“Trust in measurement is built one verification at a time. When every unit is proven, sealed, and accountable, accuracy becomes more than a number. It becomes the foundation of fairness.” – MJ Martin
Measurement Canada and Gas Meters
In Canada, a natural gas meter used to establish a customer’s bill is a legally regulated measuring instrument. Measurement Canada administers the Electricity and Gas Inspection Act and Regulations, which establish requirements for the approval, verification, sealing, and reverification of gas meters used for trade. Section 9 of the Act generally requires a meter to be verified and sealed before it is placed into service for billing purposes. (Laws and Regulations of Canada)
The system is similar to a chain of evidence. Approval establishes that a meter design is acceptable, verification establishes that a meter conforms to the applicable requirements, sealing protects the verified condition, and reverification periodically determines whether that conformity continues.
Verification Is Not Certification
Verification and certification should not be used interchangeably. Measurement Canada defines verification as the operations performed by an inspector or accredited meter verifier to ascertain and confirm that a meter satisfies specified requirements. Verification includes initial verification and subsequent reverification, and it includes application of the verification mark. (ISED Canada)
A certificate is different. Under section 14 of the Electricity and Gas Inspection Act, a certificate may be issued following verification or reverification. Measurement Canada describes that certificate as an official document recording that the meter was inspected and stating the verification results. The Electricity and Gas Inspection Regulations prescribe information that the certificate must contain, including the verification date, meter identification, test equipment, meter errors at the tested points, and the person responsible for issuing the certificate. (Laws and Regulations of Canada)
Therefore, saying that a revenue meter has been “certified for seven years” can create confusion. More precisely, the meter has been verified, and it has an applicable reverification period. A certificate may document the verification, but the certificate is not what creates the meter’s reverification period.
Certification Has a Separate Technical Meaning
Certification is nevertheless a legitimate Measurement Canada term in another part of the measurement system. It is used particularly for measuring apparatus, such as gas meter proving equipment, that is used to test meters.
The Electricity and Gas Inspection Regulations require this measuring apparatus to be calibrated, with its accuracy traceable to reference standards. The calibration of qualifying gas measuring apparatus is then certified. A certificate for gas measuring apparatus is generally valid for five years under section 8 of the Regulations. (Laws and Regulations of Canada)
The distinction can be understood by thinking of a courtroom. The gas meter is the item being examined. Verification is the examination that determines whether it meets the legal requirements. The certificate records the result. The prover or other measuring apparatus used to perform the examination has its own calibration and certification requirements.
Initial Verification and Reverification Periods
Once a new meter has been initially verified, Measurement Canada’s G-18 bulletin determines when it must be reverified or removed from service. This interval is called the initial reverification period, not the certification period. (ISED Canada)
For example, a diaphragm meter rated at 240 cubic feet per hour or greater normally has a seven-year initial reverification period. Certain smaller qualifying diaphragm meters can receive 10 years. Ultrasonic meters normally receive six years, with qualifying models receiving 10 years, while a rotary meter pressure body has a 20-year initial period. (ISED Canada)
After reverification, the subsequent period may differ. For example, the subsequent period for many diaphragm meters is five years, while qualifying smaller diaphragm meters can receive eight years. Measurement Canada can also permit extensions for eligible populations demonstrated to remain compliant through authorized statistical sampling. (ISED Canada)
The Important Terminology
For Canadian revenue gas meters, the technically accurate sequence is type approval, initial verification, sealing, service for the applicable reverification period, and reverification or removal from service. Certification should not be treated as another word for meter verification. Keeping these terms separate matters because each describes a different legal or metrological function within Canada’s measurement system.
One issue worth considering is how precise you want the final paper to be about the industry shorthand. Utilities and technicians may casually say a meter is “certified until” a particular year, even though Measurement Canada’s more precise terminology is that the meter is verified and has a reverification due date. A second question is whether you want the paper to explain exactly what the year stamped or marked on the meter seal means, since that is another area where “certification date,” “seal date,” “verification year,” and “expiry year” can easily be confused.
About the Author:
Michael Martin is the Vice President of Technology with Metercor Inc., a Smart Meter, IoT, and Smart City systems integrator based in Canada. He has more than 40 years of experience in systems design for applications that use broadband networks, optical fibre, wireless, and digital communications technologies. He is a business and technology consultant. He was a senior executive consultant for 15 years with IBM, where he worked in the GBS Global Center of Competency for Energy and Utilities and the GTS Global Center of Excellence for Energy and Utilities. He is a founding partner and President of MICAN Communications and before that was President of Comlink Systems Limited and Ensat Broadcast Services, Inc., both divisions of Cygnal Technologies Corporation (CYN: TSX).
Martin served on the Board of Directors for TeraGo Inc (TGO: TSX) and on the Board of Directors for Avante Logixx Inc. (XX: TSX.V). He has served as a Member, SCC ISO-IEC JTC 1/SC-41 – Internet of Things and related technologies, ISO – International Organization for Standardization, and as a member of the NIST SP 500-325 Fog Computing Conceptual Model, National Institute of Standards and Technology. He served on the Board of Governors of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) [now Ontario Tech University] and on the Board of Advisers of five different Colleges in Ontario – Centennial College, Humber College, George Brown College, Durham College, Ryerson Polytechnic University [now Toronto Metropolitan University]. For 16 years he served on the Board of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), Toronto Section.
He holds three master’s degrees – in business (MBA), communication (MA), and education (MEd). As well, he has three undergraduate diplomas and seven major certifications in business, computer programming, internetworking, project management, media, photography, and communication technology. He has completed over 80 next generation MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) [aka Micro Learning] continuous education programs in a wide variety of topics, including: Economics, Python Programming, Internet of Things, Cloud, Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive systems, Blockchain, Agile, Power BI, Big Data, Design Thinking, Security, Indigenous Canada awareness, and more.
Martin is a volunteer, a photographer, a learner, a technologist, a philosophizer, and a romantic optimist.