What Is NTEP?

What is NTEP?

NTEP stands for National Type Evaluation Program, an approval system created by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standard and Technology (NIST) and the National Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM). Any scale or balance used for sales in the U.S. must be NTEP-approved/legal-for-trade, meaning that it’s legally approved for buying or selling goods by weight. Given the high price point per ounce and that dispensaries sell cannabis in small quantities, a scale needs a high degree of readability to ensure the correct amount of product is sold.

How to obtain NTEP certification for weighing scales and balances

To obtain NTEP certification (per the guidelines listed in NIST’s Handbook 44), scale manufacturers submit prototype weighing devices for evaluation to determine that they operate within specific tolerances. NTEP standards entail everything about a device from capacity and readability to the effects on the scale from temperature and humidity – and even the location of the NTEP sticker on the device!

scale classes include Class I (ideal for precision lab work; 100,000+ divisions), Class II scales display results from 1mg to 50mg (0.05g) and have 10,000 – 100,000 divisions, or better, Class III (industrial or commercial use, such as animal weighing, food weighing and postal scales; 1,000 – 10,000 divisions), Class III L (vehicle weighing) and Class IIII (used for highway weight enforcement; 100 – 1,000 divisions).

Put simply, NTEP certification provides consumers with the confidence that that they’re getting what they paid for by requiring a high degree of readability on the scale. 

INTEL WEIGHING have many NTEP aprroved scale parts, if you are interested in this, please contact us freely sales@intelweighing.com