Country Information

The Government of Montenegro founded the Bureau of Metrology on September 14, 2006. The Bureau is composed of the following 5 units: Department for Metrological Traceability and National Standards, Department for Verification of Measuring Instruments, Section for Precious Metals, Section for International Cooperation and Service for General Affairs and Finance. The Bureau performs activities in the field of legal, scientific and industrial metrology, as well the control of precious metal articles, and performs the duties of the National Metrology Institute (NMI) in Montenegro.

The Bureau of Metrology performs activities related to: ensuring application of the system of legal units of measurement; realization, keeping, maintaining and improving the measurement standards of Montenegro; ensuring metrological traceability for calibration laboratories, as well as for testing and control laboratories; organization of calibration activities; assessment of conformity of measuring instruments with metrological requirements; provision of expert opinion concerning authorization of laboratories for preparation of measuring instruments for verification; representation of Montenegro in international and regional metrological organizations and establishment of cooperation in the field of metrology; control of precious metal articles, as well as other affairs falling within its competence.

Accreditation Body of Montenegro and Croatian Accreditation Agency have confirmed that the Bureau of Metrology fulfills the requirements of MEST EN ISO/IEC 17025:2018 – General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories and that it is competent to carry out calibration of: weights, weights with free nominal masses and non-automatic weighing instruments, laboratory glassware and piston-operated volumetric apparatus, etalons of overflow pipettes and standard capacity measures; temperature and relative humidity gauges, standards and instruments for measurement of length, standards and instruments for measurement of electrical quantities, frequency and time interval, pressure gauges, and instruments for measurement of ionizing radiation. The confirmed competence enables the Bureau to provide its services with regard to calibration of measuring instruments/measurement standards to non-Montenegrin clients as well.

In July 2016, the Bureau of Metrology obtained license for performing scientific-research activities in the field of technical-technological and interdisciplinary sciences.

The Bureau of Metrology represents Montenegro in international and regional metrology organizations. Montenegro became an associate member of the CGPM - General Conference on Weights and Measures on 1 August 2011. This membership was a prelude to the signing of the CIPM MRA (CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement) on 19 October 2011.

The Bureau of Metrology has been a full member of the European Association of National Metrology Institutes (EURAMET) since 2011. The Bureau has participated in EURAMET's Technical Committees in the field of Electricity and Magnetism, Interdisciplinary Metrology, Flow, Mass and Related Quantities, Quality, Thermometry, Length, and Time and Frequency.

The Bureau of Metrology has been a corresponding member of International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML) since November 2007.

Based on the invitation extended to the Bureau of Metrology by the BIPM to accede to the Metre Convention, the Bureau has prepared expert grounds for the Proposal for the Law on Ratification of the Metre Convention, adopted towards the end of 2017. The accession process was finalized in January 2018, Montenegro and the Bureau of Metrology, as the National Metrology Institute, were granted a full membership in the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) on 24 January 2018.

In October 2020, the Bureau of Metrology acquired the status of observer in the Convention on Control and Hallmarking of Precious Metal Articles –Hallmarking convention.

According to the Law on Metrology (Official Gazette of Montenegro 79/08 and 40/11), the Bureau is so far the only subject of metrology infrastructure in Montenegro responsible for verification of legal metrology instruments. Legal measuring instruments which are subject to mandatory verification or type approval are classified into four categories as follows:

• Measuring instruments used in trade of goods and services and control of pre-packaged products and measuring container bottles
• Measuring instruments used in protection of human and animal health and general safety
• Measuring instruments used in protection of assets, environment and natural resources, occupational safety and accident prevention
• Measuring instruments used in traffic safety

1. Measuring instruments used in trade of goods and services and control of pre-packed products and measuring container bottles

1.1 Length measuring instruments
1.1.1 Material measures of length for general use
1.1.2 Automatic level gauges for measuring the level of liquid in fixed storage tanks
1.1.3 Instruments used to determine the length of a wire and cable 
1.2 Volume measuring instruments
1.2.1 Instruments for measuring the volume of liquids
1.2.2 Road and rail tankers, if the calculation is done by measuring the tank volume
1.2.3 Tanks, if the calculation is done by measuring the tank volume
1.2.4 Milk meters
1.2.5 Capacity serving measures
1.3 Heat meters
1.4 Electricity meters
1.4.1 Current transformer
1.4.2 Electrical energy meters for direct connection
1.4.3 Electrical energy meters for indirect or semi-direct connection
1.5 Liquid and gas flowmeters
1.5.1 Water meters
1.5.2 Flowmeters and measuring systems for liquids other than water
1.5.3 Gas meters
1.5.4 Gas volume correctors
1.6 Mass measuring instruments
1.6.1 Weights of classes F1, F2, M1, M2
1.6.2 Non-automatic weighing instruments of classes I, II, III and IV

• up to 9000 kg
• over 9000 kg

1.6.3 Automatic weighing instruments and semi-automatic weighing instruments
1.6.4 Load cells for weighing instruments
1.6.5 Electronic indicators for weighing instruments
1.7 Concentration and density measuring devices
1.7.1 Moisture Meters for Cereal Grain and Oilseeds
1.7.2 Electronic density meters
1.7.3 Breath analysers
1.7.4 Saccharimeters
1.7.5 Areometers
1.8 Measuring instruments in charging system
1.8.1 Basic clocks in telephone traffic charging
1.9 Taximeters

2. Measuring instruments used in protection of human and animal health and general safety

2.1 Height measuring instruments
2.2 Mass measuring instruments

• weighing scales, including baby scales

2.3 Blood pressure gauges
2.4 Devices for measuring ionising radiation in radiotherapy
2.5 Refractometers

3. Measuring instruments used in protection of assets, environment and natural resources, occupational safety and accident prevention

3.1 Measuring instruments used for radiation protection
3.1.1 Scintillation counters (liquid and solid)
3.1.2 Semiconductor counters
3.1.3 Proportional counters
3.1.4 Geiger-Müller counters
3.1.5 Instruments for measuring radon concentration in air
3.2 Sound measuring instruments
3.3 Measuring instruments for testing safety measures in electrical engineering
3.4 Instruments for measuring concentration
3.4.1 Breathalyzers
3.5 Pressure gauges
3.5.1 Manometers, vacuum meters and manovacuometer of accuracy classes 0,5; 0,6; 1; 1,6; 2; 2,5; 4; 5
3.6 Internal combustion engine exhaust gas analysers

4. Measuring instruments used in traffic safety

4.1 Speed measuring instruments for moving vehicles
4.2 Breath analysers
4.3 Manometers for measuring tyre pressure
4.4 Instruments for measuring the brake force of vehicles
4.5 Instruments for measuring the maximum permitted axle load

Initial verification of measuring instruments is performed by the Department for Verification of Measuring Instruments of the Bureau of Metrology. Initial verification procedure is specified by regulation. The verification fees are set by decree.

Re-verification periods for measuring instruments are defined by decree.

Typical re-verification intervals are:

• Weighing instruments: 1 - 2 years
• Water meters: 5 years
• Taximeters: 1 year
• Electricity meters for direct connection: 12 years
• Electricity meters for indirect or semi-direct connection: 5 years
• Fixed storage tanks: 10 years
• Manometers for measuring blood pressure: 2 years
• Manometers for measuring tyre pressure: 1 year
• Breathanalysers: 0.5 – 1 year
• Sound level meters: 2 years
• Speedometers of vehicles in motion: 1 year

The fees for re-verification are the same as for initial verification.

The Bureau of Metrology at present has 44 employees, and 2 interns with fixed-term contracts, one for a period of six months, and one for a year. The employees engaged in type approvals and verification procedures are mainly engineers. They are mainly trained on the job.

Sanctions are based upon a system of administrative penalties. A preventive enforcement policy is applied resulting in penalties normally only applied in cases where fraud is evident. Depending on the type of violation, the fines will be imposed as follows:

• from 3000 to 20000 euros for legal persons
• from 500 to 2000 euros for a responsible person in the legal entity
• from 3000 to 12000 for entrepreneurs
• from 300 to 2000 for natural persons