Working standards

Working standards

These are standards that are to be verified on an annual basis or sooner, if required by Trading Standards or if the integrity of the standard has been jeopardised in any way. Standards are to be submitted for verification, as per the instructions outlined in the Verification by Trading Standards or the Verification not by Trading Standards sections below.

Once verified, they are to be listed in the Quality Management System (QMS) of the accredited organisation.

A standard that is not verified is not considered a working standard and therefore no verification or inspection work should be completed using it.

Verification by Trading Standards

Prior to any work being undertaken by a Trading Standards laboratory, the Accredited Person is required to submit a completed standards verification request form and have a booking confirmation from Trading Standards.

Please complete the standards verification request form before contacting us:

Standards verification request form [PDF, 1.9 MB]

The Accredited Person shall use the request form to provide a purchase order number, without which a standard will not be tested. Confirmation is also required to confirm that laboratory staff can adjust the standard, if it is found to be outside the legal tolerance.

When a standard is submitted for verification, it must be marked with their nominal value, an identification number/code, be clean, free from defect and, in the case of volumetric measures, free from fuel and contaminants.

If the standard does not meet Trading Standards requirements, the laboratory will decline to verify the standard, inform the organisation why the standard has been declined and may charge the organisation for the time involved.

For further information on requirements for working standard volume measures, see Technical Policy TS-027.

Technical Policy TS–027 Design and construction requirements for working standard measures of volume

When the submission procedure is not followed or a standard is found not to meet our requirements, this may be deemed a breach of accreditation and action taken by Trading Standards, see non-compliances.

Non-compliances

All working standards must be listed in the Quality Management Systems of an accredited organisation. If any working standards are added, removed, altered and/or replaced, the Quality Management Systems must be updated to reflect the change(s) made and submitted to Trading Standards for approval as soon as practicable.

Fees

Trading Standards will charge for accreditation related activities. The fee charged by Trading Standards is based on an hourly rate ($111.11/hour excluding GST).  The hourly rate will include; time taken to conduct the verification, preparation time, plus any reimbursable expenses.

Accreditation costs has more information.

Verification not by Trading Standards

A standard may also be verified by another equivalent authority:

• Measurement Standards Laboratory of New Zealand (MSL), or
• By direct reference to a national standard of measurement in an approved overseas country.

Measurement Standards Laboratory of New Zealand(external link)

Accredited Persons are advised to contact their Client Manager at Trading Standards, prior to having a standard verified by another equivalent authority, to confirm that the standard and verifier meet our requirements.

Change of ownership of working standards from one accredited organisation to another

The verification report for working standards specifies the accredited organisation who owns the standard. If there is a change of ownership of those working standards, the verification report becomes invalid.

Working standards are only accepted as such when under the care and custody of the Accredited Person, as identified in the verification report, and when listed as a resource within the Quality Management System of that accredited organisation.

Any new owner of the standard would have to resubmit the standard for verification, as outlined above.

Sharing resources

There are two scenarios where an Accredited Person may use a working standard where they are not the owner of the standard. The scenarios are described below and the conditions listed for each must be followed to ensure compliance with Trading Standards requirements:

Scenario 1: The owner of the standard is another Accredited Person

• The verification report is issued to the owner of the standard.
• Both accredited organisations must state the arrangement / agreement in their respective Quality Management Systems, i.e. details of the standard, storage location(s), transport, custody of care and responsibilities for the standard etc.
• The verification report number must be stated on the test sheet used by the accredited individual. For further information on test sheet requirements, see Technical Policy TS-002.
• Responsibility for the accuracy of a standard lies with the Accredited Person who uses it for verification or inspection purposes.

Scenario 2: The owner of the standard is not an Accredited Person

• The verification report is issued to a ‘nominated’ accredited organisation.
• The ‘nominated’ accredited organisation is allowed to use the standard for verification or inspection purposes.
• The accredited organisation must state the arrangement / agreement in their Quality Management System, i.e. name of owner of the standard, details / description of the standard (i.e. type of weight or measure, make, model, nominal quantity, serial / identification number etc), storage location(s), transport, custody of care and responsibilities, current verification report number etc.
• The verification report number must be stated on the test sheet used by the accredited individual. For further information on test sheet requirements, see Technical Policy TS-002.

Technical Policy TS–002 Information required on an Accredited Persons test sheet