Trading Standards

Weights and Measures

All goods, whether pre-packed or not, should be of the correct weight or measure stated on the packaging or indicated on the premises.

Part of our job is to ensure that the public receive the correct amount of any product they buy.

Your questions answered on weights and measures in Barking and Dagenham|

This authority will react to complaints received on short measures, visit trading premises to check weighing and measuring equipment used for trade as well as verifying that measuring equipment are accurate.

Weights and measures explained

Almost all goods today are sold by some reference to either its weight or measure, whether by the pint, litre, gramme or metre. This includes everyday items such as bread, petrol, beer, clothing material, sand or virtually anything else you can think of.

Trading Standards enforce a complex set of regulations designed to ensure that the public and businesses can have confidence in their purchases and ensures fair competition. We do this by:

Verifying that weighing and measuring equipment is initially accurate
Routinely visiting businesses and checking weighing and measuring equipment
Checking products already in the shops
Reacting to complaints of short measure

A more in-depth view of Weights and Measures legislation is given below.

If you think you have received short measure from a business in Barking and Dagenham, and would like further information, please contact us.

A review of weights and measures

In the UK, it has been estimated that goods to the value of a billion pounds are traded at retail level by some form of measurement of their quantity. However, do consumers stop to think why or how it is that they can have confidence in their purchases?

The law relating to weights and measures today evolved so that:

Security of uniform system of units of weights and measures could be established
Controls could be placed over weighing and measuring equipment in use for trade
The public could be protected against short quantity in the sale of goods

The system of weights and measures has developed through:

Legal frameworks
Adequate and even handed enforcement
Technological advances in equipment

The law and legislation governing weights and measures

There is a system of traceability in place to ensure that the kilogram and metre is the same throughout the nation. The working standard weights and measures that Inspectors take out with them to test weighing and measuring equipment are tested against local standards that never leave the office.

Weights are tested using equipment that the National Weights and Measures Laboratory refer back to the copy of the international prototype of the kilogram kept at their premises.

The metre is defined by reference to natural constant - the speed of light. It is therefore a more perfect reference. All units are therefore defined by ultimate references to either the metre or kilogram.

The National Weights and Measures Laboratory examine patterns of weighing and measuring equipment to determine whether their design or manufacture is such to facilitate fraud. Once such equipment has a certificate, it must conform to the pattern and pass accuracy tests carried out by an Inspector. Once the equipment has been verified or stamped by an Inspector it may be used for trade. This system is known as verification.

Trading Standards Officers visit trade premises and carry out inspections and verification of weighing and measuring equipment. Examples include counter weighing machines, weighbridges, weights, petrol pumps, spirit measuring instruments, wine and beer glasses, metre measures to name some common examples.

Pre-packed goods, breads and textiles are tested to ensure correct weight or measure.

Beware of misleading adverts

Petrol: £2 for quite a lot.

A certain amount of flour £1.50.

A long piece of string 30p.

Adverts like these make clear the importance of accurate and specific information about quantity in every day transactions. Unless we know how much we are going to get for our money we cannot make informed decisions on purchases.

The units that are used to measure quantity such as kilograms, metres and pints are familiar to us all. What is essential is that these units are the same wherever we go.

It is the job of the Trading Standards service to protect and uphold a system of weights and measures which has been a fundamental part of commerce going all the way back to the Magna Carta.

Useful websites

Office of Public Sector Information
Provides full text of Acts of Parliament from 1988, plus access to Inforoute, the Government's Information Asset Register
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
Defra works for the essentials of life - water, food, air, land, people, animals and plants
Trading Standards Central
A one stop shop for consumer protection information in the UK. Provides information for businesses and consumers
HM Customs and Excise
Provides information and advice for the public and for businesses
Office of Fair Trading
The Office of Fair Trading is designed with 2 purposes: to protect consumers and explain their rights; and to ensure that businesses compete and operate fairly
Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Working with businesses, employees and consumers to drive up UK productivity and competitiveness to deliver prosperity for all
Food Standards Agency
An independent food safety watchdog set up by an Act of Parliament in 2000 to protect the publics health and consumer interests in relation to food