TS–016 Use of Trading Standards masses

Reference documents

• Weights and Measures Act 1987(external link)

Policy

Trading Standards (TS) 1 tonne Working Standards of mass will only be released under the following circumstances:

• A Notice of Non Compliance (NONC) has been issued by an Accredited Person (AP) in relation to a weighbridge, hopper or other high capacity weighing instrument, and the necessary resources for verification are not readily available, and
• The Non Compliance must have been issued to the trader and a copy sent to Trading Standards.

Or

• An instrument has been rejected by a Trading Standards officer (TSO) and the Accredited Person conducting the subsequent repair and verification test cannot readily access their normal resources.

The below conditions are to be followed when Trading Standards Working Standards are to be released to and in the custody of an Accredited Person:

• A completed agreement document, as below, must be submitted to Trading Standards within a reasonable timeframe prior to the date of pick-up.
• Masses must be returned in the same condition they were in upon release, i.e. clean and free from dirt and dust. Any masses returned in a dirty condition will be cleaned and tested by a Trading Standards officer and the time taken will be charged to the Accredited Person at the current hourly rate for a Trading Standards officer’s time.
• Where there is any damage or loss of any masses whilst under the custody of an Accredited Person, then the Accredited Person is liable for the costs associated with any repair, replacement and subsequent verification incurred by Trading Standards.
• The Trading Standards Working Standards of mass will be made available on a “first come, first served” basis.
• The masses will only be released for the sole purpose of verifying an instrument at agreed location(s) only.
• There will be a charge associated with the loading and unloading of the masses at the location of the Trading Standards office where the masses are based. The charge will be in accordance with the current hourly rate for a Trading Standards officer’s time.
• There will be no charge for the use of the masses.
• Trading Standards reserves the right to refuse an Accredited Person the use of the masses and any such action shall be assessed on a case by case basis and be the decision of either the Legal Metrology Advisor or Trading Standards Management.

Agreement document - Requesting the use of Trading Standards masses [PDF, 175 KB]