CHAPTER IIIINITIAL VERIFICATION
Article 8
1.
EC initial verification constitutes the examination of a new or reconditioned instrument and the confirmation of its conformity to the approved pattern and/or to the requirements of this Directive and the separate Directives relating to the instrument in question. It is certified by the EC initial verification mark.
2.
EC initial verification of instruments may be carried out by a method other than unit checking in the cases specified in the separate Directives and in accordance with the procedures adopted.
3.
If their equipment so permits, Member States shall carry out EC initial verification of instruments submitted as having the measurement characteristics and satisfying the technical construction and functioning requirements laid down by the separate Directives relating to that category of instruments.
4.
In the case of instruments bearing the EC initial verification mark, the obligation imposed on Member States under Article 1(3) shall last until the end of the year following that in which the EC initial verification mark was affixed, unless separate Directives provide for a longer period.
Article 9
1.
When an instrument is submitted for EC initial verification, the Member State carrying out the examination shall determine:
(a)
whether the instrument belongs to a category exempt from EC pattern approval and, if so, whether it satisfies the technical construction and functioning requirements laid down by the separate Directives relating to that instrument;
(b)
whether the instrument has received EC pattern approval and, if so, whether it conforms to the approved pattern, and to the separate Directives relating to that instrument, in force on the date of issue of that EC pattern approval.
2.
The examination carried out in EC initial verification relates in particular, in accordance with the separate Directives, to:
(a)
the metrological characteristics;
(b)
the maximum permissible errors;
(c)
the construction, in so far as this guarantees that the measurement characteristics are not likely to deteriorate to any great extent under normal conditions of use;
(d)
the presence of prescribed inscriptions and stamp plates or provisions for EC initial verification marking.
Article 10
When an instrument has successfully undergone EC initial verification, in accordance with the requirements of this Directive and of the separate Directives, the EC partial or final verification marks described in Annex II, point 3 shall be affixed to that instrument under the responsibility of the Member State concerned in accordance with the rules laid down in that point.
Article 11
When EC initial verification is not required for a category of instruments which meet the requirements of a separate Directive, the manufacturer shall, on his own responsibility, affix to the instruments in that category the special symbol described in point 3.4 of Annex I.