1.4.3 VERIFICATION BY A TRADING STANDARDS OFFICER 

A local authority may be a notified body to be able to verify a weighing instrument. An approved person from that notified will perform the actual initial verification testing as described in section 1.4.2 but the submitter will have to prepare for the verification and is responsible for ensuring that various matters are addressed.

A copy of the Type Examination Certificate (TEC) must be available on site plus any test certificates, if required. The approved person from the notified body is entitled to ask to see a copy of the documentation prior to the test.

The equipment must be complete and working prior to the appointment time. It would be advisable to calibrate and/or check it as well, because if it fails the approved person will charge a fee and may well leave the site with another appointment to be made. The checks should include that the necessary inscriptions and any company seals are in place.

The submitter should ensure that the inspector is aware of any issues specific to the site, for example health and safety requirements such as a site induction.

The approved person from a notified body will want to check the calibration status of the weights used to test the instrument, if hiring in a test unit for weighbridge verification then the submitter must ensure that a current calibration certificate is available.

A problem that is occurring more often now is that not all local Trading Standards Services are Notified Bodies under the NAWI regulations, or the regulations applying to the type of AWI, which means that their staff cannot verify this type of equipment. This is due to resource pressures within local government. If this occurs, then it may be necessary to bring in an outside approved person to verify the equipment; check that their insurance is valid, and they can verify the type of instrument. 

The approved person will test the equipment and must fill in a test report form which shows the results of all tests applied to that instrument, which may be required in any future dispute. Upon passing they will then deliver a Certificate of Conformity to the submitter, or if the equipment fails, a notice of refusal to verify.

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