SECTIONS 12700-12736 - California Statutes

BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE

SECTION 12700-12736

12700. A weighmaster is any person who, for hire or otherwise,
weighs, measures, or counts any commodity and issues a statement or
memorandum of the weight, measure, or count which is used as the
basis for either the purchase or sale of that commodity or charge for
service.

12700.5. (a) A weighmaster is not required to provide weighing
services to the general public.
(b) Weighing for hire is at the discretion of the weighmaster.

12701. The following persons are not weighmasters:
(a) Retailers weighing, measuring, or counting commodities for
sale by them in retail stores in the presence of, and directly to,
consumers.
(b) Except for persons subject to Section 12730, producers of
agricultural commodities or livestock, who weigh commodities produced
or purchased by them or by their producer neighbors, when no charge
is made for the weighing, or when no signed or initialed statement or
memorandum is issued of the weight upon which a purchase or sale of
the commodity is based.
(c) Common carriers issuing bills of lading on which are recorded,
for the purpose of computing transportation charges, the weights of
commodities offered for transportation, including carriers of
household goods when transporting shipments weighing less than 1,000
pounds.
(d) Milk samplers and weighers licensed pursuant to Article 8
(commencing with Section 35161) of Chapter 12 of Part 1 of Division
15 of the Food and Agricultural Code, when performing the duties for
which they are licensed.
(e) Persons who measure the amount of oil, gas, or other fuels for
purposes of royalty computation and payment, or other operations of
fuel and oil companies and their retail outlets.
(f) Newspaper publishers weighing or counting newspapers for sale
to dealers or distributors.
(g) Textile maintenance establishments weighing, counting, or
measuring any articles in connection with the business of those
establishments.
(h) County sanitation districts operating pursuant to Chapter 3
(commencing with Section 4700) of Part 3 of Division 5 of the Health
and Safety Code, garbage and refuse disposal districts operating
pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 49100) of Part 8 of
Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, and solid waste facilities,
as defined in Section 40194 of the Public Resources Code.
(i) Persons who purchase scrap metal or salvage materials pursuant
to a nonprofit recycling program, or recycling centers certified
pursuant to Division 12.1 (commencing with Section 14500) of the
Public Resources Code that purchase empty beverage containers from
the public for recycling.
(j) Pest control operators licensed pursuant to Chapter 4
(commencing with Section 11701) of Division 6 of the Food and
Agricultural Code.
(k) Retailers, or recycling centers established solely for the
redemption of empty beverage containers, as that phrase is defined in
Section 14512 of the Public Resources Code, who are weighing,
measuring, or counting salvage or returnable materials for purchase
or redemption by them in retail stores, or, in the case of recycling
centers, on the retail store premises or on a parking lot immediately
adjacent to a retail store which is used for the purpose of parking
by the store customers, directly from and in the presence of the
seller. "Retailer" means an entity which derives 90 percent or more
of its income from the sale of small quantities of food or nonfood
items, or both, directly to consumers. "Salvage materials" means used
paper products and used containers made of aluminum, tin, glass, or
plastic.
(l) Any log scaler who performs log scaling functions, except
weighing, as defined in the United States Forest Service Handbook,
Supplement No. 4 of March 1987.

12702. "Weighmaster," when used without qualification, includes a
deputy weighmaster.

12703. Except as provided in Section 12701, no person shall perform
any acts described in Section 12700, unless licensed as a
weighmaster pursuant to this chapter and unless the current license
fee and any penalty has been paid. The weighmaster shall forward to
the department the name or names of deputy weighmasters with the
appropriate fees required by Section 12704.

12704. (a) A weighmaster shall pay to the department the following
license fee for each license year as applicable to the operation:
(1) Seventy-five dollars ($75) if the weighmaster is operating at
a fixed location.
(2) Thirty dollars ($30) for each additional fixed location the
weighmaster is operating at.
(3) Two hundred dollars ($200) if the weighmaster is operating at
other than a fixed location.
(4) Twenty dollars ($20) for each deputy weighmaster.
(b) "License year" means the period of time beginning with the
first day of the month the weighmaster is required to be licensed in
this state, and ending on the date designated by the director for
expiration of the license, or yearly intervals after the first
renewal.
(c) "Location" means a premise on which weighing, measuring, or
counting devices are used.

12705. Any change in the legal entity of a licensed weighmaster
requires the new legal entity to obtain a weighmaster license before
operating as a weighmaster.

12706. (a) The director may assign or reassign dates for the
expiration of licenses for any weighmaster.
(b) The director may establish a license year for any weighmaster
consisting of any period from one month to 11 months, inclusive, with
subsequent renewals being required at yearly intervals thereafter.
(c) Whenever the license year is less than 12 months by reason of
the assignment or reassignment of the expiration date by the
director, the license fee as designated in Section 12704 shall be
decreased by one-twelfth of the annual fee for each month of the
period less than 12 months.

12707. Each license required by this chapter shall be renewed
annually, on or before the first day of the first month of the
licensee's license year, by application to the director, accompanied
by the annual license fee. An application and annual license fee sent
by mail is not overdue if postmarked not later than the fifth day of
the month in which it is due. To any fee not paid when due, there
shall be added a penalty equal to 30 percent of the amount of the
license fee, if it is paid within 30 days of becoming due. The
penalty for a renewal fee more than 30 days after becoming due shall
be 100 percent of the amount of the license fee. However, no penalty
shall be applicable to the renewal of deputy weighmaster licenses.

12708. The director may refuse to grant any license provided for by
this chapter, or may refuse to renew any license, and may revoke or
suspend any license when, after a hearing conducted pursuant to
Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of
Title 2 of the Government Code, the director is satisfied that the
applicant or licensee is not qualified to capably or reliably perform
the duties of a weighmaster or has otherwise been found guilty of a
misdemeanor as provided in this chapter.

12709. All license fees collected pursant to this chapter shall be
deposited in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund to be
expended by the department for the administration and enforcement of
this chapter.

12710. A weighmaster may employ or designate any person to act for
the weighmaster as a deputy weighmaster and shall be responsible for
all acts performed by that person.

12710.5. (a) At any time during the license year, any weighmaster
may replace deputies without payment of additional fees by forwarding
to the department the name of any replacement deputy and replaced
deputy.
(b) Any weighmaster who does not furnish to the department a
deputy name as required by this section is guilty of an infraction,
and, upon conviction, may be punished by a fine of not more than one
hundred dollars ($100).
(c) A weighmaster may increase the original number of deputies by
submitting a new application accompanied by appropriate fees, for the
additional number of deputy licenses requested, which shall expire
on the date stated on the weighmaster license.

12711. A weighmaster shall issue a weighmaster certificate whenever
payment for the commodity or service represented is dependent on a
written or printed weight, measure, or count.

12712. (a) A weighmaster certificate may be signed and issued by a
weighmaster other than the weighmaster actually determining the
weight, measure, or count of any commodity, if both of the following
conditions are met:
(1) The weighmaster issuing the certificate does so based on
information received from the weighmaster who actually determined the
weight, measure, or count and both are on the same principal
license.
(2) The records and worksheets, signed by the weighmaster who
actually weighed, measured, or counted the commodity, are maintained
as a part of the weighmaster's records in a manner so as to ensure
their identity with the certificate issued.
(b) A weighmaster may transfer a weight, measure, or count
appearing on a weighmaster certificate to another weighmaster
certificate, if the original certificate number and name of the
issuing weighmaster appear on the second certificate.

12713. (a) A weighmaster is responsible for ensuring that the
weighmaster certificates issued by him or her, or a deputy acting for
him or her, are complete and contain all the information required by
Sections 12714, 12714.5, and 12715 that is applicable to each
transaction.
(b) It is unlawful to issue, or cause to be issued, a weighmaster
certificate if the certificate does not contain all the information
required by Sections 12714, 12714.5, and 12715 for the commodity
weighed, measured, or counted. The issuance of a receipt showing the
weight, measure, or count of fish, mollusks, or crustaceans pursuant
to Article 6 (commencing with Section 8010) of Chapter 1 of Part 3 of
Division 6 of the Fish and Game Code constitutes the issuance of a
weighmaster certificate under this chapter when issued by a person
who is a weighmaster pursuant to Section 12700.

12714. (a) There shall appear in an appropriate and conspicuous
place on each certificate, and all copies thereof, the following
legend:

WEIGHMASTER CERTIFICATE

THIS IS TO CERTIFY that the following described commodity was
weighed, measured, or counted by a weighmaster, whose signature is on
this certificate, who is a recognized authority of accuracy, as
prescribed by Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 12700) of Division 5
of the California Business and Professions Code, administered by the
Division of Measurement Standards of the California Department of
Food and Agriculture.

(b) There shall also appear on each certificate, and all copies
thereof, the printed name of the principal weighmaster as it appears
on the license.

12714.5. All information contained on the certificate shall be
clear and legible.
Each certificate shall be numbered consecutively.

12715. Each certificate shall provide for the following information
as applicable to the transaction:
(a) The date on which the weight, measure, or count was
determined.
(b) The street address or location description and the city or
township where the weighing, measuring, or counting occurred.
(c) The complete signature of the weighmaster who determined each
weight, measure, or count. The name of a weighmaster may be imprinted
electronically on the weighmaster certificate in lieu of a
handwritten signature, if the electronically imprinted name is that
of the weighmaster who weighed, measured, or counted the commodity or
that of another weighmaster pursuant to Section 12712.
(d) The kind of commodity and any other information that may be
necessary to identify the product or distinguish it from a similar
commodity.
(e) The number of units of the commodity. If not personally
determined by a weighmaster, the certificate shall contain the words
"driver's count" or "loader's count," as appropriate, after the
number of commodity units. The abbreviation "D.C." or "L.C." may be
used in lieu of the complete words.
(f) The name of the owner, or his or her agent, and the consignee.
If the transaction involves hay or hay products, the name and
address of the grower, and his or her agent, as provided by the
driver of the vehicle.
(g) At least one of the following:
(1) The gross weight of the commodity and the vehicle or
container, if only the gross weight was determined.
(2) The tare weight of the unladen vehicle or container, if only
the tare weight was determined.
(3) The gross, tare, and net weights when a gross and tare are
used in determining the net weight.
(4) The true net weight, measure, or count when no gross and tare
weights are involved in determining the net quantity of the product.
(h) The tare weights, and the code identification or description
of boxes, bins, pallets, or other containers.
(i) The correct identification of the vehicle, combination of
vehicles, or other means by which the commodity was delivered. If an
equipment number is used to identify a vehicle or combination of
vehicles, there shall be traceability to the registered vehicle
license numbers through the weighmaster's records.
(j) The unit of measure, such as pounds, tons, gallons, kilograms,
or cubic yards, used to identify the quantity.

12716. All weighmasters shall keep and preserve, as records, for a
period of four years, all copies of voided certificates, records, and
worksheets required by this chapter and true copies of all
weighmaster certificates issued. These records shall, at all times,
be open for inspection by the director.

12716.5. A certificate on which a weight, measure, or count error
is discovered after issuance shall be corrected by issuing a
correction certificate to all parties who were issued the original
certificate.
The word "INCORRECT" shall be written across the face of the
original certificate. The original certificate number and reason for
the correction shall be recorded on the correction certificate.

12717. Any weighing, measuring, or counting instrument or device,
as defined in Section 12500, which is used by a weighmaster and for
which specifications and tolerances have been adopted by the
director, shall be approved, tested, and sealed in accordance with
this division.

12718. Any person who does any of the following acts is guilty of a
misdemeanor:
(a) Requests any person to weigh, measure, or count any commodity
falsely or incorrectly.
(b) Requests a false or incorrect weighmaster certificate.
(c) Furnishes or gives false information to a weighmaster for use
in the completion of a weighmaster certificate.
(d) Knowingly presents for payment a false weighmaster
certificate.
(e) Knowingly issues a weighmaster certificate giving thereon a
false weight, measure, or count.
(f) Alters a weighmaster certificate resulting in giving thereon a
false weight, measure, or count.
(g) Possesses unfilled or unused weighmaster certificate forms, if
he or she is not a weighmaster.
(h) Issues a weighmaster certificate that contains alterations or
omissions of gross or tare weights, net only weights, or
measurements.

12718.5. Subdivision (g) of Section 12718 does not apply to any of
the following:
(a) Persons engaged in the business of printing, distributing, or
selling weighmaster certificate forms.
(b) Persons possessing or transporting combination grade and
weight certificates to be used by employees of marketing order boards
or grading inspection services of either the department or the
United States Department of Agriculture.

12719. When the weight or measure of a vehicle, container, or
pallet and its net contents has been recorded on a weighmaster
certificate, it is unlawful for any person to remove a part of, or
add to, the net contents, before the contents are delivered to the
buyer or consignee, unless a correct weighmaster certificate is
obtained.

12720. When the tare weight of a vehicle or the weight of the
vehicle and its contents have been recorded on a weighmaster
certificate, it is unlawful for any person to alter the tare weight
of the vehicle prior to the time that the net weight of the commodity
has been determined and recorded on the certificate.

12721. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the vehicle,
container, pallet, or commodity for which the weight, measure, or
count is being certified shall actually be weighed, measured, or
counted at the time of, and for the purpose of, each certification.

12722. (a) In accordance with this chapter and regulations adopted
by the director, any weighmaster may use a tare weight for a vehicle,
container, or pallet which has been previously determined by a
weighmaster. It is the responsibility of the party for whom the tare
weight was established to maintain the tare weight within the
variations prescribed by the director.
(b) Any weighmaster weighing any vehicle moving earth, stone,
rock, sand, gravel, or asphalt paving material may use a
predetermined tare weight. The issuance of predetermined tare weights
are exempt from the provisions of Subchapter 9 (commencing with
Section 4400) of Chapter 9 of Title 4 of the California
Administrative Code. It is the responsibility of the party for whom
the tare weight was established to maintain the actual weight so that
the actual tare weight of the vehicle shall at no time exceed the
recorded tare weight.

12723. The director shall adopt regulations for the establishment
of vehicle, container, and pallet tares, including, but not limited
to, the adoption of conditions of use, certificate requirements,
sample size, allowable variations, and procedure to be used to verify
common tares.

12724. (a) Except as provided in this section, a weighmaster
weighing a vehicle for certification shall determine both gross and
tare weights with all persons off the scale and vehicle, unless both
the gross and tare weights are determined without leaving the
weighing location.
(b) Predetermined tares for vehicles moving earth, stone, rock,
sand, gravel, and asphalt paving material may be determined with the
driver in the vehicle, if the gross weight is determined in the same
manner and the weighmaster indicates on the weighmaster certificate
that the driver was on the vehicle for both gross and tare weight.

12725. A weighmaster shall not certify to the gross weight of a
vehicle whenever all of the following conditions prevail:
(a) The scale is located at the site where the vehicle is loaded.
(b) The vehicle is weighed before entering a highway.
(c) The vehicle's gross weight exceeds 80,000 pounds, unless a
special permit authorizing a greater gross weight for the vehicle has
been issued pursuant to Section 35780 of the Vehicle Code.

12726. (a) If doubt or differences arise as to the accuracy of the
weight, measure, or count of any amount or part of any commodity,
unladen vehicle, or container for which a weighmaster certificate has
been issued, a person having a financial interest may, upon
complaint to the department, have the amount, or part thereof,
verified by the department or a weighmaster designated by it, upon
depositing a sufficient sum of money with the department to defray
the actual cost of the verification.
(b) If, when verified, a difference from the original certified
weight, measure, or count is discovered as the result of fraud,
carelessness, or faulty apparatus, the cost of the verification shall
be borne by the weighmaster responsible for the issuance of the
erroneous certificate.

12727. The director may, at any time, require a vehicle to proceed
to the nearest vehicle scale for the purpose of weight verification.

12728. (a) No weighmaster shall weigh a vehicle, or combination of
vehicles, for certification, when part of the vehicle, or connected
combination, is not resting on the scale.
(b) When weighing a combination of vehicles that will not rest on
the scale platform at one time, the combination shall be disconnected
and weighed separately. The weights so taken may be combined for the
purpose of issuing a single certificate.
(c) This section does not prohibit weighing of vehicles to
determine compliance with the Vehicle Code.
(d) This section does not apply to any of the following:
(1) The weighing of seed cotton for purposes of ginning when the
weights are obtained by weighing trailers not equipped with braking
systems and are not used for the sale of the seed cotton.
(2) Multiple draft or in-motion weighing operations that comply
with the regulations adopted pursuant to Section 12107.
(3) A combination of multiple railcars that contain grain or grain
products if the consignor and the consignee to the transaction agree
in writing to a multiple draft weighing operation.

12729. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, any person
who violates any provision of this chapter is guilty of a
misdemeanor.
(b) Violations of Sections 12714, 12714.5, and 12715 are
infractions, except as otherwise provided in Section 12718. Every
person convicted of an infraction pursuant to this subdivision shall
be punished as follows:
(1) For the first conviction, a fine not exceeding one hundred
dollars ($100).
(2) For a second conviction within a period of one year, a fine
not exceeding two hundred dollars ($200).
(3) For a third or subsequent conviction within a period of one
year, a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500).
(c) A violation of Section 12722 by a vehicle hauling bulk
tomatoes is an infraction. Every person convicted of an infraction
pursuant to this subdivision shall be punished as follows:
(1) For a vehicle that exceeds the tolerance provided by
regulations adopted pursuant to Section 12723 by less than 50
percent, a fine not exceeding two hundred dollars ($200).
(2) For a vehicle that exceeds the tolerance provided by
regulations adopted pursuant to Section 12723 by 50 to 100 percent,
inclusive, a fine not exceeding four hundred dollars ($400).
(3) For a vehicle that exceeds the tolerance provided by
regulations adopted pursuant to Section 12723 by more than 100
percent, a fine not exceeding eight hundred dollars ($800).

12730. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (a) or (b) of Section
12701 or this section, farm products sold by bulk weight or delivered
to a processing or conditioning establishment for processing,
conditioning, or sale, shall be weighed by a weighmaster, and a
weighmaster certificate of the weight shall be issued to the producer
with a duplicate copy issued to the buyer, conditioner, or
processor.
(b) When the processing or conditioning charges or purchase is
based on the bulk weight of the finished product, the finished
product shall also be weighed by a weighmaster, and a second
weighmaster certificate shall be issued to the producer with a
duplicate copy issued to the buyer, conditioner, or processor.
(c) A producer whose product is delivered, but is not sold, to a
processor or conditioner for processing or conditioning, may waive,
in writing, his or her right to have the product weighed when the
processing or conditioning establishment is operated by a producer of
farm products and the processing or conditioning is incidental to
the production of farm products. As used in this subdivision,
"incidental" means that the income derived from the processing or
conditioning operation represents not more than 25 percent of the
total income of the producer operating the processing or conditioning
establishment.
(d) This section does not apply to any nonprofit cooperative
association that is organized and operating pursuant to Chapter 1
(commencing with Section 54001) of Division 20 of the Food and
Agricultural Code, except as to that portion of activities that
involves the handling or dealing in any farm product of any nonmember
of the nonprofit cooperative association.
(e) Subdivision (a), as it applies to tree nuts delivered for
processing or conditioning, does not apply to tree nut hullers and
shellers, if there is a written contract which waives the producer's
right to have the unprocessed or unconditioned product weighed.
Notwithstanding the waiver, the finished product shall be weighed by
a weighmaster and a weighmaster certificate shall be issued to the
grower, with a duplicate copy issued to the buyer, conditioner, or
processor.
(f) The term "farm products" includes all agricultural,
horticultural, viticultural, and vegetable products of the soil,
flaxseed, and cottonseed, but does not include timber, timber
products, milk, and milk products.

12731. (a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this code, where
livestock is sold on the basis of weight at a public sales yard, or
by or at any livestock market, market agency, or dealer which is
subject to the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 (7 U.S.C. Sec. 181
et seq.), the livestock shall be weighed by a weighmaster, and a
weighmaster certificate shall be issued to the buyer and seller.
(b) The term "livestock" includes cattle, sheep, swine, horses,
mules, and goats.

12732. In addition to the certificate requirements of Sections
12714, 12714.5, and 12715, all of the following information shall
appear on weighmaster certificates issued when adjustments are made
to the load and the weights are determined at other than the site
where the vehicle was loaded:
(a) The gross weight of the commodity and the vehicle at the time
of the initial weighing.
(b) The gross weight of the commodity and the vehicle after the
adjustment.
(c) The name and address of the seller and of either the purchaser
or broker of the commodity as provided by the driver of the vehicle.

12733. In all cases where scrap metal and salvage materials are
purchased or sold by dealers, brokers, or commission merchants on the
basis of weight or measure, the quantity of the scrap metal and
salvage material shall be determined by a weighmaster, and a
weighmaster certificate shall be issued to the seller and buyer.
Settlement for the materials shall be made on the quantity shown
thereon. If the quantity indications are readily accessible and
clearly readable to both the buyer and seller, at the time of
determination, a weighmaster certificate is required to be issued
only when requested by the buyer or seller.

12734. Notwithstanding any other provision of this division, the
weight of squid, Pacific whiting, or anchovy, certified pursuant to
this chapter, may be determined by computation based upon volumetric
measurement of containers as prescribed by regulations adopted by the
director. This section does not apply to squid, Pacific whiting, or
anchovy delivered for the purpose of retorting or reducing.

12735. The director may adopt any rules and regulations that are
reasonably necessary for the purpose of carrying out this chapter.
Adoption of these rules and regulations shall be in accordance with
Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3
of Title 2 of the Government Code.

12736. The director may adopt necessary rules and regulations
regarding the accuracy of automated systems for retail commodity
price charging referred to as "scanners."