
1 
These Regulations may be cited as the Units of Measurement Regulations 1995 and shall come into force on 1st October 1995.
2 
In these Regulations—
 “Act”includes a local and personal or private Act, an Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland and a Measure of the Northern Ireland Assembly;
 “the commencement date”, subject to regulation 4 below, means 1st October 1995;
 “corresponding metric unit”, in relation to a relevant imperial unit, means the unit of measurement specified in relation to the relevant imperial unit in the second column of the Schedule to these Regulations;
 “existing provision” means any of the following, namely—
(a) a provision of any Act passed, or of any subordinate legislation made, before the commencement date;
(b) a provision of any contract, agreement, licence, authority, undertaking or statement made or given before that date; and
(c) a provision of any deed, instrument or document made before that date;
 “relevant imperial unit” means a unit of measurement specified in the first column of the Schedule to these Regulations;
 “subordinate legislation” means Orders in Council, orders, rules, regulations, schemes, warrants, byelaws and other instruments made under any Act; and
 “the Units of Measurement Directive” means the Directive of the Council of the European Communities dated 20th December 1979 (No.80/181/EEC) on the approximation of the laws of member States relating to units of measurement.
3 

(1) Subject to the following provisions of these Regulations, where—
(a) an existing provision authorises or requires a measurement to be made, or an indication of quantity to be expressed, in a relevant imperial unit,
(b) the provision has effect for economic, public health, public safety or administrative purposes, and
(c) the provision has legal effect on or after the commencement date,
the provision shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed on or after that date as authorising or requiring the measurement to be made, or the indication of quantity to be expressed, in the corresponding metric unit.
(2) Subject to the following provisions of these Regulations, where—
(a) an existing provision contains a reference to an indication of quantity expressed in a relevant imperial unit,
(b) the provision has effect for economic, public health, public safety or administrative purposes, and
(c) the provision has legal effect on or after the commencement date,
the provision shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed on or after that date as if the indication of quantity concerned were expressed in the corresponding metric unit.
(3) Subject to paragraph (4) below, any conversion of an indication of quantity expressed in a relevant imperial unit which is required to be made by virtue of paragraph (2) above shall be made by using the metric equivalent specified in relation to the relevant imperial unit in the third column of the Schedule to these Regulations.
(4) Any conversion of an indication of quantity expressed in degrees Fahrenheit which is required to be made by virtue of paragraph (2) above shall be made by subtracting thirty-two and multiplying the result by five-ninths.
4 
In relation to any of the following uses of relevant imperial units which are permitted by Article 1(d) of the Units of Measurement Directive, that is to say—
(a) the use of the fathom for marine navigation,
(b) the use of the pint or fluid ounce for beer, cider, water, lemonade and fruit juice in returnable containers,
(c) the use of the pound or ounce (avoirdupois) for goods sold loose from bulk, and
(d) the use of the therm for the supply of gas,regulation 3 above shall be treated as coming into force on 1st January 2000 and that date shall be treated as the commencement date for the purposes of these Regulations.
5 

(1) Nothing in these Regulations shall apply in relation to any supplementary indication; and in this paragraph “supplementary indication” has the same meaning as it has in section 8(5A) of the Weights and Measures Act 1985.
(2) Nothing in these Regulations shall apply in relation to any of the uses of relevant imperial units which are permitted by Article 1(b) of the Units of Measurement Directive, that is to say—
(a) the use of the mile, yard, foot or inch for road traffic signs, distance and speed measurement;
(b) the use of the pint for dispensing draught beer and cider;
(c) the use of the pint for milk in returnable containers;
(d) the use of the acre for land registration; and
(e) the use of the troy ounce for transactions in precious metals.
(3) Nothing in these Regulations shall apply in relation to any use of a relevant imperial unit which is permitted by Article 2(b) of the Units of Measurement Directive (use in the field of air and sea transport and rail traffic of units laid down in international conventions or agreements).
(4) Nothing in these Regulations shall apply in relation to any contract to which regulation 11(1) of the Units of Measurement Regulations 1986 applies.
6 
Regulation 4(3) of the Units of Measurement Regulations 1994, and the paragraphs added by it to regulation 11 of the Units of Measurement Regulations 1986, are hereby revoked.
Jonathan Evans
Minister for Competition and Consumer Affairs,
Department of Trade and Industry
13th July 1995
SCHEDULE
Regulations 2 and 3


Relevant imperial unit Corresponding metric unit Metric equivalent
Length
inch centimetre 2.54 centimetres
hand metre 0.1016 metre
foot metre 0.3048 metre
yard metre 0.9144 metre
fathom metre 1.8288 metres
chain metre, 20.1168 metres
furlong kilometre 0.201168 kilometre
mile kilometre 1.609344 kilometres
nautical mile (UK) metre 1853 metres
Area
square inch square centimetre 6.4516 square centimetres
square foot square metre 0.09290304 square metre
square yard square metre 0.83612736 square metre
rood square metre 1011.7141056 square metres
acre square metre 4046.8564224 square metres
square mile square kilometre 2.589988110336 square kilometres
Capacity
fluid ounce millilitre 28.4130625 millilitres
gill litre 0.1420653125 litre
pint litre 0.56826125 litre
quart litre 1.1365225 litres
gallon litre 4.54609 litres
Pressure
inch of water pascal 249.08891 pascals
Mass
grain gram 0.06479891 gram
dram gram 1.7718451953125 grams
ounce (avoirdupois) gram 28.349523125 grams
troy ounce gram 31.1034768 grams
pound kilogram 0.45359237 kilogram
stone kilogram, 6.35029318 kilograms
quarter kilogram 12.70058636 kilograms
cental kilogram 45.359237 kilograms
hundredweight kilogram, 50.80234544 kilograms
ton tonne 1.0160469088 tonnes
Force
pound-force newton 4.4482216152605 newtons
ton-force kilonewton 9.96401641818352 kilonewtons
Volume
cubic inch cubic centimetre 16.387064 cubic centimetres
cran cubic decimetre 170.478375 cubic decimetres
cubic foot cubic metre 0.028316846592 cubic metre
bushel cubic metre 0.03636872 cubic metre
cubic yard cubic metre 0.764554857984 cubic metre
Power
horsepower kilowatt 0.74569987158227022 kilowatt
Temperature
degree Fahrenheit degree Celsius [See regulation 3(4)]
Energy
foot pound-force joule 1.3558179483314004 joules
British thermal unit kilojoule 1.05505585257348 kilojoules
therm megajoule 105.505585257348 megajoules
Illuminance
foot candle lux 10.763910416709 lux
Speed
knot (UK) metres per second 0.51477 metres per second