STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS
1988No. 997
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES
The Measuring Equipment (Cold-water Meters) Regulations
1988
| Laid before Parliament |
14th June 1988 |
| Coming into force |
1st August 1988 |
The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred on him
by sections 11(1) and (4), 12(12), 15(1) and (2), 86(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:—
Citation and commencement
1. These Regulations may
be cited as the Measuring Equipment (Cold-water Meters) Regulations 1988
and shall come into force on 1st August 1988.
Interpretation
2. In these Regulations—
"the Act" means the Weights and Measures Act 1985;
"certificate of approval" means a certificate of approval of a pattern
of cold-water meter granted or renewed by the Secretary of State under
section 12 of the Act;
"certificate of EEC pattern approval" means a certificate of approval
of a pattern of cold-water meter granted or renewed by a member State of
the Economic Community in accordance with the Directive;
"cold-water meter" means an integrating measuring instrument for continuously
determining the volume of water (and no other liquid) passing through it
in the temperature range 0° to 30° Celsius, and which comprises
a measuring device linked to an indicating device;
"the Directive" means Council Directive No. 75/33/EEC[2];
"manufacturer's mark" means a mark authorised by the Secretary of State
on a meter to which these Regulations apply, which identifies all or any
of the following:
(a) the manufacturer of the meter;
(b) the place and date of manufacture;
(c) the group of meters of which the meter forms part;
"mark of EEC initial verification" means the mark described in paragraph
5 of Schedule 1 to the Measuring Instruments (EEC Requirements) Regulations
1988[3];
"maximum flowrate (Qmax)" is the highest flowrate at which the meter
can function over limited periods without damage, without exceeding the
prescribed limits of error on passing as fit for use for trade and without
exceeding the value for pressure loss stated in the certificate of approval
or certificate of EEC pattern approval as the case may be;
"minimum flowrate (Qmin)" is the flowrate fixed as a function of the
nominal flowrate (Qn) and above which the meter does not exceed the prescribed
limits of error on passing as fit for use for trade;
"nominal flowrate (Qn)" is the flowrate in cubic metres per hour which
is used to designate the meter, being equal to half the maximum flowrate
(Qmax);
"prescribed limits of error" has the meaning set out in regulation 10
below;
"quality system" means the organisation structure, responsibilities,
activities, resources and events that together provide organised procedures
and methods of implementation to ensure the capability of the organisation
to meet quality requirements, such system having been assessed as meeting
the requirements of BS 5750: Part 1: 1987[4]
or BS 5750: Part 2: 1987[5] by an independent
certification body accredited by the Secretary of State;
"the stamp" means the prescribed stamp[6];
"transitional flowrate (Qt)" is the flowrate fixed as a function of
the nominal flowrate (Qn) and at which the prescribed limits of error on
passing as fit for use for trade change from 2 per cent to 5 per cent;
and
"verification scale" means the fastest-moving visible graduated element
of the indicating device of a meter.
Application
3.—(1) These Regulations apply to measuring
equipment installed—
(a) on or after 1st August 1988, where the equipment is installed
compulsorily by or at the behest of the supplier of the water; and
(b) on or after 1st April 1989 in other cases,
for use for trade for measuring any supply of water for domestic purposes
in England or Wales; and such equipment is hereby prescribed for the purposes
of section 11(1) of the Act.
(2) In this regulation, "supply of water for
domestic purposes" has the same meaning as in section 1(1) of the Third
Schedule to the Water Act 1945[7]; and
a reference to a supplier of water is a reference to a water undertaker
within the meaning of section 7(1) of the Public Utility Transfers and
Water Charges Act 1988[8].
(3) Nothing in these Regulations other than
this regulation and regulation 4 below applies to cold-water meters bearing
the mark of EEC initial verification.
Purpose of use
4. No person shall use
for trade a cold-water meter to which these Regulations apply unless it
is an appropriate meter for the installation in question having regard
to the criteria in clause 2 of the British Standard Specification for the
measurement of flow of cold potable water in closed conduits BS 5728: Part
2: 1980[9].
Testing
6.—(1) Every cold-water meter submitted
for testing shall be in a clean condition.
(2) Meters shall be tested by passing a volume
of water through them which is sufficient to rotate the pointer or roller
on the verification scale through one or more revolutions and thus to eliminate
the effects of cyclic distortion.
(3) Subject to regulation 7 below, on testing
with a view to passing as fit for use for trade each meter shall be tested
at a minimum of three flowrates, using testing equipment or working standards—
(a) between 0.9 times the maximum flowrate (Qmax) and the maximum
flowrate (Qmax);
(b) between the transitional flowrate (Qt) and 1.1 times the
transitional flowrate (Qt); and
(c) between the minimum flowrate (Qmin) and 1.1 times the minimum
flowrate (Qmin).
(4) On testing in relation to obliteration
of the stamp or mark the inspector shall test the meter, as far as practicable,
within the flowrate bands—
(a) one-quarter to one-half the nominal flowrate (Qn); and
(b) the transitional flowrate (Qt) to five times the transitional
flowrate (Qt),
using testing equipment or working standards.
(5) For the purposes of the performance by
an inspector of his functions under the Act or these Regulations relating
to inspection, testing, passing as fit for use for trade and stamping of
any cold-water meter, a person submitting such a meter to an inspector
or who an inspector has reasonable cause to believe has possession of such
equipment for use for trade shall, if requested, provide for the inspector
such assistance as the inspector may reasonably require.
7.—(1) Where a group of cold-water
meters of the same design, the same class, the same nominal flowrate (Qn),
the same manufacture and with the manufacturer's mark on each is submitted
for testing, and the conditions specified in paragraph (2) below are satisfied
with respect to the group, the testing may, at the request of the submitter,
be confined to a number of meters determined and selected as specified
in paragraph (3) below.
(2) The conditions referred to in paragraph
(1) above are—
(a) the group shall be clearly identifiable and shall consist
of meters which exceed 150 but do not exceed 35,000 in number;
(b) the meters in the group shall all have been produced by the
same production process, such production process being the subject of a
quality system;
(c) the group shall be accompanied by records of the production
process, of the testing of each meter and of any subsequent action taken
by the manufacturer which are adequate to show that the meters in the group
are likely to fall within the prescribed limits of error; and
(d) the equipment used to test meters in the group shall comply
with clause 4.6 of BS 5750: Part 3: 1987[10].
(3) The number of meters referred to in
paragraph (1) above shall be determined and the meters shall be selected
by sampling plans and procedures using samples which the inspector considers
to be representative, in accordance with either—
(a) BS 6001: Part 1: 1972[11]
which provides an acceptable quality level equal to 1 per cent; or
(b) BS 6001: Part 2: 1984[12]
which provides a limiting quality of 5 per cent.
In either case the sample of meters chosen shall be tested for attributes,
including for limits of error, as set out in paragraphs (1) to (3) of regulation
6 above.
(4) If the sample selected as specified in
paragraph (3) above satisfies the test, the other meters in the group shall
be treated as having satisfied the test.
8.—(1) No cold-water meter to which
these Regulations apply shall be passed as fit for use for trade unless—
(a) on testing
(i) it complies with all the appropriate requirements of these
Regulations; and
(ii) it falls within the prescribed limits of error: Provided
that, where the errors on all the quantities indicated by the meter during
the tests are all errors in excess or all errors in deficiency then, notwithstanding
that they are all within the prescribed limits of error, not all the errors
shall exceed one-half of the prescribed limits of error;
(b) where it has not been tested, it forms part of a group of
meters treated under regulation 7(4) above as having satisfied the test.
(2) Nothing in section 11(2) of the Act
shall prohibit a meter, which has been passed as fit for use for trade
and which bears the manufacturer's mark undefaced otherwise than by reason
of fair wear and tear, from being used for trade, notwithstanding that
it does not bear the stamp.
Stamping
9.—(1) The stamp shall be placed on
every plug, seal or sealing device authorised in accordance with regulation
5.
(2) On first passing as fit for use for trade,
no meter shall be stamped with the stamp if it bears a manufacturer's mark
or any other mark which, in the opinion of the inspector, might reasonably
be mistaken for the stamp or manufacturer's mark.
(3) On subsequent passing as fit for use for
trade, no meter shall be stamped with the stamp if it bears any mark (other
than the manufacturer's mark) which, in the opinion of the inspector, might
reasonably be mistaken for the stamp or manufacturer's mark.
Prescribed limits of error
10. The prescribed limits
of error relating to cold-water meters shall be those set out in the Schedule
to these Regulations.
Obliteration of stamps and manufacturer's marks
11.—(1) The stamp or manufacturer's
mark shall be obliterated by an inspector, in accordance with the requirements
of this regulation, by means of punches or pincers of suitable sizes of
a six-pointed star design as shown in the following illustration:CLICK
HERE FOR IMAGE
(2) Where any cold-water meter—
(a) fails upon testing to fall within the prescribed limits of
error (other than for loss of pressure); or
(b) fails to comply with any other appropriate requirement of
these Regulations,
the inspector shall give to the proprietor or person in charge of the meter
a notice calling on him to have the equipment corrected within a stated
period not exceeding 28 days, and shall obliterate the stamp or manufacturer's
mark if the correction has not been made within the stated period.
(3) An inspector shall obliterate the stamp
or manufacturer's mark on any meter which has, since it was last stamped
or marked, had any adjustment, alteration, addition, repair or replacement
made to it such that it could not be passed as fit for use for trade under
regulation 8 above.
(4) Where any meter has, since it was last
stamped or marked, been the subject of any adjustment, alteration, addition,
repair or replacement which could, in the opinion of the inspector, have
affected its accuracy or function, he may obliterate the stamp or manufacturer's
mark on that meter.
(5) In any case where an inspector obliterates
the stamp or manufacturer's mark on a meter in accordance with the foregoing
provisions of this regulation, he shall, within two working days of such
obliteration, inform the proprietor or person in charge of the meter that
the stamp or mark has been obliterated.
(6) In paragraph (5) above, the reference to
two working days is a reference to a period of forty-eight hours calculated
after disregarding any time falling on a Saturday or Sunday or on Christmas
Day, Good Friday or any day which is a bank holiday in England and Wales
under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971[13].
John Butcher
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry
7th June 1988
Notes:
[1] 1985 c. 72: section 94(1) contains a definition
of "prescribed". back
[2] O.J. No. L14, 20.1.1975, p.1. back
[3] S.I. 1988/186. back
[4] ISBN 0 580 15943 4, published by the British
Standards Institution on 29th May 1987. back
[5] ISBN 0 580 15944 2, published by the British
Standards Institution on 29th May 1987. back
[6] See S.I. 1968/1615. back
[7] 1945 c. 42. back
[8] 1988 c. 15. back
[9] ISBN 0 580 11253 5, published by the British
Standards Institution on 30th April 1980, as amended in July 1986. back
[10] ISBN No. 0 580 15945 0, published by the
British Standards Institution on 29th May 1987. back
[11] ISBN No. 580 07081 6, published by the British
Standards Institution on 30th March 1972, as amended in February 1984 and
April 1986. back
[12] ISBN No. 0580 13581 0, published by the British
Standards Institution on 29th February 1984, as amended in April 1986.
back
[13] 1971 c. 80. back |
