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A model law, not a federal one

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What Handbook 130 is How much of it binds you Which is four different situations in one sentence So this property quotes the model And it does not tell you that you are compliant Those officials are worth meeting early The device side is separate And the food side is separate again Three different regimes meet at one counter What a container supplier can actually tell you References

Adopted in various forms. That phrase is NIST's own and it is the whole caveat.

What Handbook 130 is

A compilation of model laws and regulations, published by NIST, written so that states can adopt a common text rather than fifty different ones.

How much of it binds you

In NIST's own words the models "are adopted in various forms by many state, local, and some federal weights and measures authorities. Some authorities adopt the current versions as written; some use them as the basis of adoption, but from an earlier year; some use them as a guideline only; some elect to use their own laws or regulations; and some have no corresponding law or regulation."

Which is four different situations in one sentence

Current text, older text, guideline only, own law, or nothing. You cannot know which applies to you without looking at your own state.

So this property quotes the model

Because it is the best available statement of what the rule probably is, and because the principle underneath it is not controversial anywhere: a buyer does not pay for the container.

And it does not tell you that you are compliant

That requires the text your state adopted, and often a conversation with the county or state weights and measures official who will eventually visit.

Those officials are worth meeting early

They inspect scales and pricing, they are generally helpful to somebody who asks before opening rather than after a complaint, and they will tell you exactly which edition your state is on.

The device side is separate

Whether a scale may be used in trade is Handbook 44 and a state device approval, with its own sealing and inspection regime. Nothing in this property answers it.

And the food side is separate again

Refilling a customer's food container is a retail food question under whoever licenses the shop. The FDA Food Code is itself a model code adopted state by state.

Three different regimes meet at one counter

Weights and measures for the quantity, device approval for the scale, retail food for the hygiene. This property is about the first, and it says so rather than blurring them.

What a container supplier can actually tell you

What a container weighs, what it is made of and what it holds. The first of those is the one this craft needs most and the one nobody asks for.

References

NIST Handbook 130 is a compilation of MODEL laws and regulations, not federal law. In NIST's own description they "are adopted in various forms by many state, local, and some federal weights and measures authorities. Some authorities adopt the current versions as written; some use them as the basis of adoption, but from an earlier year; some use them as a guideline only; some elect to use their own laws or regulations; and some have no corresponding law or regulation." The binding text is the one your state adopted. nist.gov

Written from NIST Handbook 130, 2023 edition, and from the catalog as it stood on 19 October 2026. Handbook 130 is a compilation of model laws rather than federal law, and states adopt it in different forms, from different years, or not at all; the binding text is your state's. Nothing here concerns whether a scale is legal for trade, which is Handbook 44 and a state device approval, or the retail food rules for refilling a customer's food container, which belong to whoever licenses the shop.