DPCED Building Inspection Weights & Measures Opening a New Business

Opening a New Business

Whether sole proprietor or corporation when a new business is established in the City of Madison it needs to license any and all of the weights and measures devices at the place of business. Devices that must be licensed include but are not limited to scales, gas pumps and meters, scanner units, timing devices and yardage measures. Each device or unit will be charged a license fee and will be inspected on an annual basis for compliance.

It is important to contact the weights and measures office prior to the purchase of devices to be assured that the purchase will be legal for trade. Having a National Type Evaluation Program (NTEP) approval means that a prototype of the device was tested and found to be adequate for retail use by NIST or National Institute of Standards and Technology. Once the testing is complete on that device make and model a Certificate of Conformance (COC) is issued to that device. When a business purchases a device, the company they purchased it from should be able to provide a copy of the COC for that particular device.

The licensing program requires the business to register the devices they are using and pay a fee for each device. The inspectors for the program will perform annual inspections to insure that the devices are accurate and correct. This protects consumers from unfair business practices and gives the consumers confidence that they are being treated fairly by the business.

Other items that are very important for businesses to understand and comply with are taking of proper tare when weighing products, using good business practices when changing product prices, following the packaging and labeling law for prepackaged products and making sure the method of sale for particular items is correct.

Weights and Measures License Application (PDF)

Last Updated: 08/16/2013