Non Destructive Testing (NDT ) Activity 2
Non Destructive Testing 2
4 CALIBRATION OF N.D.T. EQUIPMENT
- The N.D.T. subcontractor must submit the calibration register and calibration certificates to the P.C.R. together with the N.D.T. procedures prior to mobilization of N.D.T. personnel and equipment to the site.
- The N.D.T. equipment must be provided with calibration status identification for client’s verification.
- The client’s approval must be obtained for N.D.T. equipment calibration records to avoid issues at a later stage. Calibration frequency and expiry of the N.D.T. equipment must be monitored to ensure timely renewal and fitness for use.
- Traceability of the N.D.T. equipment calibration certificates to national and international standards must be ascertained.
5 QUALIFICATION OF N.D.T. PERSONNEL
- The N.D.T. subcontractor must submit the CV, qualifications and experience of N.D.T. personnel along with procedures upon receiving the work order from the P.C.R.
- The P.C.R. must review the CV and qualification certificates of the N.D.T. team and submit them to the client for review and approval.
- Any issues related to the qualifications required for the N.D.T. personnel as against the contractual requirements with the client must be resolved prior to carrying out N.D.T. activities at the site.
- The following minimum qualification requirements for N.D.T. work need to be ascertained.
| RT C.S.W.I.P./P.C.N. Level 2 |
| UT C.S.W.I.P./P.C.N. Level 2 |
| MT C.S.W.I.P./P.C.N. Level 2 |
| PT C.S.W.I.P./P.C.N. Level 2 |
| P.M.I. Adequate practical experience |
| Hardness test Adequate practical experience |
| P.W.H.T. Adequate practical experience |
- A.S.N.T. qualified N.D.T. technicians shall be engaged in the projects only if they are approved by the client.
- The P.C.R. must ensure that the N.D.T. personnel who are engaged have valid trade certificates to conduct the specified N.D.T. work at the site.
- Authenticity of the C.S.W.I.P./P.C.N./A.S.N.T. certificates possessed by the N.D.T. personnel must be checked, ascertained and communicated to the client, if necessary, to avoid complications later.
6 MOCK-UP TEST
- Prior to start of N.D.T. activities in the project, approved procedures and client specific requirements need to be checked and ascertained.
- Mock-up test must be witnessed by the client as well as N.D.T. subcontractor’s Level 3 inspectors.
- Mock-up test related reports must be signed by the P.C.R’s representative, client representative and subcontractor’s level three inspector.
- Records of mock-up test must be maintained for future reference.
7 N.D.T. REPORT
- Depending on the size, complexity of the project and scope of N.D.T. work, a N.D.T. coordinator needs to be appointed for the project to take care of the N.D.T. related activities.
8 N.D.T. FILM CONTROL/PRESERVATION AND MANAGEMENT
- The P.C.R. must ensure that the selected subcontractor is provided a dark room facility to inspect and store the N.D.T. films.
- The N.D.T. coordinator and N.D.T. subcontractor must ensure that the completed N.D.T. films are stored in air-conditioned storage rooms in proper boxes.
- All the films must have proper identification details, such as report number, drawing number, joint number, welder number, weld size, pipe schedule and the results on the wrapping paper of the film.
- The N.D.T. coordinator shall be the custodian for the N.D.T. film control and its management.
- Client review and approval is required before final handover of the N.D.T. films to the client.
- All N.D.T. films shall be packed in aluminum boxes for final handover to the client. Box sizes must be discussed with and finalized by the client.
- Only N.D.T. reports shall be kept by the P.C.R. for reference. There is no need to keep duplicates and/or copies of N.D.T. films unless deemed necessary. For reporting of the activities, the following sample formats shall be used:
9 HANDING OVER N.D.T. DOCUMENTS TO CLIENT
- All N.D.T. documents, such as:
- N.D.T. procedures
- N.D.T. reports
- N.D.T. technicians’ qualification
- N.D.T. films,
shall be submitted to the client as part of the final documentation for review/approval and clearance.
- The P.C.R. shall maintain a copy of the final documents related to N.D.T. management, either in soft or hard form or both for future reference.
10 PROBLEMS FACED IN PROJECTS
The following problems faced in previously completed oil and gas projects need to be understood and avoided in future projects:
- The P.C.R. did not use any monitoring software to capture the data related to weld summary, welders’ performance, N.D.T. tracking or weld repair percentage, which led to delays, complaints from clients, etc. To avoid similar problems in future projects, it is advisable to use “weld control software (W.C.S)” for proper and independent monitoring and control.
- If the client has weld control software, it is for the client’s use, not for the P.C.R. Hence, it is always better for the P.C.R. to have the software and not depend on the client to furnish the data.
- A dedicated QC engineer needs to be allocated to control the weld-related performance in each and every project.
- For RT completion, RT balance, RT rejection, RT acceptance, RT repair and RT for penalty joints, the P.C.R. must have the required statistics, rather than relying on the client’s data.
- Many a time, clients did not update their weld/N.D.T. data in their software, which led to wrong reporting and understanding about the progress in the project.
- The P.C.R. maintained the N.D.T./weld tracking data mainly in Excel sheets. This is not a good practice. It leads to a lot of mistakes and reconciliation later, which is time-consuming and costly. For reporting of the activities, the following sample formats shall be used:
