6.1-Messgeräterichtlinie

The “Directive 2004/22/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 31 March 2004 on measuring instruments“ was published on 30 April 2004 in the Official Journal of the European Union and came into force on the same day. Its application by the member states of the European Union and the European Economic Area became effective by

30 October 2006.

The member states of the European Union issue and publish legal and administrative regulations, in order to implement this directive into national law. In Austria this was effected by the ordinance BGBl. (Federal gazette) II No. 274/2006 of the Federal ministry of economy, family and youth (BMWFJ) and the respective verification regulations of the Federal office of metrology and surveying (Bundesamtes für Eich- und Vermessungswesen - BEV) in the Official Bulletin of the Metrology Service No. 3/2006 (special issue).

For the following 10 types of measuring instruments the initial placing on the market and putting into service is regulated by the same requirements Europe-wide:

· MI-001 - Water meters

· MI-002 - Gas meters and volume conversion devices

· MI-003 - Active electrical energy meters

· MI-004 - Heat meters

· MI-005 - Measuring systems for the continous and dynamic measurement

of quantities of liquids other than water

· MI-006 - Automatic weighing instruments

· MI-007 - Taximeters

· MI-008 - Material measures

· MI-009 - Dimensional measuring instruments

· MI-010 - Exhaust gas analysers (no mandatory verification in Austria)

In the directive procedures are specified besides essential and specific requirements, according to which the manufacturers have to declare the conformity of their measuring instruments with the requirements (implying a notified body) at their placing on the market and/or putting into service. They will be completed by harmonized standards and normative documents (e.g. CEN, CENELEC, or even OIML), which contain more precise requirements and testing procedures.

By transitional provisions it is guaranteed, that nationally approved measuring instruments are allowed to be placed on the market and put into service for the next 10 years as a maximum. This period expires at 30 October 2016.

Conformity marking:

At the following configuration of the marking the instrument has been placed on the market lawfully: