What to look for when hiring an inspector for production welding/fabri

[engr2GW]

Hi all,
Please I need advice on hiring inspection crew. There are folks in the recruiting process that knows what to expect, but I just want to educate myself to know personally some basic things to expect. By the way, the welding/piping will be mostly B31.3 piping, there will be a few B31.4 and B31.8 gathering but with the same welding procedures and welders qualified under ASMI IX.

What are some of the specific certifications/qualifications in addition to the ones specified in the piping codes and the three I listed below;
API 510: pressure vessel inspector certification
API 570: Piping inspection certification
and API 653: Storage tank inspection certification

What are flags and signs (other than years of experience) that I should be looking for, or additional certifications for inspection and examination of welds for O&G production piping.

Thanks a lot for your help.

 

[stanweld]

CWI (Certified Welding Inspector) per AWS QC1 with cross country pipe experience. Previous Level II in VT per SNT-TC-1A or other International specifications employed by a reputable employer installing pipe per B31.1, B31.3, B31.4, B31.8 or similar international Codes.

 

[engr2GW]

API 510, 570, etc and AWS CWI are a plus, not a requirement right?

 

[SectionIX]

Certification requirements are dependant upon the inspection. For API 510/570/653, inspectors need to have the appropriate certification or need to be working under the direction of a person with the appropriate API or NBIC certification.

Welding inspection is generally driven to a greater extent by the owner-operator requirements. Although you could still get a bad inspector who has an AWS CWI, I would avoid any inspector who has a certification from some school offering a certification that sounds similar to CWI. Basically shows a lack of motivation. One 'school' in particular reportably offers an open book final exam that is effectively a group effort w/o proctors in the examination room.


Be sure to verify their certification status.

For those indicating that they are CWI's, check their status here:

http://www.aws.org/w/a/certification/search.html

For API inspectors:

http://qp.api.org/icpinspectorsearch/

Once you have confirmed their status, make sure they give you a copy of their [current] certifications for your records.

Good inspectors will have tools appropriate for the project. Make sure that they have complete, current copies of the appropriate codes and specifications. Ask for a resume as well.

 

[TomDOT]

SectionIX - good point about verifying current certification status. When I took over administering an inspection contract, I was surprised at how many inspectors had let their certifications lapse.

 

[engr2GW]

Thanks SectionIX, TomDOT, for your input,

The piping where we're expected to get the inspectors are ASME B31.3 piping most of which are in the oil/gas production pad from well head to vessels to sales. And they're mostly expected to inspect the fabrication of the piping on production site. We have a few gathering lines but not much DOT lines at all.
Here's how B31.3 puts it:

340.4 Qualifications of the Owner’s Inspector
(a) The owner’s Inspector shall be designated by the
owner and shall be the owner, an employee of the owner,
an employee of an engineering or scientific organization,
or of a recognized insurance or inspection company
acting as the owner’s agent. The owner’s Inspector shall
not represent nor be an employee of the piping manufacturer,
fabricator, or erector unless the owner is also the
manufacturer, fabricator, or erector.
(b) The owner’s Inspector shall have not less than 10 y
experience in the design, fabrication, or inspection of
industrial pressure piping. Each 20% of satisfactorily
completed work toward an engineering degree recognized
by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and
Technology (Three Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016)
shall be considered equivalent to 1 y of experience, up
to 5 y total.
72
(c) In delegating performance of inspection, the owner’s
Inspector is responsible for determining that a person
to whom an inspection function is delegated is
qualified to perform that function.


IT APPEARS THAT THE BIG THINGS ARE, INSPECTOR MUST:
1. Have nlt 10 y experience
2. be independent of the welding contractor
3. be able to determine the ability of who ever he delegates inspection to.

It did not mention anything about certification...that's why I asked if those certifications are a plus, and what particular kind of certification should I be looking for in the kind of facility described above; the most applicable in my humble opinion are AWS CWI and API 570...
ARE THEY THE MOST APPLICABLE, AND ARE THEY A PLUS OR SHOULD BE CONSIDERED A REQUIREMENT...?

Thanks a lot.

 

[TomDOT]

We require welding inspectors to be AWS certified, we require paint inspectors to be NACE CIP certified. I am directly involved with the paint inspector contract, so I know the details better. We require each project to have at least one CIP Level III (the highest) for the lead inspector and can accept lower levels of CIP certification for additional inspectors, typically on a case-by-case basis.

 

[engr2GW]

Thanks a lot TomDOT.

Probably my last question: do you think that in an inspection situation where the pipes are mostly line pipes and production lines, would you rather have an AWS CWI or an API 570 certified inspector? that is if you have to require one of the two. Does one have advantage over the other as it applies to the fact that the facilities are line/gathering pipes. Also with respect to certification/course content?

 

[engr2GW]

Here was my initial list:

i. 10 years of experience in the design, fabrication, or inspection of industrial pressure piping and/or pipeline, any years of related job function counts. Also, if the person has a related science/engineering college degree, then the required experience reduces to 5 year, 20% of any college degree completed counts as 1 year of experience.
ii. Be able to determine that a person or contractor to whom the examination (X-ray) and testing job has been delegated is able to perform that function.
iii. Basic understanding of natural gas handling, liquid operation, and construction tasks
iv. Working knowledge of OSHA/DOT regulations
v. Extensive knowledge of industry safety practices and procedures
vi. Knowledge of x-ray film interpretation
vii. Ability to recognize trends and conditions during welding that can create weld problems, e.g. travel speed, time between passes, etc
viii. Good weld visual inspection ability
ix. Knowledge of ASME BPV Section IX code for welding
x. Knowledge of all types of welding processes applicable to our operations
xi. AWS CWI is a plus
xii. Also, API 570 (Piping inspection) certification is a plus

 

[TomDOT]

Someone else will have to answer that one - I only have the CIP III certification and would not be qualified to really make a comparison on the welding inspection courses. On the (theoretical) bright side, I should be taking the competing paint inspector course from SSPC in about a year and I will be able to give an opinion on those inspection certifications. Not helpful to you, unfortunately.