Verification of Measuring Instruments
The verification includes the examination and marking of measuring instruments by a competent body. The examination ascertains, whether the measuring instrument complies with the verification regulations (issued by BEV), in particular whether the measurement errors are not larger than the maximum permissible errors of verification.
Measuring instruments are only acceptable for verification, if their type is approved.
Subject to mandatory verification are measuring instruments (exhaustively listed in the Metrology Act – MEG)
- for official and commercial transactions,
- for health service and environmental protection,
- for road traffic and safety purposes.
Examples for measuring instruments subject to mandatory verification include:
weighing instruments, taximeters, gas meters, water meters, heat meters, electricity meters, manometers, thermometers, measuring instruments for grading cereals, dosimeters, activity meters, sound level meters, axel and wheel weighing systems, revolution counters, traffic speed measuring instruments, breath analysers.
Measuring instruments subject to mandatory verification (with a few exceptions) have to be submitted for subsequent verification within certain periods (between 1 and 20 years).
One has to distinguish between national and European verification.
Initial verification can be carried out nationally only for those measuring instruments, for which no European regulations exist (subsequent verifications are always national ones). Competent bodies for national verification are accredited verification bodies and legal metrology authorities. Legal metrology authorities are the BEV and the verification offices. But they are allowed to verify only those types of measuring instruments for which no verification bodies have been accredited.
At the European level EEC-initial verifications according to the “old approach” are distinguished from EC- verifications as part of the conformity assessment procedure according to the “new approach” of the European Union. In these cases no national initial verifications are foreseen. (The mandatory subsequent verification is as a matter of principle not covered by the European regulations). The competent bodies for European verification (according to the “new approach” called “notified bodies”) are notified by the member states to the EU (The manufacturer can carry out the verifications also by himself if he has a QM system recognized by a notified body.).
The national verification and the EEC-initial verification are documented by a verification mark, according to the “new approach” the CE-marking is stipulated.
Recognition of foreign verifications:
The regulations on EEC-initial verification and the CE marking regulate the placing on the market of products in the so-called “harmonized” area. On the base of EU Treaties it is necessary however to recognize products and procedures of member states of the EU and the EEA also in the “non-harmonized” area (i.e. not being regulated by EU directives) as equivalent if a comparable level of protection is given.