Legal metrology

Correct measurement values protect the user and enable the business to compete on equal terms. There are also rules that prepacked goods contain the declared volume.
In most cases, measuring instruments are used to generate values which are underlying for the debiting cost, e.g. a scale in a supermarket.
Swedac’s regulations are partly based on EU Directives and partly on national rules.
The Directives decide how a measuring instrument should be drawn up, produced and tested when it is placed on the market and put into use. The economic operator, e.g. the manufacturer or the importer, is ultimately responsible for the product. The manufacturer or the importer should use an accredited body for control of the instrument.
In some areas, e.g. store scales and electricity meters, there are requirements on the user of a measuring instrument. The user is responsible to obtain an approved instrument and that the instrument continues to measure with a certain accuracy in the long run. This means amongst other that the user allows the instrument to be checked within certain intervals.
Before a measuring instrument is placed on the market, the manufacturer or the importer should use a notified body which can make the decision if the equipment meets the prescribed requirements. Similarly, an operator must use an accredited inspection body for control of equipment in operation. The notified bodies and the inspection bodies are private actors whose competence are assessed through accreditation.