• All capacities are capacities of net load, irrespective of the value of any tare used.

• (3.3.3) The partial weighing ranges are classified according to Table 2. All partial weighing ranges shall fall into the same accuracy class, this class being the instrument’s accuracy class.

	Minimum capacity (Min)	Number of verification scale intervals	Number of verification scale intervals
Class	Verification scale interval (e)	Minimum value	Minimum value[^f01000] $n=Maxie(i+1)$	Maximum value $n=Maxiei$
(1) For i = r the corresponding column of Table 1 applies, with e replaced by er.	(1) For i = r the corresponding column of Table 1 applies, with e replaced by er.	(1) For i = r the corresponding column of Table 1 applies, with e replaced by er.	(1) For i = r the corresponding column of Table 1 applies, with e replaced by er.	(1) For i = r the corresponding column of Table 1 applies, with e replaced by er.
I	0,001 g ≤ei	100 ei	50 000	—
II	0,001 g ≤ei ≤0,05 g	20 ei	5 000	100 000
	0,1 g ≤ei	50 ei	5 000	100 000
III	0,1 g ≤ei	20 ei	500	10 000
IIII	5 g ≤ei	10 ei	50	1 000

4

Accuracy

• (4.1) On implementation of the procedures laid down in Article 8, the error of indication shall not exceed the maximum permissible error of indication as shown in Table 3. In case of digital indication the error of indication shall be corrected for the rounding error.

• The maximum permissible errors apply to the net and tare value for all possible loads, excluded preset tare values. Table 3 Maximum permissible errors LoadMaximum permissible errorClass IClass IIClass IIIClass IIII 0 ≤m≤ 50 000 e0 ≤m≤ 5 000 e0 ≤m≤ 500 e0 ≤m≤ 50 e± 0,5 e50 000 e <m≤ 200 000 e5 00 e <m≤ 20 000 e500 e <m≤ 2 000 e50 e <m≤ 200 e± 1,0 e200 00 e <m20 000 e <m≤ 100 000 e2 000 e <m≤ 10 000 e200 e <m≤ 1 00 e± 1,5 e

• (4.2) The maximum permissible errors in service are twice the maximum permissible errors fixed in section 4.1.

5

Weighing results of an instrument shall be repeatable, and shall be reproducible by the other indicating devices used and with other methods of balancing used. The weighing results shall be sufficiently insensitive to changes in the position of the load on the load receptor.

6

The instrument shall react to small variations in the load.

7

Influence quantities and time

• (7.1) Instruments of classes II, III and IIII, liable to be used in a tilted position, shall be sufficiently insensitive to the degree of tilting that can exist in a normal installed condition.

• (7.2) The instruments shall meet the metrological requirements within the temperature range specified by the manufacturer. The value of this range shall be at least equal to:

• 5 °C for an instrument in class I,

• 15 °C for an instrument in class II,

• 30 °C for an instrument in class III or IIII.

• In the absence of a manufacturer’s specification, the temperature range of −10 °C to +40 °C applies.

• (7.3) Instruments operated from a mains power supply shall meet the metrological requirements under conditions of power supply within the limits of normal fluctuation. Instruments operated from battery power shall indicate whenever the voltage drops below the minimum required value and shall under those circumstances either continue to function correctly or be automatically put out of service.

• (7.4) Electronic instruments, except those in class I and in class II if e is less than 1 g, shall meet the metrological requirements under conditions of high relative humidity at the upper limit of their temperature range.

• (7.5) Loading an instrument in class II, IIIor IIII for a prolonged period of time shall have a negligible influence on the indication at load or on the zero indication immediately after removal of the load.

• (7.6) Under other conditions the instruments shall either continue to function correctly or be automatically put out of service.

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

8

General requirements

• (8.1) Design and construction of the instruments shall be such that the instruments will preserve their metrological qualities when properly used and installed, and when used in an environ-ment for which they are intended. The value of the mass must be indicated.

• (8.2) When exposed to disturbances, electronic instruments shall not display the effects of significant faults, or shall automatically detect and indicate them. Upon automatic detection of a significant fault, electronic instruments shall provide a visual or audible alarm that shall continue until the user takes corrective action or the fault disappears.

• (8.3) The requirements of 8.1 and 8.2 shall be met on a lasting basis during a period of time that is normal in view of the intended use of such instruments. Digital electronic devices shall always exercise adequate control of the correct operation of the measuring process, of the indicating facility, and of all data storage and data transfer. Upon automatic detection of a significant durability error, electronic instruments shall provide a visual or audible alarm that shall continue until the user takes corrective action or the error disappears.

• (8.4) When external equipment is connected to an electronic instrument through an appropriate interface the metrological qualities of the instrument shall not be adversely influenced.

• (8.5) The instruments shall have no characteristics likely to facilitate fraudulent use, whereas possibilities for unintentional misuse shall be minimal. Components that may not be dismantled or adjusted by the user shall be secured against such actions.

• (8.6) Instruments shall be designed to permit ready execution of the statutory controls laid down by this Directive.

Indication of weighing results and other weight values

9

The indication of the weighing results and other weight values shall be accurate, unambiguous and non-misleading and the indicating device shall permit easy reading of the indication under normal conditions of use.

Printing of weighing results and other weight values

10

Printed results shall be correct, suitably identified and unambiguous. The printing shall be clear, legible, non-erasable and durable.

Levelling

11

When appropriate, instruments shall be fitted with a levelling device and a level indicator, sufficiently sensitive to allow proper installation.

Zeroing

12

Instruments may be equipped with zeroing devices. The operation of these devices shall result in accurate zeroing and shall not cause incorrect measuring results.

Tare devices and preset tare devices

13

The instruments may have one or more tare devices and a preset tare device. The operation of the tare devices shall result in accurate zeroing and shall ensure correct net weighing. The operation of the preset tare device shall ensure correct determination of the calculated net value.

Instruments for direct sales to the public with a maximum capacity not greater than 100 kg: additional requirements

14

Instruments for direct sale to the public shall show all essential information about the weighing operation and, in the case of price-indicating instruments, shall clearly show the customer the price calculation of the product to be purchased.

Price labelling instruments

15

Price labelling instruments shall meet the requirements of price indicating instruments for direct sale to the public, as far as applicable to the instrument in question. The printing of a price label shall be impossible below a minimum capacity.

SCHEDULE 3 — APPLICATIONS REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 1(2)(A) OF THE DIRECTIVE

1

Determination of mass for commercial transactions.

2

Determination of mass for the calculation of a toll, tariff, tax, bonus, penalty, remuneration, indemnity or similar type of payment.

3

Determination of mass for the application of laws or regulations including expert opinion given in court proceedings.

4

Determination of mass in the practice of medicine for weighing patients for the purpose of monitoring, diagnosis and medical treatment.

5

Determination of mass for making up medicines on prescription in a pharmacy and determination of mass in analyses carried out in medical and pharmaceutical laboratories.

6

Determination of price on the basis of mass for the purposes of direct sales to the public and the making up of pre-packages.

SCHEDULE 4 — SPECIMEN FORM OF EC SYMBOL

SCHEDULE 5 — ADAPTATIONS FOR NORTHERN IRELAND

1

For the purposes of these Regulations, references to a local weights and measures authority are references to the Department of Economic Development.

PART I

2

In regulation 3(2),

• (a) for head (c) there shall be substituted the following head

(c) an instrument— (i) in respect of a pattern of which pattern approval is granted or extended, or deemed to be granted or extended, under article 10 of the 1981 Order and is in force; and (ii) which is first passed as fit for use for trade and stamped before 1st January 2003 under the Weighing Equipment (Non-automatic Weighing Machines) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 1991[^f00022]; or

• (b) in head (d)(ii), for the words “4th April 1989” there shall be substituted the words “1st August 1991”.

3

In regulation 3(3), for the reference to the 1985 Act, there shall be substituted a reference to the 1981 Order.

PART II

4

Regulation 21 shall not have effect and accordingly regulations 16(2)(c) and 20(4)(c) shall also not have effect.

5

In regulation 25(3)(b), the reference to a chief inspector of weights and measures is a reference to a chief inspector of weights and measures appointed under article 40 of the 1981 Order.

PART III

6

Part III does not apply to Northern Ireland.

PART IV

7

In regulation 38—

• (a) in each of paragraphs (1) and (2), for the words “within the area of the local weights and measures authority by which he is appointed” there shall be substituted in both places where they occur the words “within Northern Ireland”; and

• (b) for paragraph (8) there shall be substituted the following paragraph “(8) In this regulation,” credentials “, in relation to an authorised person, means some duly authenticated document showing that he is authorised to act to exercise the powers conferred on him by this regulation.”.

8

For regulation 42 there shall be substituted

(42) No proceedings for an offence under Part I or Part II may be instituted except for the Department of Economic Development or the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland.

Signed

Denton of Wakefield — Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, — 30th June 1992

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations (“the Regulations”) implement Council Directive 90/384/EEC ( “the Directive”) on the harmonisation of the laws of the member States relating to non-automatic weighing instruments ( “instruments”, defined in regulation 2(1)).

After 31st December 2002, they replace the Weights and Measures Act 1985 (except for the purposes of Part III of the Regulations (use for trade)) and the Measuring Instruments (EEC Requirements) Regulations 1988, in so far as they relate to such instruments, but instruments in use immediately before that date may continue to be used under existing provisions in accordance with regulation 3.

In accordance with the Directive, the Regulations distinguish between two categories of use—

• (1) instruments used for an application set out in article 1.2(a) of the Directive repeated in Schedule 3 ( “Schedule 3 applications”) must satisfy the essential requirements set out in Annex I of the Directive (set out in Schedule 2) (regulation 5); and

• (2) instruments which are used for any other application must bear only certain inscriptions (regulation 6). The Regulations—

• (a) prohibit the use of instruments for Schedule 3 applications and the supply of instruments for other applications unless the relevant requirements have been met (regulation 4);

• (b) provide for conformity to relevant national standards corresponding to harmonised standards adopted by one or both of the European Committee for Standardisation and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardis-ation to be taken as a means of satisfying the essential requirements (regulation 7);

• (c) specify the weights to be used for testing instruments for the purposes of EC verification, EC unit verification, EC declaration of type conformity and testing in service (regulation 8);

• (d) provide for designation by the Secretary of State of bodies to carry out:

• (i) the examination, evaluation and surveillance of quality systems operated by manufacturers of instruments, and

• (ii) EC verification (individual local weights and measures authorities), ( “approved bodies”) and designate all weights and measures authorities to carry out inspection and testing of instruments (regulation 9);

• (e) provide for the Secretary of State to consider applications for type-examination, to issue EC type-approval certificates and additions to such certificates approving modifications or additions to approved types (regulation 10 and Schedule 1);

• (f) provide for only one application for ECtype-examination to be made in respect of any one instrument (regulation 10(10));

• (g) provide for EC verification, the procedure whereby an approved body examines and tests instruments to verify that they have been manufactured in conformity with the approved type (where appropriate) and satisfy the relevant provisions of the Directive and, if they do so, affixes the EC mark of conformity and the sticker which indicates validity for use for a Schedule 3 application (regulations 11 and 18 and Schedule 4);

• (h) provide for EC unit verification, the procedure whereby the Secretary of State examines and tests a single instrument to verify that it satisfies the relevant provisions of the Directive, including the essential requirements and, if it does so, affixes the EC mark of conformity and the sticker (regulations 12 and 18 and Schedule 4);

• (i) provide for approved bodies to approve manufacturers' quality systems, thus authorising them to make EC declarations of type conformity in respect of instruments manufactured by them and to affix the EC mark of conformity and the sticker (regulations 13 and 18 and Schedule 4);

• (j) specify the examinations and tests and regulate the places where the tests may be carried out, for the purposes of EC verification, EC unit verification and EC declaration of type conformity (regulation 14);

• (k) provide for the periodic surveillance by an approved body of the manufacturer’s maintenance and application of the approved quality system and for withdrawal of the approval of the quality system if its requirements are not met (regulations 15 and 17);

• (l) provide for the suspension of EC declarations of type conformity in certain circumstances and for a review procedure (regulations 16 and 21);

• (m) forbid the affixing of the EC mark of conformity to an instrument if this would indicate compliance with other binding Community provisions with which the instrument does not comply (regulation 19);

• (n) provide for the issue of notices to a manufacturer in cases where the EC mark of conformity has been wrongly affixed, for a review procedure and for withdrawal of the EC type-approval certificate (regulations 20 and 21);

• (o) give information about the availability of judicial review of decisions of the Secretary of State and of approved bodies (regulation 22);

• (p) provide for penalties and forfeiture in connection with the unauthorised affixing of the EC mark of conformity, inscriptions and sticker (regulation 23);

• (q) provide for the affixing of disqualification stickers on instruments and for powers of inspection, testing and entry (regulations 24, 25 and 27);

• (r) provide for the withdrawal from the market, and from use, of instruments which are not satisfactory (regulation 26);

• (s) make provision in relation to instruments which are used for trade (regulations 28 to 38);

• (t) provide penalties for obstruction of, or failure to assist, authorised persons and for prosecution of offences (regulations 39 and 40 to 42).

The Regulations (except regulations 28 to 38) apply with modifications to Northern Ireland (regulation 43 and Schedule 5).

Copies of Nonautomatic Weighing Instruments, Part 1: Metrological and Technical Requirements—Tests (see regulation 2(4)) may be obtained from the International Organisation for Legal Metrology, 11 rue Turgot, Paris, 75009, France. Copies of the European Standard on the Metrological Aspects of Non-automatic Weighing Instruments (see regulations 8 and 15) may be obtained from the National Weights and Measures Laboratory, Stanton Avenue, Teddington, Middlesex, TW11 0JZ.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: S.I. 1975/427.

[^f00002]: 1972 c. 68.

[^f00003]: 1985 c. 72: section 94(1) contains a definition of “prescribed”.

[^f00004]: S.I. 1981/231 (N.I.10) and see S.I. 1982/846 (N.I.11).

[^f00005]: OJ No. L189, 20.7.90, p.1 as corrected by the corrigendum published in OJ No. L258, 22.9.90, p.35.

[^f00006]: OJ No. L109, 26.4.83, p.8.

[^f00007]: 1974 c. 39.

[^f00008]: See “Nonautomatic weighing instruments Part 1: Metrological and technical requirements-Tests”, published by the International Organisation for Legal Metrology, OIML R 76-1, Edition 1992 (E).

[^f00009]: S.I. 1988/186 amended by S.I. 1988/1128.

[^f00010]: S.I. 1988/876 amended by S.I. 1988/2120 and 1991/2019.

[^f00011]: S.I. 1988/186 amended by S.I. 1988/1128.

[^f00012]: S.I. 1986/1685 as amended by S.I. 1991/1775.

[^f00013]: OJ No. L84, 28.3.1974, p.3.

[^f00014]: The United Kingdom has not established gravity zones within its territory.

[^f00015]: 1978 c. 23.

[^f00016]: OJ No. L84, 28.3.1974, p.3.

[^f00017]: S.I. 1988/186.

[^f00018]: See “Nonautomatic Weighing Instruments Part 1: Metrological and Technical Requirements-Tests” OIML R 76-1 Edition 1992 (E) published by the International Organisation for Legal Metrology.

[^f00019]: OJ No. L39, 15.2.1980, p.40.

[^f00020]: OJ No. L2, 3.1.1985, p.11.

[^f00021]: OJ No. L39, 15.2.1980, p.40.

[^f00022]: S.R. 1991/266.