Scales, weighing and measuring instruments

• Directive 2014/31/EU — non-automatic weighing instruments
• Directive 2014/32/EU — measuring instruments
• Directive 2014/30/EU — EMC
• Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 — Article 4

Who has to appoint one

Manufacturers outside the Union placing weighing or measuring instruments on the EU market. Instruments used for commercial transactions, taxation, or determining a price require conformity assessment involving a notified body, and cannot be self-declared.

Thresholds and exemptions

Instruments used only for internal purposes fall outside the metrology directives and are ordinary products. The moment the result determines a price, a tax or a legal quantity, the directive applies.

What must appear on the label

CE marking followed by the supplementary metrology marking with the year and the notified body number, the accuracy class, the measuring range, manufacturer and EU representative details, and the type approval certificate number.

Marketplace fields

Marketplaces sell many kitchen and body scales that are outside the directives, but a scale marketed for shop use must carry the metrology marking, and enforcement targets exactly that overlap.

Documentation you must hold

EU declaration of conformity, technical documentation, the EU type-examination certificate, and evidence of the chosen conformity assessment module including production quality assurance where applicable.

Standards and testing

EN 45501 for non-automatic weighing instruments and the applicable OIML-derived standards for other instrument types, plus EMC and environmental testing across the declared operating range.

Language requirements

Instructions and the declaration of conformity in the language of each member state where the instrument is placed on the market.

When it applies

Before placing on the market. Instruments in use are additionally subject to national periodic verification.

How long records are kept

Ten years for the technical documentation.

What happens if you do not comply

Prohibition of use, withdrawal, and fines. Trading with an unverified instrument is enforced separately by national metrology inspectorates, and the trader as well as the supplier is exposed.

Who enforces it

National metrology authorities and market surveillance, notified bodies and customs.

Where the boundary lies

A kitchen scale is a consumer product; the same design sold to a delicatessen for pricing goods is a regulated measuring instrument. The intended use in the marketing decides, and sellers routinely straddle both without the metrology route.

Questions we are asked

Do body scales need metrology approval?

No, if they are for personal use. Scales used for medical weighing or for commercial transactions do.

Is a periodic verification our responsibility?

The manufacturer places the instrument on the market compliant; periodic verification in use is the user's duty under national law, but sellers are expected to inform buyers.