
1 

(1) These Regulations may be cited as the
Weights and Measures (Amendment) Regulations 1972 and shall come into operation
on 26th June 1972.
(2) The 
Interpretation Act 1889 shall apply to the
interpretation of these Regulations as it applies to the interpretation of
an Act of Parliament.
(3) The 
Weights and Measures (Amendment) Regulations 1969 are hereby revoked.
2 
The 
Weights and Measures Regulations 1963, as amended,
shall have effect subject to the following amendments:—
(i) for Regulation
8 there shall be substituted—“
8 

(1) Subject to the following provisions of
this Regulation an inspector shall obliterate the stamp on—
(a) any weighing or measuring equipment which
falls outside the prescribed limits of error or which does not comply with
any relevant requirement of these Regulations;
(b) any measure which has been so broken
or damaged that it cannot in his opinion be properly adjusted or the accuracy
of which has in his opinion been affected by an alteration, adjustment, addition
or repair made or carried out since it was last stamped;
(c) any equal-armed weighing instrument which
has been altered, adjusted or repaired since it was last stamped; or
(d) any other weighing instrument which has
been so altered, adjusted or repaired since it was last stamped that it is
in his opinion necessary to ascertain that the indications of the instrument
remain correct throughout its range.
(2) Nothing in 
paragraph (1)(c) or (d)
of this Regulation shall require an inspector to obliterate the stamp on any
weighing instrument which has been altered or adjusted if he is satisfied

(a) that the purpose of the alteration or
adjustment was—
(i) to convert it to compute prices in a
decimal currency, or
(ii) to modify an imperial instrument to
indicate weight in metric units and involved only the replacement or addition
of a dial, chart or pointer;and
(b) (i) that within the period of fifteen
days following the making of the alteration or adjustment the requirements
of paragraph (5)
of this Regulation were complied with; or
(ii) that the period for complying with those
requirements has not yet expired.
(3) Where any equipment is found not to comply
with the requirements of these Regulations solely because it falls outside
the prescribed limits of error, an inspector may, instead of immediately obliterating
the stamp thereon pursuant to paragraph (1),
serve upon the person in possession of the equipment a notice requiring him
to ensure that the equipment is brought within the prescribed limits of error
before the expiry of 28 days or such shorter period as may be specified in
the notice.
(4) Where any notice given pursuant to 
paragraph (3) is not duly complied with the
inspector shall obliterate the stamp on the relevant equipment.
(5) The requirements referred to in 
paragraph (2)(b) of this Regulation are that
the chief inspector of weights and measures for the area in which the machine
will first be used for trade after it has been altered or adjusted or, if
the address at which it will be so used is not known, for the area in which
the alteration or adjustment is carried out, is furnished by the person carrying
out the alteration or adjustment with the following particulars, namely,—

(i) his name and address;
(ii) particulars by which the instrument
may be identified;
(iii) the name and address of the person
who will first use the instrument for trade after its alteration or adjustment
and the address at which it will be so used or, if those particulars are not
known, an address at which the instrument will be available for inspection;

(iv) an indication as to whether or not the
modification consisted only of the addition or replacement of a chart, dial
or pointer; and
(v) where there is any other form of modification
in place of or in addition to that in sub-paragraph
(iv) of this paragraph, an indication as to
whether the person owning the instrument and the person modifying it have
agreed that its accuracy after modification shall be such that it falls within
the limits ordinarily applicable upon the testing of such an instrument with
a view to its being passed as fit for use for trade.
(6) Where the alteration or adjustment of
an instrument for the purpose of converting it to compute prices in a decimal
currency or for the purpose of modifying it to indicate weight in metric units
involves the carrying out of two or more operations and the instrument is
used, or intended to be used, for trade between the carrying out of those
operations, each such operation shall be treated for the purposes of 
paragraph (2) of this Regulation as a separate
alteration or adjustment.”;
(ii) for Regulations
87 and 88
there shall be substituted:—“
87 
The distance between successive graduations
on the scale of a spring balance shall not be less than the relevant distance
specified in the following table:—

Capacity of instrument Minimum space between graduations
(a) Imperial Scale
Not more than 30 lb &frac116; in

Over 30 lb but not over 1 cwt 
&frac112; in
Over 1 cwt
 ⅛ in
(b) Metric Scale
Not more than 15 kg 1.25 mm

Over 15 kg but not more than 50 kg 2
mm
Over 50 kg 2.5 mm
88 
Successive graduations on the scale of a spring
balance shall not indicate a difference in weight exceeding the relevant amount
specified in the following table:—

Capacity of instrument Maximum
weight corresponding to interval between successive graduations
(a) 
As an imperial instrument
100 lb or more 1/200 of capacity

Under 100 lb but not less
than 60 lb 4 oz
Under 60 lb but not less than 40 lb 2 oz
Under
40 lb but not less than 20 lb 1 oz
Under 20 lb but not less than 8 lb 8 dr

Under 8 lb but not less than 2 lb 4 dr

Under 2 lb but not less than
1 lb 2 dr
(b) As a metric instrument
100 kg or more 1/200 of capacity

Under 100 kg but not less than 50 kg 
200 g
Under 50 kg but not
less than 30 kg 100 g
Under 30 kg but not less than 20 kg 50 g

Under 20 kg but not less than 6 kg 20
g
Under 6 kg but not less
than 1½ kg 10 g
Under 1½ kg but not less than 500 g 5 g”
(iii) Regulation
90 shall be omitted; and
(iv) In Part
I of Schedule 2, there shall be added at the
end of paragraph 1
the words:—“
and further provided that in any case in which
the requirements of Regulation 8(5)
have been complied with following the modification of an instrument to indicate
weight in metric units, the prescribed limits of error upon the first retesting
of that instrument with a view to its being passed as fit for use for trade
shall be those applicable in relation to the obliteration of the stamp upon
the instrument except where: 
(i) 
the stamp upon the instrument was last obliterated for any reasons other than
are set out in paragraph 1(c)
or (d) of Regulation 8;
or
(ii) there is an agreement of the
type referred to in Regulation 8(5)(v).
”.

Cranley Onslow
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
Department of Trade and Industry
17th May 1972