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Colorado Scale Certification & Weights and Measures

✓ Sources checked July 11, 2026

Colorado runs a state-managed weights and measures program — commercial scale owners deal with the state agency directly. If you operate a commercial scale in Colorado — at a warehouse, farm, recycling yard, retail store, or truck stop — here is who regulates it, what the law requires, and exactly who to contact.

Who inspects commercial scales in Colorado?

State-run for scales: sixteen CDA ICS Measurement Standards inspectors certify scales, check packages and run scan tests throughout Colorado; there are no county scale programs. Note that gas pumps/fuel dispensers are instead inspected by the CO Dept. of Labor & Employment's Division of Oil & Public Safety, (303) 318-8500. Scale owners contact CDA ICS.

What Colorado requires of scale owners

The owner must obtain a license from CDA to operate any commercially used scale, moisture meter, mass flow meter, textile meter or cordage meter (licensing period Jan 1 - Dec 31, fees based on the number/type of devices, authority in Measurement Standards Act 35-14-107/124/127/129); devices must be legal for trade (generally an NTEP Certificate of Conformance) and are tested by ICS inspectors.

Devices used to buy or sell by weight must comply with NIST Handbook 44 — in practice this means an NTEP-certified, legal-for-trade scale. Confirm requirements for your device class with the office listed here.

Getting a scale into service — 4 steps

  1. Buy a legal-for-trade (NTEP-certified) scale appropriate for your application and capacity.
  2. Confirm registration and licensing requirements with the Colorado Department of Agriculture at (303) 869-9101 before the scale enters commercial use.
  3. Arrange compliant installation and calibration. Where required, placing-in-service must be done by a licensed or registered service company.
  4. Stay compliant. Pass required inspections, keep calibration current, retain service records.

Common questions

What is NTEP certification?
NTEP (the National Type Evaluation Program, administered by the National Council on Weights and Measures) evaluates a scale model's design against NIST Handbook 44 requirements and issues a Certificate of Conformance. Nearly every state requires an NTEP-certified device for commercial (legal-for-trade) weighing; confirm the rules for your device with the office listed on this page.
Where do I find official forms and fees?
Use the licensing and forms links in the office panel, or contact the office directly — fee schedules change and some are published only in application documents.

Need calibration, repair, or installation in Colorado?

Browse companies listed as serving Colorado in the ScaleRegistry directory and contact them directly, and check the official licensing and registration information for Colorado. Listings are not ranked or endorsed, and ScaleRegistry does not route requests to any company.

Find companies in Colorado
Sources: ag.colorado.gov/ics/measurement-standards | ag.colorado.gov/ics/measurement-standards/commercial…