Standards Weights and Measures Inspections
With a total of 39 inspectors, we are tasked with protecting equity and fairness throughout the market place. All kinds of products and goods are sold across the state by weight, measure, or count. Our inspectors protect both the consumers and the businesses by verifying that these content statements are true. Whether it’s your local meat package stamped with a weight or several tons of product stamped with our weighmaster seal. Consumers must feel confidence carrying out their purchase. In the same manner, if a product is advertised at a certain price then that certain price is what the consumer should expect to pay. Our inspectors perform audits that can uncover these overcharges and lead to fines. Across the state, inspectors are out there every day protecting and upholding fairness in the marketplace.
Fuel Meters
Our inspectors use certified, calibrated provers to test meters found at gas stations, on delivery trucks and different fuel loading racks. Five-gallon provers are used for retail gasoline pumps/meters. Twenty-five gallon and Fifty-gallon provers are used for meters that move fuel at a faster rate, such as high volume diesel dispensers. Our larger provers, one hundred and five hundred gallons, are used for testing vehicle tank meters and loading racks.
Scales
Our inspectors inspect scales from small to large across our state that are being used to calculate or determine a price. These may be inside your local grocery store, hardware store or coffee shop. Farmers use scales daily at their road side stands or gather at farmer markets to sell their product. Larger scales are used at scrap yards and alongside our highways to weigh trucks or the product they are hauling. From grams to tons, accuracy matters and can affect the consumer price drastically.
Net Content
"Net content" is found on many packages and it is the amount (by weight or volume) of the product being purchased, less any packaging materials. For example, every day consumers visit their grocery meat case and buy products based on their weight. Our inspectors audit these meat cases and make sure that accurate weight declarations are recorded on the packages, meaning the store has subtracted out the weight of the packaging or tare weight. We use certified weights and NTEP approved scales to measure the accuracy of these weight declarations. In the spring, inspectors focus on manufacturers or fertilizer (sold by weight) and mulch (sold by volume). With prices continuing to rise, even small errors in weight can cost consumers large amounts of money. Our inspectors are working in grocery stores, small and large retail stores, farmer markets, and many other businesses each day to ensure customers can trust accurate weight declarations.
Prince Scanning Accuracy
When a price for a product is posted or advertised, consumers should expect to pay that advertised price. North Carolina has it’s “misrepresentation of pricing” statue that gives our inspectors the ability to perform inspections and levy fines on any business that breaks this statue. Our audit usually consists of 50 to 100 items being pulled and cross referenced between the posted/shelf price and the scanning system database. Businesses are only allowed 2 out of 100 items to be incorrect against the customer (an overcharge) before the inspection fails. Over the past few years price accuracy has been our number one complaint received.