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Statutory Instrument 1990 No. 792

The Meters (Certification) Regulations 1990

(The document as of February, 2008)

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STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS

1990 No. 792

ELECTRICITY

The Meters (Certification) Regulations 1990

Made29th March 1990
Coming into force31st March 1990

    The Director General of Electricity Supply in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 31 and 60 of, and paragraphs 5 and 13[1] of Schedule 7 to, the Electricity Act 1989[2] and of all other enabling powers, and with the consent of the Secretary of State in accordance with paragraph 13 of Schedule 7 to that Act, hereby makes the following Regulations:-
    Citation and commencement
        1.    These Regulations may be cited as the Meters (Certification) Regulations 1990 and shall come into force on 31st March 1990.
    Interpretation
        2.—(1)  In these Regulations-
      "the Act" means the Electricity Act 1989;

      "approved" means approved by or under regulations made under paragraph 2 of Schedule 7 to the Act;

      "authorised examiner" means a person who is authorised in accordance with regulation 6;

      "authorised manufacturer" means a person who is authorised in accordance with regulation 4;

      "authorised repairer" means a person who is authorised in accordance with regulation 5;

      "directions" means any directions issued by the Director under paragraph 6(1) of Schedule 7 to the Act;

      "meter examiner" means a person appointed under paragraph 4 of Schedule 7 to the Act;

      "permitted margins of error" means the margins of error referred to in regulation 8.

        (2)  Unless the context otherwise requires, any reference in these Regulations to a numbered regulation or Schedule is a reference to the regulation in or the Schedule to these Regulations bearing that number; and any reference in a regulation or a Schedule to a numbered paragraph is a reference to the paragraph of that regulation or Schedule bearing that number.
    Certified meter
        3.    Subject to regulation 12, a meter shall not be regarded as certified for the purposes of the Act until a certificate in respect of that meter has been issued by a meter examiner or an authorised examiner in accordance with these Regulations and that meter shall continue to be regarded as certified for those purposes until that certificate has been revoked under regulation 10.
    Authorised manufacturer
        4.—(1)  Any person who manufactures meters and satisfies the Director that-
       (a) he owns or has available to him apparatus for the examination, testing and regulation of meters which complies with directions;
       (b) in respect of each manufacturing unit which he specifies in writing to the Director, he operates a quality assurance system in respect of any meter manufactured by him at that unit which conforms to the standard contained in British Standard BS 5750 Part I 1987; and
       (c) he would be capable of complying with the conditions set out in paragraph (2),
    may be authorised as a manufacturer by the Director for the purpose of these Regulations in respect of any one or more manufacturing units described in his authorisation for a period not exceeding three years but so that any authorisation may be renewed from time to time.

        (2)  An authorisation granted by the Director to a person who satisfies the provisions of paragraph (1) shall be subject to the following conditions-
       (a) that the authorisation will only apply in respect of meters which have been manufactured at a manufacturing unit described in his authorisation and have been examined, tested and regulated using the apparatus referred to in sub-paragraph (a) of paragraph (1);
       (b) that the authorised person will operate at all times at each manufacturing unit described in his authorisation a quality assurance system which conforms to the standard referred to in sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (1) and will maintain a record in permanent form of the system which he operates and of the actions taken to comply with that system in respect of the meter or meters which he intends to submit for certification in accordance with regulation 7;
       (c) that the authorised person shall secure that each meter referred to in sub-paragraph (b) of this paragraph shall be examined and tested in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 1;
       (d) that the authorised person shall cause every meter in respect of which a certificate has been issued under regulation 8 or 9 to be so stored while it remains under his control and so packaged for delivery when it is to be dispatched from his control as to prevent, so far as reasonably practicable, damage which would cause it to operate in a manner which would not conform with the permitted margins of error; and
       (e) that the authorised person will permit the Director or any person duly authorised by him to have access to any manufacturing unit described in his authorisation and to examine and test all apparatus and to inspect all records referred to in this paragraph at all reasonable times for the purpose of ensuring that the authorised person is complying with the conditions of his authorisation.

        (3)  An authorisation under this regulation may be terminated at any time by the Director upon giving not less than 28 days notice to the authorised person if-
       (a) he is breach of any condition of his authorisation or of his duty to comply with directions and (in the case of a breach which is capable of being remedied) has failed to remedy that breach as soon as reasonably practicable after notice has been given to him by the Director specifying the breach; or
       (b) he has failed to pay any fee payable by him in accordance with regulation 11.

        (4)  For the purpose of this regulation-
       (a) a person shall be treated as a manufacturer of a meter if he has caused the meter to be assembled so as to comply with the conditions of his authorisation but has not himself manufactured every component part of the meter;
       (b) "assembled" includes the carrying out of repairs or modifications to a meter within a period of twelve months after the date upon which a certificate in respect of that meter was first issued under regulation 8 or 9; and
       (c) "manufacturing unit" means one or more premises at which meters are assembled but excluding any premises or that part of any premises which are used for the cleaning and repair of meters which have previously been used for measuring the quantity of electricity supplied.

    Authorised repairer
        5.—(1)  Any person who repairs meters and satisfies the Director that-
       (a) he owns or has available to him apparatus for the examination, testing and regulation of meters which comply with directions;
       (b) in respect of each repair unit which he specifies in writing to the Director, he operates a quality assurance system in respect of any meters repaired by him at that unit which conforms to the standard contained in British Standard BS 5750 Part II 1987; and
       (c) he would be capable of complying with the conditions set out in paragraph (2),
    may be authorised as a repairer by the Director for the purpose of these Regulations in respect of any one or more repair units described in his authorisation for a period not exceeding three years but so that any authorisation may be renewed from time to time.

        (2)  Any authorisation granted by the Director to a person who satisfies the provisions of paragraph (1) shall be subject to the following conditions-
       (a) that the authorisation will only apply in respect of meters which have been repaired at a repair unit described in his authorisation and examined, tested and regulated using the apparatus referred to in sub-paragraph (a) of that paragraph;
       (b) that the authorised person will operate at all times at each repair unit described in his authorisation a quality assurance system which conforms to the standard referred to in sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (1) and will maintain a record in permanent form of the system which he operates and of the actions taken to comply with that system in respect of the meter or meters which he intends to submit for certification in accordance with regulation 7;
       (c) that the authorised person will cause each meter which is repaired at a repair unit described in his authorisation to be repaired to a standard and using such materials as would reasonably be expected to enable it to operate within the permitted margins of error for not less than 10 years;
       (d) that the authorised person shall secure that each meter referred to in sub-paragraph (b) of this paragraph shall be examined and tested in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 1;
       (e) that the authorised person shall cause every meter in respect of which a certificate has been issued under regulation 8 or 9 to be so stored while it remains under his control and so packaged for delivery when it is to be dispatched from his control as to prevent, so far as reasonably practicable, damage which would cause it to operate in a manner which would not conform with the permitted margins of error; and
       (f) that the authorised person will permit the Director or any person duly authorised by him to have access to any repair unit described in his authorisation and to examine and test all apparatus and to inspect all records referred to in this paragraph at all reasonable times for the purpose of ensuring that the authorised person is complying with the conditions of his authorisation.

        (3)  An authorisation under this regulation may be terminated at any time by the Director upon giving not less than 28 days notice to the authorised person if-
       (a) he is in breach of any condition of his authorisation or of his duty to comply with directions and (in the case of a breach which is capable of being remedied) has failed to remedy that breach as soon as reasonably practicable after notice has been given to him by the Director specifying the breach; or
       (b) he has failed to pay any fee payable by him in accordance with regulation 11.

        (4)  For the purpose of this regulation "repair unit" means one or more premises at which meters which have previously been used for measuring the quantity of electricity supplied are cleaned repaired tested or regulated but excluding any premises or that part of any premises which are used for the manufacture or assembly of meters.
    Authorised examiner
        6.—(1)  A public electricity supplier, an authorised manufacturer or an authorised repairer may nominate a competent person for the purpose of this regulation.

        (2)  If the Director is satisfied that a person nominated under paragraph (1)-
       (a) is competent to carry out the functions contained or referred to in regulation 8; and
       (b) is not employed by the person nominating him to carry out any task relating to the manufacture or repair of meters,
    the Director may appoint that person to be an authorised examiner for the purposes of certifying meters in accordance with these Regulations.

        (3)  For the purpose of sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (2) a person shall not be treated as carrying out such a task unless he is required to examine, test or regulate a meter prior to the time at which that meter is submitted to him in accordance with regulation 7.

        (4)  An authorisation granted by the Director to a person who satisfies the provisions of paragraph (2) shall be subject to the following conditions-
       (a) that the authorisation will only apply in respect of meters which have been manufactured or repaired (as the case may be) by the person by whom he was nominated under paragraph (1);
       (b) that, where regulation 9 applies, he will examine and test not less than the number of meters selected in accordance with a sampling procedure determined by the Director having regard to national or international sampling procedures or plans;
       (c) that he will send to the Director not less than seven days after the expiry of each month a report stating the number of meters which have been submitted to him in accordance with regulation 7 and the number of meters in respect of which a certificate has been issued under regulation 8 or 9 during the preceding month; and
       (d) that he will retain a copy of each certificate issued by him for a period of not less than one year from the date of issue and will produce the copy to the Director if requested to do so.

        (5)  An authorisation under this regulation may be terminated at any time by the Director upon giving not less than 28 days notice to the authorised person if-
       (a) he is in breach of any condition of his authorisation and (in the case of a breach which is capable of being remedied) has failed to remedy that breach as soon as reasonably practicable after notice has been given to him by the Director specifying the breach;
       (b) he fails to exercise proper care and attention in performing his functions under regulation 8 or 9; or
       (c) where the authorised person is unable (otherwise than temporarily) to perform his functions under regulations 8 or 9.

        (6)  Where-
       (a) a person nominated under paragraph (1) and authorised under paragraph (2) is temporarily unable for any reason to act as an authorised examiner;
       (b) the person by whom he was nominated has nominated another person under paragraph (1) who has been authorised under paragraph (2); and
       (c) the person referred to in sub-paragraph (a) of this paragraph is again able to act as an authorised examiner;
    the Director may give not less than 28 days notice in writing to the authorised person referred to in sub-paragraph (b) of this paragraph terminating his authorisation.
    Application for certification
        7.—(1)  A person who requires a meter to be certified for the purposes of the Act may submit the meter to an authorised examiner who is authorised to certify a meter submitted by that person, or to a meter examiner.

        (2)  Each meter which is submitted for certification shall be accompanied by a report signed by an authorised manufacturer, an authorised repairer or a public electricity supplier.

        (3)  A report for the purpose of paragraph (2) shall contain the statements and information specified in Schedule 2 which is appropriate to the type of meter to which it relates including, where that meter is designed to operate with a transformer, the statements and information relating to the transformer.
    Procedure for certification
        8.—(1)  Subject to regulation 9, a meter which is submitted to a meter examiner or an authorised examiner shall not be certified by him unless he is satisfied that the meter-
       (a) is of an approved pattern or construction;
       (b) is accompanied by the report referred to in paragraph (2) of regulation 7;
       (c) has been tested in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 3 and conforms to the standards described in that Schedule; and
       (d) that the meter can reasonably be expected to operate within the permitted margins of error for a period of not less than ten years from the date upon which it is certified.

        (2)  The permitted margins of error shall be an error not exceeding 2.5 per centum plus or 3.5 per centum minus at any load at which the meter is designed to operate.

        (3)  Where the examiner is satisfied that a meter complies with paragraph (1), he shall issue a certificate of compliance specifying the serial number of the meter.

        (4)  Each certificate under paragraph (3) shall be numbered in the sequence in which it is issued.

        (5)  A certificate signed by the examiner by whom it is issued under paragraph (3) shall be conclusive evidence that the meter has been certified for the purpose of these Regulations.
    Batch certification
        9.—(1)  Where-
       (a) a number of meters have been submitted to an examiner at the same time by the same person;
       (b) that person is a public electricity supplier, an authorised manufacturer or an authorised repairer;
       (c) each meter is of an approved pattern or construction and is accompanied by the report referred to in paragraph (2) of regulation 7; and
       (d) the examiner has examined and tested a sufficient number of the meters to satisfy himself that it provides a reasonable test of all of them,
    he may issue a certificate in respect of all the meters so submitted to him specifying or identifying the serial number of each meter and that shall be a certificate for every meter so specified.

        (2)  Where a certificate is issued under this regulation, a copy of the certificate which is stated to be a true copy of the original certificate and is signed by an examiner, a public electricity supplier, an authorised manufacturer or an authorised repairer shall be sufficient evidence that each meter, the serial number of which is specified or identified in that copy certificate, was duly certified for the purpose of these Regulations.
    Revocation of certification
        10.—(1)  A meter in respect of which a certificate has been issued under regulation 8 or 9 shall be a certified meter for the purpose of these Regulations until-
       (a) the approval of the type or pattern of construction of that meter is revoked in the prescribed manner;
       (b) it is or becomes installed in a manner which is not an approved manner of installation;
       (c) the certificate in respect of that meter or of meters of that type is revoked in the prescribed manner; or
       (d) any alteration is made to the meter other than the making of any alteration to the demand indicator mechanism in a maximum demand meter.

        (2)  For the purpose of sub-paragraphs (a) and (c) of paragraph (1) the prescribed manner shall be by or under regulations made under paragraph 2 or 5 of Schedule 7 to the Act.
    Fees
        11.—(1)  Any person who submits a meter for certification under regulation 7 shall pay to the Director in accordance with paragraph (3)-
       (a) in respect of each meter submitted for certification by a meter examiner a fee of 29 pence; or
       (b) in respect of each meter submitted for certification by an authorised examiner a fee of 17 pence.

        (2)  Within seven days after the last day of each calendar month in which a person has submitted a meter to a meter examiner or an authorised examiner under regulation 7, he shall deliver to the Director a statement of the number of meters which he has submitted during the preceding month.

        (3)  Within thirty days of the delivery of the statement referred to in paragraph (2), he shall pay to the Director a fee calculated in accordance with paragraph (1) in respect of the meters referred to in that statement.
    Transitional
        12.    Any meter which has been certified under the provisions of section 50 of the Schedule to the Electric Lighting (Clauses) Act 1899[3] shall be a certified meter for the purpose of these Regulations for the remainder of the period of certification applicable to that meter immediately prior to the coming into force of these Regulations or until the happening of an event described in regulation 10 relating to that meter, whichever first occurs.



S. C. Littlechild

The Director General of Electricity Supply

28th March 1990
I consent

John Wakeham

Secretary of State for Energy

29th March 1990




Notes:

[1] See the definitions of "prescribed" and "regulations".

[2] 1989 c. 29.

[3] 1899 c. 19.

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