Weights and measures
Many products are sold by some reference to a weight or a measurement, whether by the pint, litre, gram or metre.
This includes everyday items such as bread, petrol, beer, fruit and vegetables, clothing material and sand.
These goods, whether pre-packed or not, should be of the correct weight or measure stated on the packaging or as indicated on the trading premises.
Trading Standards is here to protect the public from being short-changed.
We enforce a complex set of regulations designed to reassure the public and businesses so that each can have confidence in their purchased products and to ensure fair competition. We do this by:
- routinely inspecting businesses to check weighing and measuring equipment.
- checking products in shops.
- investigating complaints of short measure.
- making Test Purchases to ensure that the correct weights and measures have been sold.
- verifying the accuracy of petrol pumps on petrol forecourts.
- checking unit prices where they are required to be displayed.
The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Trading Standards regularly participates in regional metrology projects involving the test purchasing of products sold loose from bulk for example: fish, meat, olives etc., to establish if the correct weight has been sold.
The law of weights and measures cannot be fully explained here so please look at the guidance leaflets below for more specific advice, and if necessary call Trading Standards on 0208 753 1081 or email your enquiry to: trading_standards@lbhf.gov.uk
Trading Standards work pro-actively in this area of enforcement through regular inspections, but some of the best results are obtained from information provided by consumers. If you have any concerns about a product contact Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06 or click on the following link to their website www.consumerdirect.gov.uk.
Legislation Guidance
Further advice from the Trading Standards Institute is found below (the external website will open in new window):
