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A Platform Scale is a weighing machine that has a flat area upon which the item to be weighed is placed. If the Platform Scale is mounted on the floor, an alternative desciption would be a Floor Scale or a Pit Scale. A small Platform Scale that is mounted at a convenient working height would be termed as a Bench Scale.

An alternative (historic) term is a BALANCE but this term is mostly used to describe very high accuracy weighing machines that work on the FORCE BALANCE principle and are commonly found in pharaceutical applications or in the jewellery business.

The Platform Scale is most commonly a steel construction comprising of a welded frame with adjustable height feet that allow for the levelling of the scale surface, and a load platform that is supported by one or more load cells.

For platforms that are more than one metre square, the usual choice is to use four shear beam load cells, one in each corner of the platform. Certain types of load cell have integral adjustable feet, and allow for the base frame to be eliminated.

For platforms that are less than one metre scale, and this includes almost all bench scales and parcel scales, the usual choice is one load cell of the single-point type. This type of load cell is usually of the dual cantilever design and is capable of rejecting off-centre loads, thereby ensuring that the weight result is the same, regardless of the position of the load on the platform.

Note that for applications where money changes hands directly based on the weight result, then the application is known as an APPROVED or TRADE application, and approval must be obtained from the local authorities prior to use.