Compliance Monitoring (Planning and Environment)

Measurements to demonstrate compliance with limits that have been set in a planning condition, environmental permit, a notice issued under the Environmental Protection Act or a legally binding contract, are legal metrology. 

How confident are you that if your measurement system were to be scrutinised it would be given a clean bill of health? 

For noise, you have probably made certain that the sound level meter has been calibrated by a laboratory within the last 24 months and that it has been field calibrated with an acoustic calibrator that has been laboratory calibrated within the last 12 months. UKAS accredited calibration is generally accepted as being a higher standard than “traceable” because the laboratory’s traceability, management and processes have been independently audited by UKAS.

Annual/bi-annual laboratory calibration, however, is actually only a verification of instruments’ performance in a limited number of tests at laboratory conditions. If the calibration certificate complies with BS EN 61672 for sound level meters there will be a statement that either says “As public evidence was available….the sound level meter submitted for testing conforms to the class 1 requirements of IEC 61672-1” or “However, no general statement or conclusion can be made about conformance of the sound level meter to the full requirements of IEC 61672 because evidence was not publicly available..”. Similar statements appear on calibration certificates for acoustic calibrators calibrated in conformance with BS EN 60942. This may seem academic but unless the calibration certificate contains the first statement (As public evidence was available) you have no evidence to support the claim that you have used Class 1 instrumentation and your measurements may be questioned.

You can be assured that if you use a Rion NL-53 (or older NL-52), Norsonic Nor145 or Nor140 with approved accessories that suitable independent evidence will be available that your measurement chain is Class 1. For compliance with BS EN 61672/BS EN 60942 the evidence must be a available from an independent testing organisation responsible for pattern approval tests (“Type-Testing”) in accordance with BS EN 61672-2/Annex A of BS EN 60942.

The situation is slightly more complicated for vibration. ANV Measurement Systems’ laboratory is traceable to national standards and the Rion VM-56, in particular, complies with BS EN ISO 8014 and therefore BS 6472-1. 

The TSI indicative particulate/dust monitors supplied by ANV have MCERTS Certification up to 10,000 µgm-3 and calibration is carried out at TSI’s UKAS accredited laboratory (20064). 

ANV Measurement Systems’ experienced and expert professionals are available during normal UK office hours for advice.