Citation and commencement

1.  This Order may be cited as the Meters (Certification) Order 1987 and shall come into force on 1st June 1987.

Interpretation

2.  In this Order-

"single-phase credit meter" means an induction type alternating current single-phase two wire single rate credit meter;

"specified meter" means a static meter, a prepayment meter, a maximum demand meter or a multi-rate meter, being in each case an alternating current meter;

"the Schedule of 1899" means the Schedule to the Electric Lighting (Clauses) Act 1899(3), as incorporated with the Electricity Act 1947 and as amended, adapted and modified(4).

Single-phase credit meters

3.  The certification under the provisions of the Schedule of 1899 of any single-phase credit meter of a type described in column 1 of Schedule 1 hereto at any time during the period set out in relation thereto in column 2 of that Schedule shall, if it has not previously ceased to have effect, cease to have effect at the end of the period prescribed in relation thereto in column 3 of that Schedule beginning with the date of the certification, or on the date prescribed in relation thereto in that column, should that be earlier.

Specified meters

4.  The certification under the provisions of the Schedule of 1899 of any specified meter of a type described in column 1 of Schedule 2 hereto shall, if it has not previously ceased to have effect, cease to have effect at the end of the period prescribed in relation thereto in column 2 of that Schedule beginning with the date of the certification.

Other meters

5.  The certification under the provisions of the Schedule of 1899 of any meter, not being a single-phase credit meter or a specified meter shall, if it has not previously ceased to have effect, cease to have effect at the end of a period of 15 years beginning with the date of the certification.

Permitted alterations

6.  Notwithstanding the proviso to section 50 of the Schedule of 1899 (under which if a meter certified under the provisions of that Schedule is altered it ceases to be certified until it is re-certified) the making of any alteration to the demand indicator mechanism in a maximum demand meter shall not cause the meter to cease to be a certified meter.

Movement

7.  If a meter is so moved that it is disconnected from one consumer's installation and connected to that of another consumer either-

(a)more than once; or

(b)after the expiry of one half of the period for which it would, but for the provisions of this article or some other event, have continued to be a certified meter,

it shall thereupon cease to be a certified meter.

Revocation

8.  The Meters (Permitted Alterations) Order 1958(5) and the Meters (Periods of Certification) Order 1982(6) are hereby revoked.

Article 3

SCHEDULE 1SINGLE-PHASE CREDIT METERS

Article 4

SCHEDULE 2SPECIFIED METERS

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

The Order supersedes and combines, with changes, the Meters (Permitted Alterations) Order 1958 and the Meters (Periods of Certification) Order 1982, both of which are revoked. It prescribes the periods after which the certification of certain classes of electricity meter under the provisions of the Schedule to the Electric Lighting (Clauses) Act 1899 (as incorporated in the Electricity Act 1947 and amended by the Energy Act 1983) shall cease to have effect. The periods (running in each case from the date of certification) are-

(1) for single-phase credit meters (as defined in article 2(1) of the Order): periods of 15 or 20 years (and in one case potentially a shorter period), depending on type of meter and date of certification;

(2) for alternating current static, prepayment, maximum demand and multi-rate meters: 10 or 15 years depending on type of meter; and

(3) for all other meters: 15 years.

The changes thus made comprise the omission of one entry (TM3b) and the inclusion of a new entry (eN(MCR)) in the list in Schedule 1, the addition of one entry (C11 B2-R) to the list in Schedule 2, and the inclusion of static meters in the definition of "specified meters". The TM 3b meter is omitted because all such meters have ceased to be certified. The others were formerly covered by the final entries in the respective schedules.

In addition, four kinds of alteration not affecting the register of a certified meter, which were formerly permitted without the meter's ceasing to be a certified meter, have been omitted. It is also provided that a certified meter may be moved only once, and then only in the first half of its period of certification, without thereby ceasing to be a certified meter.

The words "without an impulse device" have been omitted from the definition of "single-phase credit meter".