{
  "type": "problem",
  "slug": "measuring-instrument",
  "lang": "en",
  "url": "https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/measuring-instrument/",
  "markdown": "https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/measuring-instrument.md",
  "title": "We sell a scale or a measuring instrument",
  "description": "Weighing instruments and meters in the EU: NAWI uses (a) to (f), the MID instrument annexes, the M metrology marking and the notified body.",
  "answer": "A weighing instrument that needs an operator falls under Directive 2014/31/EU. If it is meant for trade, tolls, legal or medical uses, pharmacies or selling by weight, it needs a notified-body procedure, CE and the M metrology marking. Meters, automatic scales, taximeters and material measures fall under Directive 2014/32/EU. Decide the intended use first, because it decides the procedure.",
  "theme": {
    "id": "placing-on-market",
    "label": "Placing a product on the market"
  },
  "roles": [
    {
      "id": "manufacturer",
      "label": "Manufacturer"
    },
    {
      "id": "importer",
      "label": "Importer"
    }
  ],
  "regulations": [
    "NAWI",
    "MID",
    "GPSR"
  ],
  "path": [
    "regulation-library",
    "product-validation"
  ],
  "trigger": "A scale, meter, measuring tape or similar instrument is being sourced or launched, and a buyer, a retailer or a shop customer asks whether it is legal for trade",
  "keep": "Technical documentation and the EU declaration of conformity for 10 years after the instrument has been placed on the market, for weighing instruments intended for the uses in points (a) to (f) (Directive 2014/31/EU Article 6(3); Directive 2014/32/EU Article 8(3))",
  "why": [
    {
      "text": "Scales are regulated by what they are used for. Directive 2014/31/EU applies to all non-automatic weighing instruments, meaning weighing instruments that require the intervention of an operator during weighing (Articles 1(1) and 2(2)). Article 1(2) then splits their use into seven categories. Points (a) to (f) are the regulated ones: determining mass for commercial transactions; for a toll, tariff, tax, bonus, penalty or similar payment; for applying laws or for an expert opinion in court; for weighing patients in medicine; for making up medicines in a pharmacy and for medical and pharmaceutical laboratory analyses; and for pricing by mass in direct sales to the public and in making up prepackages. Point (g) covers all other applications. The Court of Justice has held that the directive applies where judicial or police authorities use such instruments to determine the mass of a vehicle for applying national criminal legislation (Case C-283/23).",
      "sources": [
        1,
        5
      ]
    },
    {
      "text": "Only the regulated uses carry the full procedure. Instruments for points (a) to (f) meet the essential requirements of Annex I (Article 4), the manufacturer draws up the technical documentation in Annex II and runs the procedure in Article 13, then draws up the EU declaration of conformity and affixes the CE marking and the supplementary metrology marking (Article 6(1) and (2)). The procedures are module B followed by module D or F, module D1 or F1 for instruments without electronic devices and without a spring in the load-measuring device, or module G (Article 13(1)). Instruments for other uses carry the inscriptions in point 2 of Annex III, and devices connected to a regulated instrument but not used for a regulated purpose carry the restrictive use symbol (Articles 6(5) and 18). Member States ensure that instruments are not put into service for the regulated uses unless they meet the directive (Article 3(2)).",
      "sources": [
        1
      ]
    },
    {
      "text": "Other instruments fall under the Measuring Instruments Directive 2014/32/EU. It covers the instruments defined in its Annexes III to XII: water meters, gas meters and volume conversion devices, active electrical energy meters, thermal energy meters, measuring systems for liquids other than water, automatic weighing instruments, taximeters, material measures, dimensional measuring instruments and exhaust gas analysers (Article 2(1)). It sets requirements for the measuring tasks a Member State prescribes for reasons such as fair trading, consumer protection or the levying of taxes (Articles 1 and 3(1)). The manufacturer chooses a procedure from those listed in the instrument annex (Article 17), affixes CE and the metrology marking before placing on the market (Article 22(3)), and keeps the documentation for 10 years (Article 8(3)). Directive (EU) 2026/706 adds measuring systems for electric vehicle supply equipment (MI-011) and for compressed gas dispensers (MI-012) and amends the meter annexes. Member States apply it from 10 October 2028; instruments that conform to Directive 2014/32/EU as it stood on 8 April 2026 and are placed on the market before 10 October 2028 may still be made available (Articles 1 to 3).",
      "sources": [
        2,
        6
      ]
    },
    {
      "text": "Two other layers often apply. A scale sold to consumers for home use is a consumer product, and the General Product Safety Regulation applies insofar as no specific Union provisions with the same objective regulate its safety (Article 2(1)). Because a household scale is still subject to Directive 2014/31/EU, and an electronic one also to Directive 2014/30/EU, the regulation's Chapter II covers the risks those acts leave open, while its Chapter III, Section 1 does not apply to products under a product-specific harmonisation act (Article 2(1), third subparagraph, point (b)). For an electronic scale the EMC Directive settles that. For a purely mechanical point (g) scale, whose only requirement is the inscriptions, follow Articles 9 and 11 as the safe course. Both directives are also listed in Article 4(5) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, so an economic operator established in the Union must keep the declaration and make the technical documentation available to the authorities (Article 4(1) and (3)).",
      "sources": [
        3,
        4
      ]
    }
  ],
  "steps": [
    {
      "name": "Name the instrument type",
      "text": "A weighing instrument that requires an operator during weighing is a non-automatic weighing instrument under Directive 2014/31/EU. Water, gas, active electrical energy and thermal energy meters, measuring systems for liquids other than water, automatic weighing instruments, taximeters, material measures, dimensional measuring instruments and exhaust gas analysers are listed in the instrument annexes of Directive 2014/32/EU. Directive (EU) 2026/706 adds measuring systems for electric vehicle supply equipment and for compressed gas dispensers; Member States apply it from 10 October 2028.",
      "item": "regulation-library"
    },
    {
      "name": "Decide the intended use of a weighing instrument",
      "text": "Article 1(2) of Directive 2014/31/EU lists six regulated uses: commercial transactions, tolls and tariffs, laws and court opinions, weighing patients, pharmacy and medical laboratories, and pricing by weight for direct sale or prepackages. Everything else is point (g). Write the intended use into the product file and the sales material."
    },
    {
      "name": "For regulated uses, book the conformity procedure",
      "text": "Article 13 offers module B followed by D or F, module D1 or F1 for instruments without electronics and without a spring, or module G. The CE marking is followed by the supplementary metrology marking, a capital M and the last two digits of the year in a rectangle, and by the notified body number."
    },
    {
      "name": "For a meter or other MID instrument, follow its annex",
      "text": "Directive 2014/32/EU sets requirements for the measuring tasks a Member State prescribes under Article 3(1). The conformity procedure is chosen from those listed in the relevant instrument annex (Article 17), and the instrument carries CE and the M marking (Articles 21 and 22)."
    },
    {
      "name": "For other uses, mark the limits and check the general rules",
      "text": "A weighing instrument for uses outside points (a) to (f) carries the inscriptions in point 2 of Annex III. A device connected to a regulated instrument but not used for a regulated purpose carries the restrictive use symbol. A household scale sold to consumers also has to be safe under the General Product Safety Regulation.",
      "item": "product-validation"
    }
  ],
  "documents": [
    {
      "name": "An intended-use statement per instrument model",
      "from": "The manufacturer, matched to the sales material",
      "ground": "Directive 2014/31/EU Article 1(2)"
    },
    {
      "name": "Technical documentation and the EU declaration of conformity",
      "from": "The manufacturer",
      "ground": "Directive 2014/31/EU Article 6(2) and Annex II; Directive 2014/32/EU Articles 8(2) and 18"
    },
    {
      "name": "The notified body certificate or approval",
      "from": "The notified body that ran the module",
      "ground": "Directive 2014/31/EU Article 13; Directive 2014/32/EU Article 17"
    }
  ],
  "risks": [
    {
      "title": "The buyer cannot put it into service for trade",
      "text": "Member States ensure that instruments are not put into service for the uses in points (a) to (f) of Article 1(2) unless they meet the directive, and that they continue to conform (Directive 2014/31/EU Article 3(2) and (3)).",
      "source": 1
    },
    {
      "title": "Only compliant instruments may be sold",
      "text": "Member States take all steps to ensure that only instruments that meet the applicable requirements of the directive may be made available on the market (Directive 2014/31/EU Article 3(1)).",
      "source": 1
    },
    {
      "title": "An EU operator must answer for it",
      "text": "Both directives are listed in Article 4(5) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, so an economic operator established in the Union must hold the declaration and supply the documentation on a reasoned request (Article 4(1) and (3)).",
      "source": 4
    }
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "Is a kitchen or bathroom scale for home use covered?",
      "a": "It is a non-automatic weighing instrument, but home use is not one of the regulated uses in points (a) to (f) of Article 1(2) of Directive 2014/31/EU. It falls under point (g) and carries the inscriptions in point 2 of Annex III (Article 6(5)). An electronic scale is also under the EMC Directive 2014/30/EU, a CE act, so the General Product Safety Regulation's Chapter III, Section 1 (Articles 9 to 18) does not apply to it, and the GPSR's safety requirement covers only the risks those directives leave open (Article 2(1)). For a purely mechanical scale, whose only requirement under Directive 2014/31/EU is the inscriptions, follow GPSR Articles 9 and 11 as the safe course."
    },
    {
      "q": "What is the M marking?",
      "a": "The supplementary metrology marking: a capital letter M and the last two digits of the year it was affixed, surrounded by a rectangle as high as the CE marking. It immediately follows the CE marking (Directive 2014/31/EU Articles 16(2) and 17(3); Directive 2014/32/EU Articles 21(2) and 22(5))."
    },
    {
      "q": "Can a retail scale be self-declared?",
      "a": "No. The procedures in Article 13 of Directive 2014/31/EU are modules B with D or F, D1 or F1, or G, and the CE and metrology marking are followed by the number of the notified body involved in the production control phase (Article 17(4))."
    },
    {
      "q": "Do measuring tapes fall under the measuring instruments directive?",
      "a": "Material measures of length, instruments with scale marks in legal units of length, are in Annex MI-008 of Directive 2014/32/EU. For them the requirement to supply a copy of the declaration of conformity may be read as applying to a batch or consignment rather than each instrument (Annex X, MI-008, Chapter I)."
    },
    {
      "q": "Does the EMC Directive still apply to an electronic meter?",
      "a": "Directive 2014/32/EU is a specific directive for electromagnetic immunity; Directive 2014/30/EU continues to apply to emissions (Directive 2014/32/EU Article 2(2))."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Directive 2014/31/EU on non-automatic weighing instruments",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32014L0031",
      "accessed": "2026-10-04"
    },
    {
      "title": "Directive 2014/32/EU on measuring instruments (consolidated text of 27 January 2015)",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02014L0032-20150127",
      "accessed": "2026-10-04"
    },
    {
      "title": "Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety (consolidated text of 29 May 2026)",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02023R0988-20260529",
      "accessed": "2026-10-04"
    },
    {
      "title": "Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 on market surveillance and compliance of products (consolidated text of 12 August 2026)",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02019R1020-20260812",
      "accessed": "2026-10-04"
    },
    {
      "title": "Court of Justice, judgment of 4 July 2024, Case C-283/23 (scope of Directive 2014/31/EU)",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:62023CJ0283",
      "accessed": "2026-10-04"
    },
    {
      "title": "Directive (EU) 2026/706 amending Directive 2014/32/EU as regards measuring systems for electric vehicle supply equipment and compressed gas dispensers, and electricity, gas and thermal energy meters",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32026L0706",
      "accessed": "2026-10-04"
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "needs-ce-marking",
    "which-regulations-apply",
    "units-of-measurement",
    "first-product-launch",
    "retailer-proof"
  ],
  "reviewer": "Conphora compliance team",
  "reviewedAt": "2026-10-05",
  "notice": "General information, not legal advice."
}