ASME Pipes Definition of Manufacturer

[johang]

Good morning

We are a supplier of petrochemical piping manufactured in accordance with ASME SA312, SA335, SA106 etc.

We have a situation where one of the overseas suppliers buy pipes from pipe mills, witness testing etc. and then supply these pipes with their own material certifcates.

The problem is that this company is not regarded as a pipe mill by certain of our clients. This begs the question, how is the term 'pipe manufacturer'defined? I am unable to find any definition of a pipe manufacturer as defined by ASME.

Is the manufacturer the entity issuing the material certifcate?

I would appreciate if someone can refer me to the exact definition and where I could find this.

Thank you.

 

[Duwe6]

A pipe manufacturer is the entity that manufactures pipe; the 'house' that turns steel slabs, billets, or rolls into pipe. The chemical portion of MTR's useually come from the steel folks, hence "Heat #", not "Lot #".

Gotta agree with your client, your overseas supplier buys from mills, and does not meet the definition of a "Pipe Mill" themselves.

 

[metengr]

There are NO definitions to rely on - this a contractual matter. A perfect example of why technical due diligence is required by the Purchaser. If you purchase an item from a distributor or from the mill directly, the item should have all necessary pedigree papers or certificates from birth to final product form. Distributors can issue certificates of conformance to a specification, etc, but the bottom line is that traceability must be established from the source of the product. If the source cannot be verified you do not purchase it.

 

[stanweld]

The US Gov has words regarding pipe manufacturers; essentially, they would permit pipe manufactured in another country to be called US manufactured if the final testing (not including chemistry) were performed in the US by the domestic manufacturer. We recently had just such an issue.