Texas Administrative Code › Title 4 - AGRICULTURE › Part 1 - TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE › Chapter 12 - WEIGHTS AND MEASURES › Subchapter A - DEFINITIONS › Section 12.1 - Definitions

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12,
				  2024
In addition to the definitions set out in the Texas
					 Agriculture Code, Chapter 13 and Texas Administrative Code, Title 4, Part 1,
					 §1.1, the following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have
					 the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) ASTM--American Society for Testing
				  Materials
(2) Audit--An official
				  department administrative review of all device inspections, tests, and
				  calibrations records and/or related documentation.
(3) Certificate of authority --Written
				  authorization issued by the department authorizing a public weigher to issue an
				  official certificate.
(4)
				  Certified/Certification--Written verification from a department-approved
				  laboratory declaring the accuracy of a service company's test
				  standards.
(5) Code--The Texas
				  Agriculture Code.
(6) Commercial
				  transaction--The purchase, offer or submission for sale, hire or award, or
				  barter or exchange of an item.
(7)
				  Consumer information sticker --A sticker that directs consumers to
				  registration, inspection, and complaint information regarding a device; and
				  that must be placed on each weighing or measuring device used for commercial
				  transactions.
(8) Device--Any scale
				  or liquefied petroleum gas meter used in a commercial transaction. Device
				  includes any accessory which may affect accuracy. The term also includes
				  weighing and measuring equipment in official use for the enforcement of law or
				  for the collection of statistical information by government agencies.
(9) Immediate consumption food scale --A
				  scale exclusively used to weigh food sold in accordance with Section 13.1002 of
				  the Code.
(10) Inspection--The act
				  of examining, testing, or calibrating a weighing or measuring device, including
				  department audits, service observations, and onsite facility review
				  duties.
(11) LPG Meter--A device
				  used for the measurement of liquefied petroleum gas.
(12) NIST--National Institute of Standards
				  and Technology, United States Department of Commerce.
(13) NIST Handbook 44--NIST publication that
				  sets the specifications, tolerances, and other technical requirements for
				  weighing and measuring devices.
(14) Official certificate--A certificate
				  declaring the accurate weight or measure of a commodity which includes: the
				  time and date the weight or measure was taken, signature and license number of
				  the public weigher, and the seal of the department.
(15) OIML--International Organization of
				  Legal Metrology.
(16) Operator of a
				  Device--A person operates a device if the person collects or distributes
				  payments for a commercial transaction for which the device is used; oversees
				  the day-to-day operation of the device; or owns, leases, manages, or otherwise
				  controls the physical location of the device or the device itself.
(17) Out-of-order tag--A notice attached to a
				  device directing that the device may not be used for commercial
				  service.
(18) Person--An individual
				  or a corporation, partnership, limited liability company, business trust,
				  trust, association, or other organization, estate, government or governmental
				  subdivision or agency, or other legal entity.
(19) Ranch scale--A livestock scale which is
				  located on a private ranch and which has a capacity of 5,000 pounds or
				  greater.
(20) Representative of the
				  Commissioner--An individual employed by the department authorized to perform
				  one or more of the following: audits, reviews, inspections, and/or service
				  observations under specified chapters of the Code.
(21) Service observation--An official
				  department observation completed by a Representative of the Commissioner on
				  service technicians that occurs periodically to ensure compliance with the
				  applicable standards of device inspection, testing, and calibrating.
(22) Service report--A prescribed report,
				  prepared by a service technician and filed with the department by a service
				  company, describing the services performed on a device or a set of devices by
				  the service technician.
(23)
				  Sub-kit--A subdivided series of test standards that weigh a total of not less
				  than one pound in avoirdupois units and whose smallest test standard weighs not
				  more than one-sixteenth (1/16) ounce or five-thousandths (0.005)
				  pound.
(24) Test--A field
				  examination of a device to determine compliance with the requirements of this
				  chapter.
(25) Test Standard--A
				  certified weight or measure used to test a device.
(26) Test kit--A collection of test standards
				  that collectively weigh 30 pounds and that consists of one sub-kit, at least
				  one one-pound standard, and any other combination of standards that allows a
				  scale with a capacity of 30 pounds or less be tested in one-pound increments to
				  capacity.