Catalogue description Records of the Patents and Standards Divisions, predecessors and successors

In December 1965, an Engineering Standards Division of the Ministry of Technology (MINTECH) was established, shortly becoming known as the Standards Division. The functions of the Standards Division initially were to deal directly with the British Standards Institution (BSI) on engineering standards and to determine standard weights and measures.

On 1 February 1966, the main departmental responsibility for the BSI and the sponsorship for mechanical and electrical engineering industries were transferred from the Board of Trade to MINTECH. By August 1967, the Standards Division was described as being responsible for the sponsorship of the BSI and all questions relating directly to industrial standards, including public procurement, international co-operation on standards, and the metrication programme.

In 1970 when the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) was formed, the Standards Division merged with the Board of Trade's Standard Weights and Measures Department to become the DTI's Standards, Weights and Measures (SWM) Division. By the time of its absorption into the DTI, the Standards Division consisted of the British Calibration Service, the Metrication Branch, the Administration, Finance and International Relations Branch and that providing the British Approvals Service for Electrical Equipment in Flammable Atmospheres (BASEEFA). The new division also inherited from the Board of Trade the Patent Office and Industrial Property and Copyright Department, with the various responsibilities for copyright, designs, patents, and trademarks, and expanded the coverage of technical fields.

The division's general responsibilities included:

• government policy on British and international standards, including British participation in the International Organisation for Legal Metrology (OIML), the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM), and the Commission on Units and Standards of Measurement
• government relations with, and support for, the British Standards Institution (BSI); co-ordinating UK interests in the mensuration requirements of the European Economic Community (EEC), including the co-ordination of UK interests in EEC Directives and of other inter-governmental bodies to harmonise standards and eliminate technical barriers to trade
• the standards and variety reduction aspects of Public Procurement Policy; the BS 9000 scheme and international schemes for electronic components; government policy on metrication in industry
• the British Calibration Service (BCS) and the Weights and Measures Service (WMS)
• the British Approvals Service for Electrical Equipment in Flammable Atmospheres (BASEEFA).

It also supervised the qualifications of standards staff.

Government policy on metrication in industry was within the remit of the division's Branch 2 (S2), which was also known as the Metrication Branch, and which dealt with general metrication policy and problems arising from the adoption of the metric system of weights and measures by British industry. S2 dealt in particular with policy matters concerning the Standing Joint Committee on Metrication (SJCM) and the Metrication Board (following its establishment in 1969); the definition and application of units of measurement and primary standards; and the review of legislative changes to facilitate metrication.

In 1974 when the DTI was split, SWM Division moved to the control of the Department of Prices and Consumer Protection (DPCP). The division's previous responsibilities were carried forward by SWM and its successors. In 1976 the division's name was changed to Metrology, Quality Assurance and Standards (MQS) Division.

In 1979, when the DPCP was amalgamated with the Department of Trade, MQS Division acquired a consumer safety unit and became known as Metrology, Quality Assurance, Safety and Standards Division.