S.I. No. 243/1979 - European Communities (Gas Volume Meters) Regulations, 1979.

I, DESMOND O'MALLEY, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Energy, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), and for the purpose of giving effect to Commission Directive No. 78/365/EEC of 31 March, 1978¹ hereby make the following Regulations:

¹OJ L 104/26 18 April, 1978.

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Gas Volume Meters) Regulations, 1979.

2. The European Communities (Measuring Instruments) (Amendment) Regulations, 1975 ( S.I. No. 199 of 1975 ), are hereby amended by the substitution of the following Regulation for Regulation 3:

"3. Applications for EEC pattern approval of gas volume meters shall be subject to the provisions of the Annex to Council Directive No. 71/318/EEC of 26 July 1971,² as amended by the Commission Directive No. 74/331/EEC of 12 June 1974³ and Commission Directive No. 78/365/EEC of 31 March 1978."

²OJ L 202/21 6 September, 1971.

³OJ L 189/9 12 July, 1974.

3. Schedule 6 of the European Communities (Measuring Instruments) Regulations, 1973 ( S.I. No. 67 of 1973 ), is hereby amended—

(a) BY THE SUBSTITUTION FOR PARAGRAPH 3 OF CHAPTER I. B. OF THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH:

"3. Additional devices

3.1 Gas volume meters may be fitted with:

( a ) prepayment devices;

( b ) integral pulse generators the outlets of which must bear an indication of the value of one pulse in the form

'1 imp ^ . . . m³ (or dm³)' or

'1 m³ ^ . . . imp'.

These additional devices, where fitted, are regarded as forming an integral part of the meter; they should be connected to the gas volume meter at the time of EEC initial verification. There are no separate requirements regarding their effects on the measuring properties of the meters.

3.2 Gas meters may be fitted with output drive shafts which would be taken to include drive shafts or other facilities for operating detachable additional devices. The torque which the gas meters are required to produce in order to drive the additional devices fitted must not bring about any changes in the meter indication greater than the values specified in Chapters II.5.2.1 and III.5.2.1.

3.2.1 If there is only one drive shaft, it must be characterised by an indication of its constant in the form '1 tr ^ . . . m³ (or dm³)', of the maximum permissible torque in the form 'Max = . . . N.mm' and of the direction of rotation.

3.2.2 If there are several drive shafts, each shaft must be characterised by the letter M with subscript in the form 'M₁; M₂; . . . M_n', as well as by an indication of its constant in the form 1 tr ^ . . . m³ (or dm³)' and of the direction of rotation.

The following formula must appear on the meter, preferably on the data place:

k₁M₁ + k₂ M₂ + . . . + k_nM_{n ≤} £ A N.mm.

in which:

A represents the numerical value of the maximum permissible torque applied to the drive shaft with the highest constant, where the torque is applied only to this shaft; this shaft must be characterised by the letter M₁;

K_i (i = 1; 2; . . . n) represents a numerical value determined as follows:

K_i = /images/si243y79p0003.gif

M_i (i = 1; 2; . . . n) represents the torque applied to the drive shaft characterised by the letter M_i;

C_i (i = 1; 2; . . . n) represents the constant for the drive shaft characterised by the letter M_i.

3.2.3 The extremity of the drive shafts must be protected by means of a sealed cap or by means of a sealed connection between any additional device and the meter.

3.2.4 The connection between the measuring device and the intermediate gearing must not be broken or altered if a torque equal to three times the permissible torque as laid down in Chapters 1.B.3.2.1 and 1.B.3.2.2 is applied."

(b) BY THE SUBSTITUTION FOR SUBPARAGRAPH 4.1 OF PARAGRAPH 4 OF THE SAID CHAPTER 1.B. OF THE FOLLOWING SUBPARAGRAPH:

"4. Inscriptions

4.1 Each meter must bear the following inscriptions, either on the dial plate or on a special data plate or divided between the two:

( a ) the EEC pattern-approval mark;

( b ) the identification mark or name of the manufacturer;

( c ) the number and year of manufacture of the meter;

( d ) the size designation of the meter; this has the form of a capital G followed by a number which is laid down in Chapter II or III;

( e ) the maximum flow as Q_max = . . . m³/h;

( f ) the minimum flow expressed as: Q_min = . . . m³/h (or dm³/h);

( g ) the maximum operating pressure expressed as:

P_max . . . MPa (or kPa or Pa or bar or mbar);

( h ) for volumetric meters, the nominal value of the cyclic volume expressed as: V . . . m³ (or dm³);

( i ) where appropriate, the inscriptions mentioned in Chapters I.B.3.1. and I.B.3.2; these inscriptions may, however, be made on other plates or on the meter itself.

These inscriptions must be clearly visible, easily legible and indelible under the normal conditions of use of the meter."

"8.2.3 Locations should be provided for verification marks or seals:

( a ) on all plates bearing an inscription required by this Schedule;

( b ) on all parts of the meter which cannot otherwise be protected against interference liable to:

— affect or alter the indication on the indicating device of the meter;

— alter or break the connection between the measuring device and the indicating device;

— remove or displace metrologically important parts of the meter."

(d) BY THE SUBSTITUTION FOR PARAGRAPH 9 OF THE SAID CHAPTER I. B. OF THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH:

"9 EEC initial verification

Gas meters submitted for EEC initial verification shall be in working order.

EEC initial verification is no guarantee of the proper functioning or accuracy of reading of any additional devices as referred to in Chapters I.B.3.1 and I.B.3.2 which may be connected to the meter.

No EEC verification marks or EEC seals shall be affixed to such additional devices."

(e) BY THE INSERTION IN PARAGRAPH 5 OF CHAPTER II OF THE FOLLOWING SUBPARAGRAPH AFTER SUBPARAGRAPH 1:

"5.2 Special provisions

5.2.1 When the maximum torques indicated on the gas meter pursuant to Chapters I.B.3.2.1 and I.B.3.2.2 are applied to the drive shafts, the indication of the gas meter at Q_min must not vary by more than 0.5%."

(f) BY THE SUBSTITUTION FOR SUBPARAGRAPH 3 OF PARAGRAPH 6 OF THE SAID CHAPTER II OF THE FOLLOWING SUBPARAGRAPH:

"6.3 Special provisions

6.3.1 For meters for which the operating pressure exceeds 0.1 MPa (1 bar) the provisions of Chapter II.6.2 regarding mechanical pressure absorption shall apply, but the total pressure absorption of these meters as referred to in Chapter II.6.1 shall not be taken into consideration.

6.3.2 The fitting of additional devices must not cause the mechanical pressure absorption of the gas meters to increase by more than 20 Pa (0.2 mbar)."

(g) BY THE SUBSTITUTION FOR PARAGRAPHS 2, 4 AND 5 OF CHAPTER III OF THE SAID SCHEDULE OF THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPHS:

"2. Range of capacities

2.1 Gas volume meters shall have only the ranges shown in the following table which correspond to their G designation:

G Designation	^Qmax^(m³/h)	Range
G Designation	^Qmax^(m³/h)	Small	Medium	Large
^Qmin		(m³/h)
16	25	5	2.5	1.3
25	40	8	4	2
40	65	13	6	3
65	100	20	10	5
100	160	32	16	8
160	250	50	25	13
250	400	80	40	20
400	650	130	65	32
650	1,000	200	100	50
1,000	1,600	320	160	80

and decimal multiples of the last five lines.

4. Test element

4.1 In accordance with the provisions of Chapter I.B.5.2.2 (a) and (b) the scale unit of the test element must not exceed the following values:

for G	16	— G 65 inclusive	0.002	m³
for G	100	— G 650 inclusive	0.02	m³
for G	1 000	— G 6 500 inclusive	0.2	m³
for G	10 000	— and over	2.0	m³

4.2 The interval between numbers on the scale of the test element must not exceed:

for G	16	—G 65 inclusive	0.01	m³
for G	100	—G 650 inclusive	0.1	m³
for G	1 000	—G 6 500 inclusive	1.0	m³
for G	10 000	—and over	10.0	m³

5. Maximum permissible errors

5.1 General provisions

5.1.1 The maximum permissible errors, positive and negative, are given in the following table:

Flow Q

Maximum permissible error in

EEC initial verification

Q _min ≤ Q < 0.2 Q max

0.2 Q _max ≤Q ≤ Q max Q _max

5.1.2 The errors must not all exceed half the maximum permissible error if they are all of the same sign.

5.2 Special provisions

5.2.1 When the maximum torques indicated on the gas volume meter pursuant to Chapters I.B.3.2.1 and I.B.3.2.2 are applied to the drive shafts the indication of the gas volume meter at Q _min must not vary by more than the values given in the following table:

Q _min	Variations in indication at Q _min
0.05 Q _max	1%
0.1 Q_max	0.5%
0.2 Q _max	0.25%

GIVEN under my Official Seal this 12th day of July, 1979.

DESMOND O'MALLEY,

Minister for Industry, Commerce

and Energy.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These regulations are made to give effect, so far as necessary, to Commission Directive No. 78/365/EEC on the approximation of the laws of Member States relating to Gas Volume meters.