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History of the Office

History of the Office

Published by: Adam Żeberkiewicz

On 8 February 1919, the Decree on Measures was signed, which was one of the first legal acts of the reborn Republic.

On 1 April 1919, the Central Office of Measures (GUM) was established. From 1922 to the present day its siege has been located in a historic building on Elektoralna Street in Warsaw. Simultaneously with the establishment of GUM, regional and local verification offices were created. They now form the field administration of measures.

Unification of the system of measures in Poland was an urgent and difficult task that the new institution had to face, since each of three sectors of the previously partitioned Poland had its specific system of measures.

After the World War II the administration of measures went through a series of organizational changes. Activities in the field of metrology have often been combined with activities in the field of standardization and quality control. It was reflected in the transformation of the Central Office of Measures successively into other bodies of the state administration.

In 1966, GUM was transformed into the Central Office of Quality and Measures (CUJiM), then, when combined with the Polish Committee for Standardization, in the years 1972–1979 it operated as the Polish Committee for Standardization and Measures (PKNiM) and then in the years 1979–1993 as a Polish Committee for Standardization, Measures and Quality Control (PKNMiJ).

By virtue of the Law on the formation of the Central Office of Measures of April 3, 1993 the original name and the scope of competence of the Central Office of Measures were restored on 1st January 1994, on the 75th anniversary of its establishment.

In connection with preparations for the Polish membership in the European Union, in 2001 a new law was adopted – the Law on Measures, introducing legal and organizational changes to the metrology in Poland.

In 2004, Poland became a full member of the European Union and in the same year GUM celebrated its 85th anniversary of functioning. The concurrence of these two events was a good sign for the Polish metrology, since we entered a new historical era carrying along all the best experience gained in the past.

In 2007 GUM entered EURAMET (the Association of National Metrology Institutes), after long lasting cooperation with its predecessor - EUROMET.

Since 2010 it has been taking part in European research programmes in the field of metrology: EMRP – European Metrology Research Program and EMPiR – European Metrology Program for innovation and Research.

In 2019 Central Office of Measures has celebrated the 100th anniversary of its establishing.

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