The test is done, the instrument is inside its limits, the mark is on and the customer has signed the job sheet. Then the form comes back. A blank row halfway down the sheet, a date typed month first, an approval number that Excel quietly turned into a date. Each one means retyping a spreadsheet you thought was finished, while the clock on the lodgement keeps running.
This guide walks through the Form 6 and Form 6A rules from the National Measurement Institute (NMI) guide to completing the forms and its pages for servicing licensees. It is a practical checklist, not legal advice: check the current NMI guidance, or ask NMI, for anything specific to your licence.
Form 6 or Form 6A?
Both are Excel templates that tell NMI about each verification, or non-verification, carried out by a servicing licensee or its verifiers. Form 6 records instruments at one location. Form 6A records instruments across several locations. Verification dates on one form do not have to match, as long as the form reaches NMI within 14 days of the earliest verification date on it. The 14-day rule has its own article.
NMI’s system reads the forms automatically. That is why small formatting slips matter: a form the system can’t read is a form you send again.
Layout mistakes
- Changing the template. Adding, removing, merging or renaming cells, rows or columns stops NMI’s system recognising the form. Use the template as issued.
- Blank rows. Anything typed after a blank row is not captured, and the first row must not be blank either.
- Space bar instead of tab. NMI asks you to move across cells with the tab key, not the space bar.
- “As above.” Every cell needs its full details, even when the trader and address repeat down the sheet.
- The wrong file type. Verification forms go in as Excel only. A scan or a PDF of the form will not do.
Instrument rows
- One instrument, one row. A weighbridge is recorded once. Its indicator, load cells, remote displays and computer do not get rows of their own, and supplementary “S” numbers are not used as the main approval number. Weighbridge and platform approval numbers start 6/10A, 6/10B or 6/9C.
- One row, one instrument. A multi-product fuel dispenser is not one line with a serial range. Each meter or nozzle has its own unique serial number on its own row. NMI publishes a fuel dispenser numbering guide based on manufacturers’ numbering; for a dispenser that is not in it, check its certificate of approval.
- Repeated serial numbers. Rows with the same approval number and serial number are read as the same instrument, so sixteen nozzles can be counted as five.
- Capacity from the test. Record the maximum capacity or flow rate shown on the data plate, not the highest flow reached on the day, using the unit abbreviations in NMI’s guide.
Numbers and dates
- Approval numbers turned into dates. The approval number is the instrument’s NMI certificate of approval number, written with forward slashes and no spaces, such as 6/4D/236. A number like 10/1/20 needs an apostrophe in front of it, or Excel converts it into a date and the number becomes invalid. One approval number per cell.
- Dates in the wrong format. Dates go in as DD/MM/YYYY with forward slashes only. A month-first date can become an invalid date, or one in the future.
- Licence and verifier numbers. Servicing licence numbers take the form SL-0999 and verifier registration numbers VR-01234, each with a dash. Use the number zero, never the letter O.
- The verifier’s mark. That field takes seven characters: the three-letter licensee mark and the last four digits of the verifier number, with no space, such as ABC1234. Leave off the month and year code that goes on the instrument; the verification mark explained covers all nine characters.
Trader and site details
- Trader names. Use the trading name. For businesses with several sites, NMI asks for the brand, then the suburb, then the store or site number where there is one. Avoid abbreviations unless they are nationally recognised.
- Suburb and postcode. The suburb must be the real suburb for that postcode, not a shopping centre or precinct name. Northern Territory postcodes keep their leading zero.
- Remote sites. Form 6 has a field for coordinates where there is no street number to record. Form 6A does not have one.
- Performance codes. Choose a code from the drop-down list for every row. Where the code calls for a reason, give one, such as parts not available or instrument replaced.
Sending it
Forms go to NMI’s dedicated verification email address, with any required test reports in the same email. Splitting a form and its test reports across two emails is one of the easiest mistakes to avoid.
How OpsChase builds the form for you
OpsChase is software for NMI servicing licensees and their verifiers. OpsChase for trade measurement verifiers keeps a job and instrument register for every customer site: make, model, serial, approval number, capacity or flow rate and verification history, with one record per instrument, even for weighbridges and multi-nozzle dispensers. Your verifier records the test on a phone or tablet, with or without signal, and the verification goes straight into a Form 6 or Form 6A export in the NMI Excel template layout.
The export handles the fiddly parts: dates in DD/MM/YYYY, approval numbers kept as text so Excel can’t turn them into dates, no blank rows and no merged cells. Test reports are named to NMI’s convention automatically, and a lodgement board shows what is due, overdue and sent. You still email the form to NMI yourself. OpsChase is independent software, and it is not made or endorsed by NMI.
Where to start
Pick your busiest location and bring its instruments across from your existing spreadsheet; send us the file and we will import your sites and instruments. Run the next round of verifications through OpsChase, check the export against the form you would have typed, and send it. Then add your other sites.
Read what a servicing licensee is responsible for, check pricing or book a demo with your instrument list.