Inscale’s Guide to Trade Approved Scales

If you’re searching around for a weighing scale, you should consider whether you need a trade approved scale. Though you're required to use them commercially, trade approved scales are beneficial in other ways as well. We’ll discuss the benefits in this blog.

What is a Trade Approved Scale?

Trade approved scales are scales that have undergone rigorous governmental testing to prove that they’re accurate and precise enough for use commercially to price by weight.

How do Approvals Work?

In the UK and EU, if a scale or balance is found to be within standards, it’s granted EC Type Approval. This kind of approval is effective within the UK and EU only, as most countries have their own regulatory system. One scale can offer multiple different kinds of approval if it’s passed each testing process.

Accuracy Classes

Scales and balances that earn trade approval are assigned an accuracy class. Accuracy classes are categories meant to represent different levels of precision. Approved semi-micro and analytical balances are typically Class I, while precision balances like Adam Equipment’s Highland Approved are Class II. Bench scales such as the Swift Price Computing Scale would be Class III, while approved industrial platform scales would fit into Class IIII.

This allows you to make the most informed decisions when purchasing trade approved scales.

Why Might You Want Trade Approval?

There are a few different reasons why using a trade approved scale can be the best call – let’s get into them.

Pricing by Weight

Legally speaking, you need to use a trade approved scale when pricing items by weight, like when a butcher sells steaks by the kilogram. Not doing so can lead to heavy fines or even jail time, depending on the seriousness of the offense.

Certain types of legal-for-trade scales make commercial transactions easier, like Adam’s Swift and Kern’s RPB Retail Scales. They both offer product lookups (PLUs) to save the unit weight and prices of popular products, as well as a full numeric keypad to enter and search for them. Both scales feature three displays for total weight, unit weight and price to pay.

However, you can use any trade approved scale to stay compliant as long as it’s certified in your region. You may need to freshen up on your maths, as you’ll need to calculate the price using the weight yourself.

Weight-Based Rewards

For rewards that are granted based on weight, the organisation granting the reward should verify using a trade approved scale. For example, a fishing competition where the winner is determined by the heaviest fish, or a competition for the heaviest naturally grown pumpkin (which, as of Dec. 2025, is 1,246.9kg). Using a trade approved scale provides the organization with governmental backing that can help safeguard against claims made by disappointed contestants.

Guaranteed Accuracy

Some industries use trade approved scales even if they aren’t pricing by weight at all. This is because of their guaranteed accuracy – their class level. An accuracy class provides verified proof that a scale or balance meets very detailed specification requirements. We've attached a chart from the 2025 edition of the NIST Handbook 44 below. It’s one of many illustrating the type of standards a scale or balance must meet.

Laboratories may look to employ a Class I analytical balance for the extra sense of certainty in the quality of their results.

The NAWI directive lists other types of tasks that require the use of a trade approved scale and don’t necessarily involve pricing by weight:

• Determination of mass for the calculation of a toll, tariff, tax, penalty, remuneration, indemnity or similar type of payment
• Determination of mass for the application of laws or regulations; expert opinion given in court proceedings
• Determination of mass in the practice of medicine for weighing patients for the purposes of monitoring, diagnosis and medical treatment
• Determination of mass for making up medicines on prescription in a pharmacy and determination of mass in analyses carried out in medical and pharmaceutical laboratories

Recommended Trade Approved Scales

Inscale offers an impressive selection of trade approved scales for a variety of applications, from laboratory to industrial.

A&D GH Series Trade Approved Analytical Balance

Capacities: 120g – 320g

Readabilities: 0.01mg – 0.1mg

The A&D GH series is a feature-rich analytical balance, offering features such as:

• Automatic self-calibration
• 10 weighing units
• GLP/GMP/GCP/ISO compliance
• USB and RS-232 interfaces
• Underhook for density determination

That are ideal for any high-standard laboratory tasks.

Adam Highland HCB Approved Portable Precision Balance

Capacities: 600g – 5kg

Readabilities: 0.01g – 0.1g

Adam Equipment’s Highland HCB Approved Portable Precision Balance is a versatile machine ideal for laboratory, jewellery, retail and industrial tasks. It boasts features like:

• ShockProtect technology to safeguard against overloads and shock loads
• A built-in rechargeable battery
• An optional draft shield for extra protection
• RS-232 and USB interfaces
• Stackable design for easy storage

Adam Swift SWZ Price Computing Retail Scale

Capacities: 1.5/3kg – 15/30kg

Readabilities: 0.05/1g – 5/10g

We mentioned Swift earlier, but here are a few more specific features:

• 161 Product Lookups for convenient unit weight and price storage
• 3 displays on the front and rear (or pillar) of the balance
• Rechargeable battery for easy portability
• Multiple language outputs for use in various regions
• RS-232 interface

Kern NFB Approved Drive Through Weighing Scale

Capacities: 600kg – 1500kg

Readabilities: 200g

Kerns NFB Drive-Through Weighing Scale is an excellent industrial solution, offering features like:

• Ramps on the front and back for easily loading wheelchairs, hand-trucks or trolleys
• An IP67 rating for protection against dust and water ingress
• XXL weighing display with backlit results
• Chequered-steel platform to prevent slips

Need help deciding which approved weighing scale or balance is right for you? Contact the Inscale team, we'll be happy to help.