Developing NDT Procedure - Owner

[MightyOatmeal]

Hi,

First off, my apologies for the long post.

I am employed by an Owner in the Power Plant industry. I am under the QA/QC section and my manager has tasked me to develop procedures for our VT, PT, MT, and RT. Our reference standard are ASME V and ASME B31.1.

For context, the intention of this procedure development is to have a standard document which our QA/QC team could use when performing NDT on welded joints. That kind of situation, however, is really seldom. As Owner's Inspector our function is more of ensuring that the tests were performed correctly by our third party Contractor and verify the test results.

Now, I understand that based on ASME V, a written procedure must be qualified through a demonstration which must be supervised by an NDT Level III of a specific method and witnessed by an Authorized Inspector.

My questions are the following:
1. As Owners of Power Plant, do we also need to undergo this process of qualifying the procedure? I am thinking if this qualification process is only intended for Manufacturer, Fabricator, or Installer?

2. The Authorized Inspector was not clearly defined by ASME V. What is the qualification of this Authorized Inspector? Is he directly employed by ASME?

I think have to mention as well that I am not an NDT Level III and therefore I am not also qualified to develop a procedure in accordance with the ASNT SNT-TNC-1A.

All inputs are highly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[weldstan]

1. Unless you are building equipment subject to the ASME Code, you need not undergo the process of qualifying the NDE procedure. You ought to though to assure the procedure and your NDE personnel will adequately perform the testing. You can always hire an ASNT Level III to write the procedures and provide training for your NDE personnel.

2. The Authorized Inspector is employed by by an Authorized Inspection Agency - not the ASME.

 

[MightyOatmeal]

Hi weldstan,

Thank you for the response. Please allow me to clarify.

Say we have a project which involves building piping systems in accordance with ASME B31.1. We will hire a Contractor to build this for us. Aside from that, we will also hire a third party contractor for all the NDT (not related to project Contractor) for this piping system.

In this case, if we as Owner would write our own NDT procedure which our own QA/QC Engineers could use whenever we require them to do the VT, PT, MT, RT to examine the welds of said piping system for acceptance, should we still not qualify our procedure based on ASME V requirement?

 

[weldstan]

If the third party NDE Contractor is responsible for the NDE performed per Code of the welds made by the Piping Contractor and accepted by the piing contractor per the Contract, your NDE procedures would not need to be qualified. If otherwise and the piping under B31.1 is Boiler External, they would need to be qualified subject to review by the AI. It appears that your NDE personnel will be inspecting for additional information only and the procedures need not be qualified per ASME V. But as stated previously, they should be.

 

[0707]

IMO your questions

1. Qualification is only intended for Manufacturer, Fabricator, or Installer

2. I supose you are talking about a NOBO (NOTIFIED BODY) third part inspection reconized by ASME but not directly employed by ASME.

people of NDT Level III shall be in accordance with the ASNT SNT-TNC-1A.

In this case, if you as Owner would write your own NDT procedures which your own QA/QC Engineers could use whenever you require them to do the VT, PT, MT, RT to examine the welds of said piping system for acceptance, you should be qualified or certified to do so reconized according to ASNT SNT-TNC-1A and aproved by the NOBO.

luis

 

[MightyOatmeal]

The NDE Contractor performs the NDE on the NBEP welds and then reports it to us. We as Owner's Inspectors review and evaluate these reports.

There are instances wherein we as Owner's Inspectors (QA/QC Engineers) conduct random sampling NDE to verify the performance of the Piping Contractor. Sometimes we do it to verify the performance of NDE Contractor as well. Thus, the need for developing our own NDE procedures.

 

[Dhurjati Sen]

The contractor writes up the procedures and submit to you for approval.

They even submit the PQP, ITPs, etc. to you for the same.

You may have standard procedures for anything and everything which would reign supreme even above ASME / API / NACE / Shell Dep & whatever.

This is basic.

DHURJATI SEN

 

[MightyOatmeal]

Thanks for your input, Dhurjati Sen.

You may be right but there's no need for your condescending tone.

What we're trying to achieve is to have an effective NDE procedure which we can impose whilst being fair to the Piping Contractor. We can only do that if our NDE procedure follows the standards which is why I'm asking for validation here.

 

[0707]

To have an effective NDE procedure your quality service shall be qualified and certified according ISO. Your NDE operators should be qualified or certified to do so reconized according to ASNT SNT-TNC-1A.