The Measuring Equipment (Liquid Fuel and Lubricants) Regulations 1995

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations replace with amendments the Measuring Equipment (Liquid Fuel and Lubricants) Regulations 1988 and take account of International Recommendation R117 “Measuring Systems for Liquids Other Than Water” issued by the International Organisation for Legal Metrology and available from the Organisation at 11 rue Turgot, Paris, 75009, France.

The Regulations apply to equipment used for trade, for any purpose, to measure liquid fuel (other than liquefied petroleum gas) in a quantity of 100 litres (or, until 1st October 1995, 20 gallons) or less. However, they do not apply to measuring equipment for automatic measuring of constant nominal quantities. (See regulation 2).

They make provision as to the principles of construction and marking of measuring equipment, inspection, testing, passing as fit for use for trade and stamping of such equipment (and obliteration of stamps on such equipment), and the prescribed limits of error. The Regulations prescribe this equipment for the purposes of section 11(1) of the Weights and Measures Act 1985 so that it is unlawful to use it for trade purposes unless it has been tested, passed as fit for such use and stamped by an inspector of weights and measures.

The principal changes effected by the Regulations are—

(a) Provision is made for liquid fuel measuring equipment to be tested with a liquid other than, but similar to, that which it is intended to deliver (regulation 10).

(b) Provision is also made for testing and stamping to be carried out at the place of manufacture (regulation 12(1)(b)).

(c) The prescribed limits of error in relation to passing as fit for use for trade are relaxed and provision is made for different limits of error to apply to liquid fuels having different dynamic viscosities (regulation 17(1)).

(d) Provision is made for the acceptance of test results for measuring equipment imported from other member States of the European Union or contracting parties to the European Economic Area Agreement (regulation 18).

(e) Provision is made for the inspector not to obliterate the stamp, in certain circumstances, when certain components of the measuring equipment or its ancillary equipment are removed or replaced (regulation 23(5)).

(f) The provisions relating to the obliteration of stamps on measuring equipment having more than one stamp are clarified (regulation 24(1)(a)) and provision is made for the inspector to affix a notice indicating that part of the equipment is out of order (regulation 24(2)).

Copies of EN 45001 (BS 7501) referred to in regulation 18(3) may be obtained from any of the sales outlets operated by the British Standards Institution (BSI) or by post from BSI at Linford Wood, Milton Keynes MK14 6LE.