Cuyahoga County
Cuyahoga County Department of Consumer Affairs, Division of Weights and Measures
In short
Cuyahoga County Department of Consumer Affairs, Division of Weights and Measures issues 3 permits we publish for Cuyahoga County, last verified 2026-09-30. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.
What this agency issues
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Pricing Accuracy Duties (scanner accuracy and item pricing) | Cuyahoga County Department of Consumer Affairs, Division of Weights and Measures | No fee | a standing obligation with no term and no renewal, in force from 8 August 2026, the effective date of Ordinance No. O2026-0008 | 2026-09-30 |
| Disposable Bag Rule for Retail Establishments | Cuyahoga County Department of Consumer Affairs, Division of Weights and Measures | No fee | a standing obligation with no term and no renewal; County Code §1304.04 has the Department of Consumer Affairs enforcing the chapter from 1 January 2021, and §1304.03 provides that 'Only violations occurring on or after January 1, 2021, are subject to penalty' | 2026-09-30 |
| Weights and Measures Device Inspection and Sealing | Cuyahoga County Department of Consumer Affairs, Division of Weights and Measures | No fee | a standing county inspection duty rather than a license; the county states that 'Weights and Measures inspectors generally conduct device tests once a year' and that 'Our seal is good for 12 months', with tests unannounced | 2026-09-30 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
About each permit
Retail Pricing Accuracy Duties (scanner accuracy and item pricing)
These are the newest obligations the county places on a retail business, and they are easy to miss because the Code imposes them directly, with no fee to pay and no application to file: County Code §§1302.10 and 1302.11 were enacted by Ordinance No. O2026-0008 on 7 July 2026 and took effect on 8 August 2026. They also reach further than the device-inspection duty, because a scanner or a shelf tag is enough to engage them and no weighing device is needed. Section 1302.10 sets an accuracy standard: 'Every retail establishment using scanners or electronic price lookup systems shall maintain a failure rate not greater than two percent (2%), consistent with the price-verification procedures of NIST Handbook 130', with the rate calculated as 'the number of items scanned at an incorrect price divided by the total number of items scanned, multiplied by one hundred'. It defines a correct price as one that equals 'The price displayed on the item', 'The shelf price displayed in reasonable proximity to the item', or 'The advertised price, if the item is currently advertised', and it resolves conflicts in the customer's favour: 'If multiple prices are displayed for an item (e.g., item tag, shelf tag, advertised price), the consumer shall be entitled to purchase the item at the lowest displayed or advertised price.' Section 1302.11 governs the tags themselves — 'For items with prices displayed on a shelf tag or sign in reasonable proximity to the item, the displayed price must be accurate and match the price at the point of sale', and 'When items are offered at a reduced price, the reduced price shall be clearly displayed at the point of display. If the original price is also displayed, it shall not be false or inflated.' Section 1302.12 then sets out consumer remedies for pricing errors. Enforcement is practical rather than paper-based: the Department of Consumer Affairs uses the Chapter 1301 charging-document and civil-citation machinery through §1302.07(D), and describes its own routine on its page — 'Our inspectors periodically conduct price sweeps to make sure the prices stores advertise are the prices that ring up at the register.' Territory follows the rest of Chapter 1302: §1302.13(A) applies it county-wide except within a municipal corporation that has appointed its own weights and measures official under ORC 1327.52.
Disposable Bag Rule for Retail Establishments
Any shop, cafe, restaurant or truck handing goods to a customer in Cuyahoga County is bound by the county's disposable bag rule, and this is one county duty that reaches a City of Cleveland address as well, because County Code §1304.02 applies it 'within Cuyahoga County' without the carve-out that limits the weights and measures chapter. The rule itself is short: 'Commencing on January 1, 2020 no Disposable Plastic Bags or Non-Permitted Paper Bags shall be used within Cuyahoga County by any Retail Establishment. Retail Establishments shall offer only a Reusable Bag or a Permitted Paper Bag to a customer at the point of sale for the purpose of transporting goods.' Two further duties sit alongside it: 'No Retail Establishment shall refuse to allow customers to bring with them and to use their own reusable bag or bags', and retailers 'shall encourage customers to bring their own reusable bags', with customers who do so neither required to take the shop's bags nor 'charged a fee for the use of reusable bags'. There is nothing to apply for and no fee to pay; the only amounts in the chapter are the penalties for breaching it, and §1304.03 escalates them per incident and per day: 'A Retail Establishment found to be in violation of this Chapter shall be subject to a written warning for the first violation, a civil fine of up to $100 for a second violation, and a civil fine of up to $500 for each subsequent violation. A separate violation shall be deemed committed each day during or on which a violation or noncompliance occurs or continues.' Enforcement sits with the Department of Consumer Affairs under §1304.04 from 1 January 2021, and a citation can be appealed to the Cuyahoga County Debarment Review Board and from there to the Court of Common Pleas under ORC Chapter 2506. The chapter was built in three steps — Ordinance No. O2019-0005, effective 29 June 2019, then O2019-0012 and O2020-0011, effective 9 June 2020 — and §1304.03 confines penalties to conduct on or after 1 January 2021.
Weights and Measures Device Inspection and Sealing
There is nothing to apply for here and, in the ordinary case, nothing to pay: the county's Weights and Measures for Business page states that 'All measuring devices used in consumer transactions in Cuyahoga County must be inspected and tested by the Cuyahoga County Department of Consumer Affairs, Division of Weights and Measures. The County does not charge businesses for these tests', so a scale, meter or dispenser is sealed at no charge to the business. What the operator owes is contact at the right moments: the same page states 'You MUST contact the Division of Weights and Measures for an inspection any time you: Install, repair or replace a measuring device · Bring a stored device back into service · Discover a broken or missing Weights and Measures seal on a device on your premises', that 'You must contact Weights and Measures at least 48 hours in advance of scheduled service to a measuring device. Service reports must be sent to the County Division of Weights and Measures within 7 days after service is performed', and that 'Only state-certified service persons are permitted to install, replace or repair measuring devices.' Breaking a seal without telling the county is itself an offence: 'It is against the law to break or remove an official Weights and Measures seal in Cuyahoga County without notifying Consumer Affairs/Weights and Measures.' The range of devices is wide — County Code §1302.01(C) covers 'any device described in the National Institute of Standards and Technology Handbook 44 … including but not limited to retail scales, fuel dispensers, vehicle scales, vehicle tank meters, LPG meters, and electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) dispensers that sell electricity by the kilowatt-hour', and the county's page adds that inspectors test 'everything from tiny jewelry scales to timed devices such laundromat dryers'. One charge can arise, and only after a failure: §1302.07(H) provides that 'the Director may assess a reinspection fee against any Supplier whose commercial weighing or measuring device or point-of-sale system fails an inspection … The reinspection fee shall not exceed thirty-five dollars ($35) per reinspection', which §1302.04(A) applies following the first reinspection of a device not corrected in time. Selling by weight carries a related rule: the county states that stores 'are prohibited by Cuyahoga County Code Section 1302.06 from charging consumers for the weight of packaging, also known as tare', including deli and salad bar containers. Territory is set by mechanism rather than by name: §1302.13(A) applies the chapter 'throughout the unincorporated area of the County and in all municipal corporations and townships within the County', except 'within any municipal corporation that has appointed a weights and measures official in accordance with ORC 1327.52', and the county's page states that its jurisdiction 'includes all of Cuyahoga County except for the City of Cleveland', directing complaints about devices in Cleveland to the city's own bureau on (216) 664-2260.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Cuyahoga County
- Phone
- 216-443-7035
Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.
Sources
Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.
- Cuyahoga County Code Chapter 1302, Weights and Measures — §1302.01(C) devices, §1302.04(A) and §1302.07(H) the reinspection fee capped at $35, §1302.06 the tare prohibition, §§1302.10–1302.11 scanner accuracy and item pricing, and §1302.13 jurisdiction and applicability, as amended by Ordinance No. O2026-0008 (enacted 7 July 2026, effective 8 August 2026)Cuyahoga County, Ohio · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
- Cuyahoga County Code Chapter 1304, Disposable Bag Ban — §1304.02 the point-of-sale rule within Cuyahoga County, §1304.03 the warning and $100 / $500 civil fines with each day a separate violation, and §1304.04 enforcement by the Department of Consumer Affairs from 1 January 2021Cuyahoga County, Ohio · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
- Weights and Measures — Cuyahoga County Department of Consumer Affairs: the jurisdiction statement excluding the City of Cleveland, the annual test cadence, the twelve-month seal, the price sweeps and the tare prohibitionCuyahoga County Department of Consumer Affairs, Ohio · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
- Weights and Measures for Business — the county's own page: 'The County does not charge businesses for these tests', the events that require a business to call for inspection, the 48-hour service notice, the 7-day service report and the state-certified service person ruleCuyahoga County Department of Consumer Affairs, Ohio · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
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