Weights and Measures Act 1936

JurisdictionUK Non-devolved
Citation1936 c. 38


Weights and Measures Act, 1936

(26 Geo. 5 & 1 Edw. 8) CHAPTER 38.

An Act to amend the Weights and Measures Acts, 1878 to 1926, by making provision with respect to the measuring, sale, and conveyance of sand, ballast and similar materials, and with respect to the discharge of the functions of the Board of Trade; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.

[31st July 1936]

B E it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

S-1 Certain dealings with sand or ballast to be by weight or by the cubic yard.

1 Certain dealings with sand or ballast to be by weight or by the cubic yard.

(1) No person shall (whether on his own behalf or on behalf of another person) sell, agree to sell or agree to carry any sand or ballast otherwise than by weight or by the cubic yard:

Provided that this subsection shall not apply—

(a ) in relation to any sale, agreement for the sale, or agreement for the carriage, of a quantity of sand or ballast the weight of which is less than one ton and the volume of which is less than one cubic yard;

(b ) in relation to any sale, or agreement for the sale, of any sand or ballast, where it is a term of the sale or agreement that the purchaser is to take delivery in or from a vessel as defined by section seven hundred and forty-two of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 ;

(c ) in relation to any agreement for the carriage of any sand or ballast, if and in so far as it is an agreement for the carriage of that sand or ballast by water, and is made for the purpose of giving or taking delivery in pursuance of such a sale or agreement as is referred to in paragraph (b ) of this proviso;

(d ) in relation to any sale, or agreement for the sale, as a whole, of ballast produced in the demolition or partial demolition of a building, where it is a term of the sale or agreement that the purchaser is to take delivery from the site of the building;

(e ) in relation to any sale, or agreement for the sale, in the state in which it was produced, of ashes or clinker forming a by-product, or any other ballast forming a casual product, of the carrying on of an industrial process on any premises, where it is a term of the sale or agreement that the purchaser is to take delivery from those premises.

(2) No person shall (whether on his own behalf or on behalf of another person) sell, agree to sell, or agree to carry any sand or ballast by the cubic yard, unless the volume of the sand or ballast either is a cubic yard or an integral number of cubic yards, or is any such fraction of a cubic yard as may be prescribed or a multiple of such a fraction.

(3) If any person contravenes this section he shall be guilty of an offence; and every sale or agreement made in contravention of this section shall be void, notwithstanding anything in section nineteen of the principal Act.

(4) Nothing in section nineteen of the principal Act shall be taken to avoid, or to render any person punishable in respect of, any contract, bargain, sale or dealing with regard to sand or ballast, by reason only that the contract, bargain, sale or dealing, as the case may be, is made or had by the cubic yard; and nothing in the said section shall prevent the charging or collection of tolls or duties in respect of sand or ballast by the cubic yard.

(5) An agreement which, in a case where the owner of any sand or ballast undertakes to transfer the property therein to another person in consideration only of an undertaking by that person to remove the sand or ballast from the place at which the property therein passes to him, is made for the purpose of removing the sand or ballast as aforesaid, shall be deemed for the purposes of this Act not to be an agreement for the carriage of that sand or ballast.

S-2 Receptacles for measuring sand or ballast by the cubic yard.

2 Receptacles for measuring sand or ballast by the cubic yard.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, no person shall for the purpose of trade—

(a ) measure sand or ballast by the cubic yard otherwise than in, and by means only of a calibration mark on, a receptacle which, in respect of its form, material, construction, capacity and calibration, and otherwise, conforms with such regulations as may be made by the Board of Trade; or

(b ) have in his possession for use in measuring sand or ballast by the cubic yard any receptacle other than such a receptacle as is mentioned in paragraph (a ) of this subsection;

and if any person contravenes this subsection, he shall be guilty of an offence.

(2) For the purposes of this Act the volume of any sand or ballast in such a receptacle as is mentioned in paragraph (a ) of the preceding subsection shall be taken to be the volume which the sand or ballast appears, according to the calibration of the receptacle, to have when filled in all parts of the receptacle as nearly as the sand or ballast will admit, and when levelled in the receptacle so far as practicable.

(3) Every receptacle (whether forming part of a vehicle or not) which, for the purpose of trade, is used or intended to be used in measuring sand or ballast by the cubic yard shall, subject as hereinafter provided, be deemed for the purposes of the Weights and Measures Acts, 1878 to 1926, to be a measure:

Provided that—

(a ) no such receptacle as aforesaid shall be stamped under section twenty-nine of the principal Act with a stamp of verification unless the receptacle conforms with the regulations made under this section by the Board of Trade;

(b ) sections three and forty-five of the principal Act (which respectively provide for the uniformity and validity of weights and measures throughout the United Kingdom) shall, in relation to any such receptacle, have effect as if for the references in those sections to the United Kingdom there were substituted references to England; and

(c ) nothing in section twenty-four of the principal Act (which makes punishable the use for trade of a measure which is not of the denomination of some Board of Trade standard) shall apply in relation to any such receptacle referred to in this subsection as conforms with the regulations aforesaid.

(4) The power of the Board of Trade under section five of the Weights and Measures Act, 1904 , to make regulations as to the functions of inspectors and local authorities with respect to the examination, verification and testing of receptacles which, by virtue of this section, are deemed to be measures, shall include power to make regulations modifying, in relation to such receptacles, the provisions of sections forty, forty-four, forty-eight and forty-nine of the principal Act in so far as those provisions relate to the examination of measures and to the comparison of measures with local standards.

(5) Where any receptacle which, being deemed to be a measure by virtue of this section, has been verified and stamped under section twenty-nine of the principal Act is altered or repaired, no person shall, for the purpose of trade, use the receptacle, or have it in his possession for use, in measuring sand or ballast by the cubic yard, unless and until it has been re-verified and re-stamped by an inspector; and if any person contravenes this subsection, he shall be guilty of an offence.

(6) The regulations made under this section by the Board of Trade may direct that, for such period and subject to such conditions, if any, as may be specified in the regulations, this section shall not prevent the measurement of sand or ballast in, or apply in relation to, any such class of receptacles constructed before the day on which this Act comes into operation as may be so specified.

(7) In this section the expression ‘trade’ has the meaning assigned to that expression by section nineteen of the principal Act.

S-3 Restrictions on use of vehicles for conveying sand or ballast.

3 Restrictions on use of vehicles for conveying sand or ballast.

(1) No sand or ballast shall, in pursuance of a sale or agreement for the sale or carriage thereof made by weight, be conveyed in or on a vehicle unless the tare weight of the vehicle, ascertained in such manner as may be...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT