Legal metrology in Indonesia: verification (tera), re-verification and calibration

Tera is the testing and marking, by authorised legal-metrology officers, that shows a measuring, weighing or related instrument (UTTP) meets the requirements for use; tera ulang repeats it periodically, while calibration compares the instrument with a standard without giving it a legal status.

The three words are often used as if they meant the same thing, and the difference matters at audits, in contracts and when a customer disputes a quantity. This guide explains each one, what the law says, how the process runs, and where calibration still earns its place. For a worked case, see how a weighbridge works.

An instrument without a valid mark is not only an audit finding; the law forbids using it where a quantity is decided.

Pasal 25 of UU 2/1981 prohibits having or using, at a place of business, at a place of delivery or where charges are set by measure, an instrument with a void or damaged mark, without a valid mark, with a repair that was not re-approved, or with readings outside the permitted deviation.

Pasal 27 adds that a measuring or indicating device attached to an instrument already tera'd turns it into one treated as not tera'd. When a project adds data collection or a display to a weighing or metering instrument, ask your UML first how it should be done.

Indonesian legal metrology rests on a short law and a ministerial regulation that is renewed from time to time.

UU 2/1981 on Metrologi Legal defines tera as marking with a valid or void tera mark after testing an instrument that has not yet been used, and tera ulang as the periodic marking of one that has already been tera'd. Pasal 12 leaves the list of instruments that must be tera'd and re-tera'd to a government regulation, and Pasal 13 lets the minister set how and how often the work is done.

Permendag 24/2024, enacted on 4 October 2024, now carries those details. Its Pasal 4 puts the work with authorised officers of the Direktorat Metrologi, a UPT or the UML for the area.

Pasal 5 lists events that call for re-verification, such as an expired mark, a damaged mark or broken seal wire, a repair that affects the readings, or readings that deviate from the technical requirements. The mark carries a year code. The regulation refers to an interval table in its annex, so read the current text or ask your UML for the interval of your instrument.