98.18 Installing and servicing weights and measures.

(1) License required.

(a) Except as provided in par. (bm), no person may engage in the business of installing, servicing, testing or calibrating weights and measures without a license from the department. A license expires on December 31 annually.

(bm) Paragraph (a) does not apply to any of the following:

1. A person who installs, services, tests or calibrates weights and measures only as an employee of a person who is required under par. (a) to hold a license to perform those services.

2. An inspector or metrologist employed by this state, a county or a municipality to test or calibrate weights and measures.

(1d) License application. An applicant for a license issued under sub. (1) (a) shall apply on a form provided by the department. The applicant shall provide on the form information that is reasonably required by the department for issuing licenses under this section. The license application shall be accompanied by the applicable fees under subs. (1h) and (1p).

(1h) License fees. Unless the department establishes different fees by rule, the following annual license fees shall apply:

(a) If the applicant solely engages in installing, servicing, testing or calibrating weights and measures that the applicant owns, the applicant for a license under sub. (1) (a) shall pay a license fee in the amount of $100.

(b) If the applicant installs, services, tests or calibrates weights or measures for others, the applicant for a license under sub. (1) (a) shall pay all of the following:

1. A basic license fee of $200.

2. A supplementary license fee of $50 for each additional business location if the applicant operates from more than one business location.

(1m) Fee exemption. Notwithstanding sub. (1h), the department may not require an individual who is eligible for the veterans fee waiver program under s. 45.44 to pay a license fee.

(1p) Surcharge for operating without a license. An applicant for a license under sub. (1) (a) shall pay a license fee surcharge of $200 in addition to the license fee if the department determines that within one year before making the application the applicant violated sub. (1) (a). Payment of this surcharge does not relieve the applicant of any other civil or criminal liability that the applicant may incur because of the violation of sub. (1) (a), but does not constitute evidence of violation of a law.

(1t) License contingent on fee payment. The department may not issue or renew a license under sub. (1) (a) unless the applicant pays all fees required under subs. (1h) and (1p) as set forth in a statement issued by the department. The department shall refund a fee paid under protest if the department determines that the fee was not required to be paid under this section.

(2) Rules. The department may promulgate rules to establish license fees under sub. (1h) and to regulate the installation, servicing, testing and certification of weights and measures. The rules may include record-keeping and reporting requirements.

(3) Prohibited practices. A person who installs, services, tests or calibrates weights and measures may not do any of the following:

(a) Install or adjust a weight or measure to make the weight or measure incorrect or to cause the weight or measure to violate this chapter or rules promulgated under this chapter.

(b) Misrepresent that a weight or measure is correct.

(c) Use any test weight or measure that has not been inspected, tested and approved by the department or by a laboratory certified by the national institute of standards and technology.

History: 1993 a. 16; 1997 a. 27; 2011 a. 209.