Form 6 and Form 6A: reporting each trade instrument verification

Form 6 and Form 6A are the Excel forms a servicing licensee uses to tell the National Measurement Institute (NMI) about each trade instrument its verifiers verify, or test and do not verify. Form 6 covers instruments at one location; Form 6A covers several locations.

OpsChase for trade measurement verifiers exports both in the NMI Excel template layout, ready to email to NMI.

Why servicing licensees care about Form 6

Telling NMI about each verification in an approved form, within 14 days, is a condition of every servicing licence under regulation 2.43(16) of the National Trade Measurement Regulations 2009. NMI’s guide says a form can list instruments verified on different days, as long as it arrives within 14 days of the earliest verification date on it. NMI’s system reads the forms automatically, so a form it can’t read comes back.

What goes on the form

• The trader’s name, business type and full site address, with the suburb matching the postcode.
• The servicing licence number (SL-0999 format), licensee name and Australian Business Number (ABN).
• The verifier’s registration number (VR-01234 format), name and seven-character mark, such as ABC1234.
• The verification date in DD/MM/YYYY.
• Make, model, serial number, NMI approval number, and capacity or flow rate from the data plate.
• A performance code from the drop-down list, with a reason where the code calls for one.

Test reports for complex instruments go in the same email; see the 14-day rule.

Common slips

• Blank rows, after which nothing is captured.
• Changing the template by adding, removing or merging cells, rows or columns.
• Approval numbers like 10/1/20 that Excel turns into dates unless an apostrophe goes in front.
• A weighbridge recorded as several components instead of one instrument.
• A multi-product dispenser recorded on one row instead of one row per meter.

Our article on Form 6 and 6A mistakes goes through each one.

How OpsChase prepares Form 6

Verifiers record tests on site in OpsChase, against an instrument register that already holds each instrument’s make, model, serial and approval number. The verification goes into a Form 6 or Form 6A export with DD/MM/YYYY dates, approval numbers kept as text, no blank rows and no merged cells. A lodgement board counts down 14 days from each verification. You email the form to NMI as usual; OpsChase is independent software and is not made or endorsed by NMI.

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