NTEP Column
The History of the National Type Evaluation Program Darrell Flocken NTEP Administrator
The creation of the National Type Evaluation Program (NTEP) was first discussed in the late 1970s as a way for manufacturers to get new or enhanced product to the marketplace sooner while maintaining the confidence in the products performance by the regulatory community. Prior to the creation of NTEP, manufacturers presented their products to the Weights and Measures Department of the individual states, before or at the time of the first installation in the state. A representative of the department would then perform extensive testing to ensure confidence that the product complied with the
specifications and tolerances found in Handbook 44. I’m sure you can understand the burden this placed on the local weights and measures resources as well as the added time and expense for the manufacturer to have the product accepted for use in the marketplace. In the late 1970s, manufacturers of weighing and measuring instruments and leaders of the National Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM) held meetings to discuss ways to improve the process. This led to the idea of creating an independently operated program where manufacturers could have their instruments evaluated and receive a Certificate of Conformance. This certificate could then be used as proof of compliance to state, local, and city regulatory jurisdictions. Before we go any further, we need to recognize that the National Bureau of Standards, the predecessor to the NIST, Office of Weights and Measures, offered this independent evaluation as early as the 1960s, however, the focus of this effort was on the larger weighing instrument such as hopper, vehicle, and railway track scales. This focus was limited, in part, to not having access to a laboratory which could evaluate the smaller scales. Coming back to the creation of NTEP, during the discussions it was agreed that not only should the evaluation be performed by an independent organization, but the organization should also work closely with manufacturers and regulators to create a common test method to confirm compliance to the requirements in the Handbook. These goals were satisfied by the creation of state operated laboratories to perform the evaluations and the creation of the NTEP technical sectors where manufacturers and regulators meet once a year to review the most recent changes to the Handbook and create/improve the test methods used for the evaluation. This discussion ultimately resulted in the creation of NTEP which opened its doors in 1986 and here we are, almost 38 years later and the basic concept of the program still stands. From its inception, the program was managed originally by NIST, OWM staff until 2000 when its management transitioned to the NCWM. At that same time NTEP introduced and began administering the Verified Conformity Assessment Program. Today, through its association with the NCWM, NTEP has developed a working relationship with Measurement Canada under the U.S/Canada, Mutual Recognition Arrangement for the common evaluation of specific products and participates as a Utilizer in the OIML-CS for acceptance of test data for load cells.
NCWM-News 5
2024 Issue 3
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