Length and Dimensional

Customer story: Trading Standards

Trading Standards(external link), within the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, is the home of legal metrology in New Zealand, and plays two important roles in society. It administers and enforces the country’s system of trade measurement – ensuring that all weighing and measuring equipment, and all goods sold by weight, measure or number are accurate. It also monitors the quality of automotive and marine fuel sold in the country to ensure it complies with all regulations.

On matters of trade measurement, Trading Standards works closely with MSL.

At its three ISO-accredited weights and measures laboratories in Christchurch, Wellington, and Auckland, Trading Standards verifies and calibrates measures of mass, volume and length that are used by Trading Standards Officers and accredited organisations to ensure compliance across the entire sector. At the top of the measurement pyramid is MSL – we verify the highest-level of reference standards used in Trading Standards’ labs which are in turn used to verify other reference standards in their system.

Richard Raven, Testing and Standards Manager at Trading Standards says, “MSL are the experts for scientific metrology and Trading Standards are the same for legal metrology. The two disciplines are complementary, and both are critical to the successful operation of New Zealand's measurement system.”

“This connection lets us link our weights and measures to the SI, the official global measurement system, so people can trust they’re accurate. It’s crucial that we’re able to provide that sort of confidence to the New Zealand government and to consumers. Our work means they can trust what they're buying – whether it’s at the supermarket or the garden centre – is accurate.”

Service

Range/Conditions

Typical turn-around

NZ Price (excl GST)

Gauge blocks* (measured by comparison)

0.5 mm to 100 mm

2 weeks

$30 per gauge plus a $534 report fee**

Gauge blocks* (measured by comparison)

Over 100 mm, less than or equal to 300 mm

2 weeks

$134 per gauge plus a $534 report fee**

Gauge blocks* (measured by comparison)

Over 300 mm and less than or equal to 750 mm.

2 weeks depending on set size

$267 per gauge plus a $534 report fee**

Gauge blocks (measured by interferometry)

0.5 mm to 103 mm

3 weeks depending on set size

$134 per gauge plus a $534 report fee**

Ring gauges, plug gauges, spheres and other diameter standards

0.5 mm to 300 mm

2 weeks depending on set size

Measurement time charged at $267/hour plus a $534 report fee**

Engineering rules

0.1 m to 4 m

2 weeks

$534 including report fee

Tapes

0.5 m to 50 m

2 weeks

$534 + $134 per 4 m of tape including report fee

Petroleum dip tapes

0.5 m to 50 m

2 weeks

$801 + $134 per 4 m of tape including report fee

Survey Staffs

0.5 m to 3 m

2 weeks

$935 including report fee

Optical Parallels/Flats

10 mm to 35 mm

2 weeks depending on set size

$67 per flat plus a $534 report fee**

Graticules and other 2-dimensional artefacts

200 mm x 200 mm

2 weeks depending on nature of working

Measurement time charged at $267/hour plus a $534 report fee**

Roundness

1 mm to 300 mm

2 weeks

Measurement time charged at $267/hour plus a $534 report fee**

3-dimensional coordinate   metrology

500 mm x 700 mm x 450 mm

2 weeks depending on nature of working

Measurement time charged at $267/hour plus a $534 report fee**