Book Description

NIST Handbook 44 includes specifications, tolerances, and other technical requirements for weighing and measuring devices. These requirements are intended to encourage the design, installation, testing, and use of weighing and measuring devices that provide for accurate, repeatable measurements; facilitate clear and transparent transactions for buyer and seller; and do not facilitate fraud. NIST Handbook 44 is adopted by many state, local, and some federal weights and measures authorities to apply to commercial weighing and measuring equipment and associated equipment and for use in applications for law enforcement and the collection of statistical information by government agencies. NIST has a statutory responsibility for "cooperation with the states in securing uniformity of weights and measures laws and methods of inspection" and publishes this and other NIST Handbooks in partial fulfillment of this responsibility. NIST Handbook 44 was first published in 1949, having been preceded by similar handbooks of various designations and in several forms, beginning in 1918; the handbook is now typically published on an annual basis. This 2023 edition includes amendments made through the Committee on Specifications and Tolerances of the National Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM) with technical guidance from the Office of Weights and Measures (OWM) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and input from weights and measures officials and industry representatives. These amendments were adopted by the NCWM at its 107th Annual Meeting in July 2022.