ABSTRACT
Concerns about the uniformity of weights and measures standards and laws from state to state led the National Bureau of Standards to convene the first "Conference on the Weights and Measures of the United States" in January 1905. This first meeting laid the foundation for the creation of the National Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM), which continues to this day. The NCWM is the primary mechanism used by NIST to fulfill its responsibility, as stated in its Organic Act, to work with the states "in securing uniformity in weights and measures laws and methods of inspection." NBS published the report of the 1905 Conference and has since published the reports of the 83 other Conferences held since that first meeting. Over the years, the uniform laws, regulations, and practices developed by NIST in cooperation with the NCWM have been gathered together and published in a series of NIST Handbooks.
