The Weights and Measures (Metrication Amendments) Regulations 1994

Statutory Instruments

1994 No. 1851

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

The Weights and Measures (Metrication Amendments) Regulations 1994

Made

13th July 1994

Laid before Parliament

19th July 1994

Coming into force in accordance with regulation 1

The Secretary of State, in exercise of powers conferred by sections 4(5) and (6), 5(9), 11(1) and (4), 15(1) and 94(1) of the Weights and Measures Act 1985(1) and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf hereby makes the following Regulations:—

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Weights and Measures (Metrication Amendments) Regulations 1994 and shall come into force immediately after the coming into force of the Units of Measurement Regulations 1994(2).

2.—(1) On the coming into force of these Regulations, the Regulations specified in Part I of the Schedule to these Regulations shall be amended in the manner specified in that Part.

(2) On 1st October 1995, the Regulations specified in Part II of the Schedule to these Regulations, as amended by paragraph (1) above, shall be amended in the manner specified in that Part.

(3) On 1st January 2000, the Regulations specified in Part III of the Schedule to these Regulations, as amended by paragraphs (1) and (2) above, shall be amended in the manner specified in that Part.

Strathclyde

Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Small Firms,

Department of Trade and Industry

13th July 1994

Regulation 2

SCHEDULE AMENDMENT OF REGULATIONS MADE UNDER THE WEIGHTS AND MEASURES ACTS 1963 AND 1985

PART I AMENDMENTS TO BE MADE ON THE COMING INTO FORCE OF THESE REGULATIONS

Regulations	Amendments
The Weighing Equipment (Beltweighers) Regulations 1983(3)	In regulation 12 in paragraph (1) for “section 1(4) of the Weights and Measures &c. Act 1976” and in paragraph (2) for “Regulation 10(2) and (4) of the Units of Measurement Regulations 1980” substitute “section 92 of the Weights and Measures Act 1985” and “paragraph 14(1) and (3) of Schedule 11 to the Weights and Measures Act 1985”, respectively. After regulation 12 insert— “12A.   Where any of the following indicate quantity by means of a metric unit of measurement— (a) any marking required by regulation 11(1)(b) or (c); (b) any totalisation indicating device; they may also indicate quantity by means of a supplementary indication.”.
The Measuring Equipment (Liquid Fuel Delivered from Road Tankers) Regulations 1983(4)	After regulation 11 insert— “11A.   Any sales indicator reading on a contents gauging system reading in litres may also indicate quantity by means of a supplementary indication.”.”. After regulation 16 insert— “16A.   Any sales indicator reading on a meter measuring system reading in litres may also indicate quantity by means of a supplementary indication.”.
The Measuring Equipment (Intoxicating Liquor) Regulations 1983(5)	After regulation 7 insert— “7A.   Where its nominal quantity is indicated on measuring equipment in metric units of measurement it may be indicated also by means of a supplementary indication.”.
The Weighing Equipment (Filling and Discontinuous Totalising Automatic Weighing Machines) Regulations 1986(6)	After regulation 12 insert— “12A.   Where either the indication of the exact quantity of material a filling machine purports to weigh or the visual indication of the weight of individual quantities of materials weighed by a discontinuous totaliser is given in metric units of measurement that indication may also be given by means of a supplementary indication.”.
The Measuring Equipment (Measures of Length) Regulations 1986(7)	After regulation 17 insert— “17A.   Any measure of length marked in accordance with regulation 17 of these Regulations may, if only one graduated side is marked in metric units of measurement, have its other side marked with supplementary indications provided that the zero indications of the scale marked in metric units of measurement and of the scale marked in supplementary indications both lie in the same plane perpendicular to its length.”.
The Capacity Serving Measures (Intoxicating Liquor) Regulations 1988(8)	In regulation 10 after paragraph (5) add— “(6) Every capacity serving measure marked in accordance with this regulation with its nominal capacity in a metric unit of measurement may also be marked with a supplementary indication of its nominal capacity.”.
The Measuring Equipment (Liquid Fuel and Lubricants) Regulations 1988(9)	After regulation 7 insert— “7A.   Any indication on measuring equipment referring in metric units of measurement to the quantity of liquid fuel delivered may be accompanied by a supplementary indication.”.
The Weighing Equipment (Non-automatic Weighing Machines) Regulations 1988(10)	In regulation 16 in paragraph (1) in sub-paragraph (a) delete the words “or symbol”. After regulation 16 insert— “16A.   Where a weight indicating device of a non-automatic weighing machine indicates the weight of a load in metric units of measurement that indication may also be given by means of a supplementary indication.”.

PART II AMENDMENTS TO BE MADE ON 1ST OCTOBER 1995

Regulations	Amendments
The Measuring Equipment (Liquid Fuel Delivered from Road Tankers) Regulations 1983	In regulation 3 in paragraph (1) omit “20 gallons if the equipment is constructed to measure in imperial units, or” and “if it is constructed to measure in metric units”. In regulations 11 and 16 omit “or gallons”. In regulation 24 in paragraph (1) omit “either” and “or the gallon”.
The Measuring Equipment (Intoxicating Liquor) Regulations 1983	In regulation 2 for “one quart” substitute “2 pints”. In regulation 7 in paragraph (a) for the Table substitute— “FORM OF INDICATION OF NOMINAL QUANTITY Nominal Quantity Abbreviated or permitted alternative One third pint ... ... ... ... ⅓ pt Half pint ... ... ... ... ½ pt Pint ... ... ... ... pt Two pints ... ... ... ... 2 pt Quarter litre ... ... ... ... ¼ litre (or 25 cl or 250 ml)”. In regulation 14 in paragraph (1) in the Table for “⅙ gill”, for “½ gill” in both places where it occurs and for “1 quart” substitute “20 millilitres”, “75 millilitres” and “2 pints”, respectively.
The Measuring Equipment (Measures of Length) Regulations 1986	In regulation 2 omit “or imperial” from the definition of “nominal length”. In regulation 17— for paragraph (a) substitute— “(a) on one or on each graduated side, its nominal length expressed in one only of the following metric units of measurement in full or by means of one of the following abbreviations or symbols only:— metre m centimetre cm millimetre mm;”; and in paragraph (c) omit— “in metric units or ten feet in imperial units”. For regulation 24 substitute— “24.   The prescribed limits of error relating to measures of length shall be 0.6 millimetre plus 0.4 millimetre per metre (rounded up to the next whole metre) of nominal length.”.
The Weights and Measures (Local and Working Standard Linear Measures) Regulations 1986(11)	In regulation 3 in paragraph (2) omit the words after “0.2millimetre”. For the Tables in Schedule 1 substitute— “TABLE 1 LOCAL STANDARD LINEAR MEASURES PRESCRIBED LIMITS OF ERROR Measure Limit of Error 1 centimetre 0.05 millimetre 1 decimetre 0.1 millimetre 0.5 metre or 1 metre 0.2 millimetre over one metre 0.1 millimetre plus 0.1 millimetre per metre of length TABLE 2 WORKING STANDARD LINEAR MEASURES PRESCRIBED LIMITS OF ERROR Measure Limit of Error Note: Where Regulation 3(2) applies the limits of error in this Table are increased in accordance with that Regulation”. 1 metre or less 0.5 millilitre over 1 metre 0.3 millilitre plus 0.2 millimetre per metre of length In Schedule 2 omit “or 10 feet” in both places where those words occur.
The Capacity Serving Measures (Intoxicating Liquor) Regulations 1988	In regulation 2 in paragraph (2) omit— “fluid ounce fl oz” and “gallon gal”. In regulation 3 in paragraph (1) omit— “4 fl oz”, “5 fl oz (1 gill)”, “6 fl oz”, “8 fl oz”, “(1 quart)”, and “(½ gal)”. In regulation 10 in paragraph (1) omit “fluid ounces or” and “fl oz”; in paragraph (3)(a) for “10 fl oz” substitute “½ pint”. In the Schedule in Table 2 omit— “4 fl oz 5.5 5 fl oz 7 6 fl oz 8.5”, and “8 fl oz 10”.
The Measuring Equipment (Liquid Fuel and Lubricants) Regulations 1988	In regulation 2 in paragraph (1) omit “20 gallons if it is constructed to measure in imperial units, or” and “if it is constructed to measure in metric units”. In regulation 17 in paragraph (1)(d) omit “and” after “the stamp” and omit paragraph (1)(e). In regulation 24 in paragraph (1)(b) for “gallon (or per half a gallon or per litre as the case may be)” substitute “litre”.
The Weights and Measures (Local and Working Standard Capacity Measures and Testing Equipment) Regulations 1990(12)	In regulation 2 for paragraph (2) substitute— “(2) The abbreviations of, and symbols for, units of measurement used in these Regulations refer to the relevant units as follows: pint pt millilitre ml litre l.”. In regulation 3 in paragraph (1) under the heading “Method 1” in sub-paragraph (a) for “1 gal” substitute “8 pt”. In regulation 4 in paragraph (b) in sub-paragraph (i) omit “or 10 gal or less” and in sub-paragraph (ii), “or more than 10 gal”. In Schedule 3 in the Table headed “WORKING STANDARD CAPACITY MEASURES AND TESTING EQUIPMENT” for the column headed “(a) Imperial” substitute— “(a) Imperial Indicated capacity of or tolerance mark relating to— Limit of error ⅓ pt or ½ pt 0.8 ml 1 pt 1.0 ml 2 pt 2.0 ml 4 pt 2.0 ml 8 pt 5.0 ml 16 pt 10.0 ml”. in the Table headed “GRADUATED MEASURING CYLINDERS” for “¼ gal” and “½ gal” substitute “2 pt” and “4 pt”, respectively. In Schedule 4 in the Table headed “LOCAL STANDARD CAPACITY MEASURES” for the column headed “(a) Imperial” substitute— “(a) Imperial Local standard of— Limit of error ⅓ pt or ½ pt 0.4 ml 1 pt 0.5 ml 2 pt 1.0 ml 4 pt 1.0 ml 8 pt 2.5 ml 16 pt 5.0 ml”.

PART III AMENDMENTS TO BE MADE ON 1ST JANUARY 2000

Regulations	Amendments
The Weighing Equipment (Beltweighers) Regulations 1983	In regulation 2 in paragraph (2) omit— “pound lb”. In regulation 12 in paragraph (1) in sub-paragraph (a) after “in full” insert “though not in pounds,” and omit “lb,”; and in sub-paragraph (b) omit “or pounds” and “lb”.
The Weighing Equipment (Filling and Discontinuous Totalising Automatic Weighing Machines) Regulations 1986	In regulation 2 in paragraph (2) omit— “pound lb ounce oz”. In regulation 12 in paragraph (1) in sub-paragraph (a) after “in full” insert “though not in pounds or ounces,” and omit “lb, oz,”; and in sub-paragraph (b) omit “or in pounds or ounces”, “abbreviations or” and “lb, oz,”.
The Weights Regulations 1986	In regulation 5 in paragraph (1) in the Table for paragraphs 3 and 4 substitute— “3. Imperial Weights (other than weights in paragraphs 4 and 5 of this table) Bell, bar, flat-circular or ring type. Weights weighing in stones, quarters or hundredweights first passed as fit for use for trade and stamped before 1st December 1980. Weights weighing in drams first passed as fit for trade and stamped before 27th April 1978. 4. Grain Weights Flat or wire type. All such weights first passed as fir for use for trade and where necessary stamped before 1st December 1980.”. For Schedule 1 substitute— Regulations 2(2) and 7(2) “SCHEDULE 1 SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS OF UNITS OF WEIGHT AND MEASUREMENT Metric kilogram kg gram g milligram mg carat (metric) C.M. or CM cubic metre m3 millimetre mm Imperial ounce troy oz tr or oz troy grain gr”. In Schedule 3 for— “2. AVOIRDUPOIS EXCEPT WEIGHTS EXPRESSED AS MULTIPLES OR FRACTIONS OF 1/7000 lb. Local standards or working standards” substitute “2. AVOIRDUPOIS EXCEPT GRAIN WEIGHTS Local standards or working standards”. and for “5. WEIGHTS EXPRESSED AS MULTIPLES OR FRACTIONS OF 1/7000 lb.  ” ” ” substitute— “5. GRAIN WEIGHTS  ” ” ”. In Schedule 4 for Table 4 substitute— “TABLE 4 Avoirdupois weights 1. 2. 3. Purported mass of the weight Prescribed limits of error on passing as fit for use for trade (+ only) Prescribed limits of error in relation to the obliteration of the stamp (±) 4 stones 4000 mg 4000 mg 2 stones 2000 mg 2000 mg 1 stone 1000 mg 1000 mg ½ stone 560 mg 560 mg 8 drams 20 mg 20 mg 4 drams 15 mg 15 mg 2 drams 10 mg 10 mg 1 dram 5 mg 5 mg ½ dram 5 mg 5 mg”; and for the title to Table 5 substitute “Grain Weights”.
The Weights and Measures (Local and Working Standard Weights and Testing Equipment Regulations 1986(13)	For Schedule 1 substitute— Regulation 2 “SCHEDULE 1 Symbols and abbreviations of units of weight kilogram ... ... ... ... kg gram ... ... ... ... g milligram ... ... ... ... mg carat (metric) ... ... ... ... C.M.”. In Schedule 2 omit Tables 1 and 2 and for Table 6 substitute— “TABLE 6 Test Weights Weight Limit of error 5000 kg 500 g 2000 kg 200 g 1000 kg 100 g 500 kg 50 g 250 kg 20 g 200 kg 20 g 100 kg 10 g 50 kg 5 g 20 kg 1 g 10 kg 500 mg 5 kg 250 mg”.
The Weighing Equipment (Non-automatic Weighing Machines) Regulations 1988	In regulation 2 in paragraph (2) omit— “pound lb”. In regulation 14 in paragraph (1) in sub-paragraph (a)(i) omit “or” and sub-paragraph (a)(ii) and in paragraph (2) omit sub- paragraph (a). In regulation 16 in paragraph (1) in sub-paragraph (b) after “in full” insert “though not in pounds or ounces,” and omit “lb, oz” and in sub-paragraphs (c) and (d) for “pounds or” substitute “troy” and omit “lb, oz”. For regulation 18 substitute— “18.   Where a non-automatic weighing machine shows price expressed as an amount of money per unit of weight, such unit of weight shall be expressed per hundred grams, per kilogram or per tonne.”. Regulation 29 shall be omitted. In Schedule 2 in paragraph 11 in Note 4 to Table 1, in paragraph 13 in Note 5 to Table 2, in paragraph 15 in Note 1 to Table 3 and in paragraph 17 in Note 1 to Table 4 for “units of the imperial system” and “imperial units” substitute “ounces troy” and in Note 5 to Table 1, Note 6 to Table 2, Note 2 to Table 3 and Note 2 to Table 4 for “imperial” substitute “ounce troy”.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations implement the amendments made by Council Directive 89/617/EEC (OJ No. L357, 7.12.89, p.28) to Council Directive 80/181/EEC (OJ No. L39, 15.2.80, p.40) which relates to the use of units of measurement for economic, public health, public safety or administrative purposes (“the specified circumstances”).

They amend a number of Regulations made under the Weights and Measures Act 1963 or the Weights and Measures Act 1985 (“the Act”) on weighing and measuring equipment in use for trade and on local and working standards and testing equipment used by inspectors of weights and measures.

In particular the Regulations make amendments which enable supplementary indications of quantity to be given on weighing or measuring equipment which uses units in the metric system for primary indications (Part I of the Schedule). Amendments also provide for the removal of references to imperial units in relation to their use on weighing or measuring equipment and to local and working standard weights and linear and capacity measures (Parts II and III of the Schedule).

Use of weighing equipment (including weights) for which Schedule 11 paragraphs 12 and 14 of the Act make specific provision is preserved in accordance with those provisions notwithstanding the fact that this equipment makes use of imperial units that have not been authorised for some time (Part III of the Schedule).

The amendments are timed to come into operation on different dates after which certain units may no longer be used for all or for certain purposes. Thus references to the pound and the ounce are deleted from Regulations on 1st January 2000, the date on which they cease to benefit from the derogation for their use in connection with goods sold loose from bulk.

A Compliance Cost Assessment of the impact that these Regulations will have on business will be available in the libraries of the Houses of Parliament once the Regulations, having been made, are laid before Parliament and from the Consumer Affairs Division of the Department of Trade and Industry, Room 407, 10-18 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0NN.

(1)

1985 c. 72. Section 94(1) contains a definition of “prescribed”.

(2)

S.I. 1994/

(3)

S.I. 1983/914.

(4)

S.I. 1983/1390, amended by S.I. 1986/1210.

(5)

S.I. 1983/1656, amended by S.I. 1984/273.

(6)

S.I. 1986/1320.

(7)

S.I. 1986/1682, amended by S.I. 1986/2109.

(8)

S.I. 1988/120, amended by S.I. 1993/2060.

(9)

S.I. 1988/128.

(10)

S.I. 1988/876 amended by S.I. 1988/2120, S.I. 1991/2019 and S.I. 1992/3037.

(11)

S.I. 1986/1684.

(12)

S.I. 1990/2626.

(13)

S.I. 1986/1685, amended by S.I. 1991/1775.