OWM Background and History

Established in 1836, the Office of Weights and Measures (OWM) is the oldest office at NIST and holds a unique position, predating the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) and the U.S. Department of Commerce. Our original function, to “fix the standard of weights and measures,” is explicitly mentioned in the U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section 8, Clause 5), in addition to our other Responsibilities and Authorities. 

With a rich history spanning over 185 years, OWM plays a pivotal role for NIST as the National Metrology Institute (NMI) for the U.S. and for supporting the weights and measures system across the U.S. states and national and international legal metrology communities. For a more detailed account of our history, see A Brief History of OWM. 

OWM Staff and Technical Experts operate within four core Program Areas and work with our Customers and Stakeholders across a range of industry sectors – such as retail sales, petroleum and chemical products, and transportation, including emerging commercial market sectors such as electric vehicles and e-commerce.  We also work closely with international and national standards development organizations, federal agencies, state and local metrology and weights and measures programs, and metric program educators. 

OWM Products and Services include legal metrology documentary standards; technical guidance and resources related to weights and measures applications, promotion of the metric system, SI use and traceability; and metrology training for industry, state laboratory metrologists, and weights and measures officials. 

Credit: NIST/K. Dill

At the turn of the 21st century (1999), OWM estimated that weights and measures laws and regulations impact commercial transactions involving approximately 50% of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP). 

See the details of the original analysis here. OWM is currently conducting a new analysis based on 2023 U.S. GDP data and will update our Weights and Measures Economic Index page accordingly.