Owner - Material Inspector 1

[MightyOatmeal]

Hi! I am working for the Owner side and we are currently establishing the qualification for Material Inspector.

For context, we are in the Power Plant industry. Some of the materials the candidate must inspect for acceptance are seamless and welded pipes, fittings, fasteners all furnished to ASME Standard.

What minimum qualification should we look for and what should be the reference Standard for this?

I think the Owner's Inspector Qualification of ASME B31.1 defined by Paragraph 136.1.4 is too much for the position.

Should we look for someone who is NDE-Visual inspector certified in accordance to ASME V or ASME B31.1?

Or just a Mechanical Engineering license is enough?

I hope you could help me.

 

[gtaw]

If there is welding involved, you could consider including the prerequisite that the candidate be currently certified to AWS QC1 as either a CWI or SCWI. If the work involves mostly visual inspection, the CWI would probably fit the bill. If the candidate is more involved in reviewing documentation such as CMTRs, WPSs, PQRs, etc., the SCWI would be better suited for the position.

You could also include the candidate has to have passed the ASME Section VIII and Section IX endorsements or the ASME Section IX and B31.1/B31.3 endorsement as objective evidence of having familiarity with the pressure vessel or piping codes.

Both the CWI and SCWI would be familiar with NDE. As the Owner’s Inspector, I would expect the candidate would be checking the NDE performed by the contractor or the NDE contractor. Again, either the CWI or the SCWI should be able to fit the bill. The chances are the SCWI would likely have a couple of certifications for one or more NDE methods under his belt.


Best regards - Al

 

[weldstan]

First they should have knowledge of the materials specification requirements especially marking requirements and knowledge of what the supporting MTR's require as a minimum. They should be able to visually examine the items for obvious flaws/defects. They should also be cognizant of materials from foreign sources that may not be permitted for use by the Contract specifications. They must have access to all of the materials specifications being purchased and subject to examination. If materials are subject to PMI and they are performing PMI, they need to be certified by the manufacturer of the PMI equipment or a company employee so certified.

 

[MightyOatmeal]

Hi Al,

I forgot to mention that we are also looking on that AWS CWI as our minimum qualification. His function is more of evaluating the MTRs and visual inspection of the materials.

As for the NDE for welded pipes and fittings as part of acceptance, we have a third party contractor doing this. However, we still expect the candidate to check the correctness of how the NDE is performed and verify the results.

Pardon my naivete but which part of ASME VIII and Section IX describes this "endorsements"? To my understanding, Section VIII describes the Authorized Inspector which should be an ASME Inspector while Section IX is more of qualification of welder and not an inspector.


Hi weldstan,

I agree with you. However, those skills that you've mentioned can be acquired through in-house training by one of our senior QC engineers. We are also willing to sponsor the PMI equipment certification. So, having said that, do you think even a fresh grad mechanical engineer would be suitable?


Thanks

 

[XL83NL]

Depending on where you’re located, there other qualification schemes that offer the same or higher ‘skill levels’ than e.g. AWS CSWI.
IIW is fairly common in EU, where I’m located.

https://www.ndt.net/article/icwndt2...or-qualification-or-certification-schemes.pdf

https://weldaustralia.com.au/wp-con...spector-Qualifications-and-Certifications.pdf

Huub
- You never get what you expect, you only get what you inspect.

 

[gtaw]

Most CWIs use either D1.1 or API 1104 for their open code book examination since AWS offers tutorials for those two codes. The endorsement examinations are available to both SCWIs and CWIs to provide objective evidence they are familiar with other codes like ASME, the Bridge Code, etc. While ASME may not require an endorsement examination, prospective employers can require them as a prerequisite or recognize the endorsement as a way to separate the CWI/SCWI that has the added expertise needed to fill a position from those that don’t have the expertise in a specific code.

One thing to keep in mind is that the SCWI has to have 6-years of experience as a CWI before being eligible to sit for the SCWI examination. The SCWI would probably be better prepared to fulfill a QA roll than a freshly minted CWI.

Best regards - Al

 

[gtaw]

As a side bar, I believe New York City requires anyone inspecting welds to be certified as a AWS CWI. When I taught the CWI program for AWS in and around the city, about a third of the class would be people with their P.E.s preparing to take the CWI examinations. They struggled with all the material presented just as any other candidate did.

I had one P.E. that worked for the Authority say, "Al, I'm one class away from completing my Doctorate. None of my courses have been as tough as this one."

It's one thing to design a weldment, but it something else to inspect it.

Best regards - Al

 

[JStephen]

It seems to me you are trying to define the qualifications without defining what the job actually entails.
"Inspection" of those items implies inspection in accordance with some standard (possibly your own QC documents), and those standards should spell out what inspection is appropriate, and that would get you the qualifications desired.
Quite a few years ago, I took a week-long course and got my CWI. If weld inspection is required, it would be advantageous to have somebody with experience in welding inspection, as opposed to some pencil-pusher like me that is good at taking tests. That is, the CWI is a qualification, but separated from actual experience in the field at hand, not so much.
Note owner's inspection of a welded item wouldn't necessarily entail the same degree of weld inspection that might be required of the manufacturer.
A PE is another fine qualification, but would seem to have little to do with the job at hand. The PE tests certainly don't ask you anything about weld or material inspection.

 

[weldstan]

As a P.E. in Metallurgical Engineering by exam and ASNT Level III in MT, PT, RT and VT and former CWI taking the ASME Codes I, VIII & IX (no training courses back then). I provided the Level I & II training in VT for our materials receiving personnel. With appropriate training a recently graduated engineer could adequately perform those duties. If he/she will perform inspection of welded spools, I would recommend additional training or hiring a CWI.

Welding inspectors were trained by me as well, most of whom were AWS or would become AWS certified.

 

[r6155]

Also See

https://www.nationalboard.org/SiteDocuments/NB-438.pdf

https://www.nationalboard.org/SiteDocuments/Training/BoKs/NB-331NC.pdf

Regards

 

Sounds like you are describing an API 570 Certified Piping Inspector.

"Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but they are not entitled to their own facts."

 

[david339933]

Minimum qualifications - able to read and write, good eyesight. Everything else can be easily trained.

 

[0707]

Describe the perfil you want and contract a HR company and you will have lots of suitable candidates it is up to you to choose the one with more competencies.

luis

 

[r6155]

I worked as a design engineer (as the owner) during the construction of a Nuclear Plant. All QA and engineering documents were reviewed and approved by QA and myself

During the inspection (year 1985) at the manufacturer, the QA staff controlled the electrode certificates for 2 hours, and in the end everything was fine for QA, but before putting my signature I told them "I need to see the electrodes".
Surprise: several electrode boxes were open and the electrodes were used for another customer. I immediately rejected the electrodes and QA had to accept this rejection.
Since that day I never trusted the inspectors again. Sorry
I repeat, this was for a nuclear plant
Since then I have had many differences with the inspectors. Sorry again.

Regards

 

Don't apologize r6155.
I've seen rod ovens used to dry out wet boots or warm up lunches.
Nuclear is not exempt from QC and welder shenanigans.

"Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but they are not entitled to their own facts."

 

[MightyOatmeal]

Hi Al,

Thank you. I wouldn't have understood it if you hadn't explained the AWS Endorsements.

Thank you to everyone who responded. Based on your answers, I figured that it's a matter of preference for us Owners. I was worried that we might be breaking ASME B31.1 Code if we would hire someone with lower qualifications than the Owner's Inspector requirement.