Australian Pressure Vessel Certification 3

[HighCompression]

I am an applications engineer for an OEM compressor package manufacturer in the USA. We are currently bidding on a package that will ultimately be installed in Queensland, Australia. As such, the project requirements specify that the pressure vessels must meet the Australian requirements AS3920.1, AS4343, AS1210, etc. My company is a registered ASME vessel manufacturer with U-stamp and R-stamp certification, so we intend to design and manufacture the vessels in-house. However, we will need to obtain the necessary Australian certification prior to shipment.

I assume that the certification will require 3rd party review of our drawings and calculations and that this must be performed by an Australian national company. My question is whom should I contact regarding this inspection/certification activity? Is it a government agency? Or do we need to enlist the services of a consultant for design review?

I'm just looking for some information as to how the process goes and what sort of expenses should be expected. I already contacted the WHS via the gld.gov website and I received a link for the Form 14 registration, but I'm unsure as to how this process would unfold during fabrication (should we win the project). Any information or tips are welcome. Specifically if you have had experience obtaining Australian certification for vessels built to code here in the USA that would be great.

Thanks!!

 

[micalbrch]

I must confess that I'm not familiar with the Australian pressure vessel standards but I find this previous post pretty interesting:

http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=280473&page=8

 

[gr2vessels]

A bit late with the reply, just back from my fishing trip...Still interested in a reply to your post HighCompression?
cheers,
gr2vessels

 

[HighCompression]

Yes, any information about the specific process of securing the Australian certification or mistakes to avoid would be greatly appreciated!

 

[84Volumex]

I have had a few vessels registered in Qld. There are two parts - the design needs to be registered and the vessel needs to be registered. Typically the designer registers the design and the end user registers the vessel.
A design verifier who is indepenent of the design needs to verify the design, but they don't need to be anything special although they do have to have sufficient qualifications and experience to satisfy WHS that they are competent. To me they have always seems pretty relaxed - a 4 year degree and 5+ years experience in vessels seems to make them happy.
Until recently they could be registered from anywhere, but having just read Form 14 again you need to find a local representative to submit the application on your behalf. Possibly WHS are forcing the applicant or verifier to be registered with the BPEQ (i.e. have someone involved with RPEQ registration)
Maybe google "Design of any Pressure Vessel including heat exchangers, column vessels and autoclaves australia" and see what comes up.

 

[stanier]

Australia is going through a state of flux at the moment as the federal governement is trying to harmonise safety in the work place legislation. The individual states have their own views and there is some reluctance to change. Queensland is not overly concerned about compliance to AS 1210 & will accept ASME vessels.

 

[MrBTU]

We get shell and tube heat exchangers verified and registered in Queensland regularly. We use Hartford Steam Boiler, who is also our AI to act as our 3rd party. We send their US office the design package and they verify it to AS1210. They then pass that along to their Australian office and the Australian office submits the package with the verification letter to the state authorities over there. The state authorities (Work Safe Australia) then registers the heat exchanger and gives the registration letter to the end user. So you need to know a contact name at the end user.
Hope this helps.

 

[HighCompression]

Thank you all so much for the informative replies!! This definitely gets me going in the right direction... A special thanks to MrBTU and 84Volumex for providing their first-hand experience with the subject.
If we do ultimately win the order I'll make sure to post some more details on the registration process.

Thanks again!!