Weights and Measures Act 1985

1 Units of measurement. U.K.

(1) [F1 Subject to subsection (6) below,]the yard or the metre shall be the unit of measurement of length and the pound or the kilogram shall be the unit of measurement of mass by reference to which any measurement involving a measurement of length or mass shall be made in the United Kingdom; and—

(a) the yard shall be 0.9144 metre exactly;

(b) the pound shall be 0·453 592 37 kilogram exactly.

(2) Schedule 1 to this Act shall have effect for defining for the purposes of measurements falling to be made in the United Kingdom the units of measurment set out in that Schedule; and for the purposes of any measurement of weight falling to be so made, the weight of any thing may be expressed, by reference to the units of measurement set out in Part V of that Schedule, in the same terms as its mass.

(3) Subject to subsection (4) below, the Secretary of State may by order amend Schedule 1 to this Act by adding to or removing from Parts I to VI of that Schedule any unit of measurement of length, of area, of volume, of capacity, or of mass or weight, as the case may be.

[F2 (4) Without prejudice to section 8(6)(b) below an order under subsection (3) above shall not remove the pint from Part IV of Schedule 1.]

(5) An order under subsection (3) above may contain such transitional or other supplemental or incidental provisions as appear to the Secretary of State expedient.

[F3 (6) Subsection (1) above shall not have effect so as to authorise the use in the specified circumstances of—

(a) the yard as a measurement of length, or

(b) the pound as a measurement of mass,

otherwise than in accordance with Regulation 7 of the Units of Measurement Regulations 1986 (supplementary indications) F4 . . ..

(7) In subsection (6) above “the specified circumstances”has the same meaning as in the Units of Measurement Regulations 1986, that is to say the circumstances specified in Article 2(a) of Council Directive No. 80/181/EEC as limited by the provisions of Article 2(b) of that Directive.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in s. 1(1) inserted (1.10.1995) by S.I. 1994/2867, reg. 6(2)(a)

F2 S. 1(4) substituted (1.10.1995) by S.I. 1994/2867, reg. 6(2)(b)

F3 S. 1(6)(7) added (1.10.1995) by S.I. 1994/2867, reg. 6(2)(c)

F4 Words in s. 1(6) omitted (1.1.2000) by virtue of S.I. 1994/2867, reg. 7(2)