Guideline

for the
Competence Assessment
of
Inspectors

Who perform inspections under

an Owner-User or
Inspection Company
Quality System Certificate
of Authorization Permit

AB-527

Edition 1, Revision 0 - Issued 2013-10-16

 Guideline for the Competence Assessment of Inspectors

Table of Contents

Foreword ......................................................................................................................... 2
1.0 Definitions ............................................................................................................. 3
2.0 Role Of The Owner............................................................................................... 3
3.0 Requirements Documents .................................................................................... 3
4.0 Competency Program Process Elements ............................................................. 4
5.0 Inspector Competence For Repairs ...................................................................... 4
6.0 Owners Inspector For B31.3 Piping Fabrication .................................................. 5
7.0 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 6
8.0 Reference Documents .......................................................................................... 8
9.0 Appendix 1 Example Of An Inspector Profile For Certifying Repairs .................... 9
10.0 Revision Log ....................................................................................................... 10

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 Guideline for the Competence Assessment of Inspectors

Foreword
Quality management system requirements established by the Administrator specify
tasks that are to be completed by competent personnel. In consultation with industry
groups, including Alberta Refinery & Petrochemical Inspection Association (ARPIA),
Upstream Chief Inspectors Association (UCIA), Generation Utilities Advisory Committee
(GUAC), and Contract Chief Inspectors Association (CCIA), this guideline is established
to assist in the development of a competence assessment process for inspectors who
perform inspections as defined in this document.

This guideline is intended to assist Pressure Equipment Integrity Management System

Certificate holders (i.e. Owner-User organizations and Inspection Companies, certified
under the Pressure Equipment Safety Regulation), in developing their own unique
processes for assessing inspector competence.

The integrity management system that an owner must develop includes design,
construction, installation, operation, maintenance and decommissioning elements. Each
of these elements require the owner to develop processes to ensure personnel
responsible for duties under the integrity management system are trained and assessed
as competent. This assessment process must be auditable.

The need for the development of this guideline was initially raised by industry. When the
Alberta Repair and Alterations Requirements document AB-513 was first developed
and issued, owners representatives asked that ABSA generate a guideline that would
describe the elements for a competence assessment program. At the same time,
owners inspector groups had been expressing difficulty in providing inspectors that met
the qualifications described in B31.3 for the owners inspector, and asked for
clarification.

This guideline is intended for owners of pressure equipment and inspection companies
who assign personnel to conduct inspections and certification of repairs under their
Certificate of Authorization Permit. This guideline also addresses how owners assign
inspectors, under the provisions of the ASME B31.3 piping code, to inspect pressure
piping during fabrication, and who in turn certify the inspection (by signing the AB-83) in
accordance with Section 31 of the PESR.

The following documents provide examples in developing a competence assessment

process for all elements of an integrity management system:

Cogent: Guidelines for Competency Management Systems for Downstream and

Petroleum Sites. http://www.cogent-ssc.com/Publications/CMS_Web_Version.pdf

UKAS, RGO: Guidelines on the competence of personnel undertaking engineering

inspections. http://www.ukas.com

Please contact Mike Poehlmann (poehlmann@absa.ca) if you have any questions or

suggestions to improve this document.

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 Guideline for the Competence Assessment of Inspectors

1.0 DEFINITIONS

Assessment (of persons) means a process for evaluating a persons competence by

one or more means such as written, oral, practical or observational.

Competent, in relation to a person, means possessing the appropriate qualifications,

knowledge, skills, and experience necessary to perform the work safely and in
accordance with the Act. (Pressure Equipment Safety Regulation - PESR).

Certification (or certify), of repairs, means that the applicable inspection and certification
requirements (based on the new construction code or the applicable requirements
document) have been completed and certified by the Inspector on the applicable report.
(AB-513).

2.0 ROLE OF THE OWNER

The Pressure Equipment Safety Regulation establishes specific responsibilities of the

owner. Requirements documents issued by the Administrator apply to conducting
integrity assessments (inspections) of pressure equipment per AB-506 and to the
inspection and certification of repairs per AB-513. The owner must assign competent
personnel to perform these inspections and certifications, and therefore requires a
process to assess the competence of the inspector. The owner must also authorize the
inspector to perform these duties on their behalf. The process of assessing the
competence of the inspector should take into account his knowledge of the type of
plant, the type of equipment, possible degradation mechanisms and the qualifications of
personnel available to assist the inspector.

3.0 REQUIREMENTS DOCUMENTS

Applicable ABSA requirements documents identify some specific training and

competency requirements. For example:

AB-513 (Pressure Equipment Repair and Alteration Requirements): The Inspectors

employer (ABSA, Owner-user, Inspection Company) must maintain suitable
documentation that defines the experience, training and qualifications required for each
person involved in repair inspection activities. This shall include appropriate training in:
legislation, AB-513, the applicable codes of construction and recognized good
engineering standards, welding, NDE and other relevant activities.

The Inspectors employer shall maintain suitable verification records to document that
the above requirements have been met and that the individual is competent to perform
the inspection and certification activity.

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 Guideline for the Competence Assessment of Inspectors

AB-512 (Owner-User Pressure Equipment Integrity Management Requirements): The

owner-user must ensure that all personnel have appropriate qualifications, training,
experience and satisfactory knowledge of the requirements of the legislation,
inspections and other relevant Integrity Management System (IMS) activities that are to
be carried out.

AB-515 (Requirements for Inspection Companies): Records of qualifications and

training to demonstrate the competence of each member of the staff to perform specific
inspection tasks and, where relevant, to use specific equipment.

4.0 COMPETENCY PROGRAM PROCESS ELEMENTS

The owner should have a process including, but not limited to, the following elements:

Identify the inspection needs.

Establish the competency needed to satisfy the inspection needs

identified.

Identify the training required to meet the competency requirements.

Identify the assessment method and documentation of the assessment.

Develop an authorization process whereby the owner authorizes the

deemed competent inspector to perform certain tasks.

Establish a re-assessment criteria and an interval for the re-assessment.

Document the entire process in a manner that can be demonstrated to

ABSA at the time of an audit.

5.0 INSPECTOR COMPETENCE FOR REPAIRS

Inspector competence for certifying repairs is referenced throughout the AB-513. The
minimum training requirements for repair inspections are specified in section 9 of the
AB-513. The competence of the Inspector certifying the repair must be relevant for the
scope of the repairs and the Inspector must be authorized by the owner to inspect and
certify these repairs. The process should identify how the scope of repairs is determined
and defined. Appendix 1 contains a sample checklist for the documentation of
competence assessment for the Inspector certifying repairs.

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 Guideline for the Competence Assessment of Inspectors

6.0 OWNERS INSPECTOR FOR B31.3 PIPING FABRICATION

The owner must assign an owners inspector whenever B31.3 piping is fabricated. The
responsibility of the owners inspector and the minimum qualification of the owners
inspector are defined in B31.3 2012, paragraph 340.4:

(a) The owners 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 owners agent.

(b) The owners Inspector shall meet one of the following requirements:

(1) have at least 10 years of experience in the design, fabrication, or examination of

industrial pressure piping. Each 20% of satisfactorily completed work toward an accredited
engineering degree shall be considered equivalent to 1 year of experience, up to 5 years
total.

(2) have a professional engineering registration or nationally recognized equivalent with at

least 5 years of experience in the design, fabrication, or examination of industrial pressure
piping.

(3) be a certified welding inspector or a senior certified welding inspector as defined in AWS
QC1, Standard for AWS Certification of Welding Inspectors, or nationally recognized
equivalent with at least 5 years of experience in the design, fabrication, or examination of
industrial pressure piping.

(4) be an authorized piping inspector as defined in API 570, Piping Inspection Code: In-
service Inspection, Rating, Repair, and Alteration of Piping Systems, with at least 5 years of
experience in the design, fabrication, or examination of industrial pressure piping.

(c) In delegating performance of inspection, the owners Inspector is responsible for determining
that a person to whom an inspection function is delegated is qualified to perform that function.

Owners have expressed difficulty in obtaining the services of a qualified owners

Inspector as defined in B31.3, and have asked for clarification from ABSA on the
expectations for the designated owners inspector and alternative qualifications for an
inspector to whom duties are delegated in accordance with point (c) above.

The owner must establish and implement a formal assignment of duty process for the
owner's inspector. The process should address the owners inspector qualifications as
specified in B31.3 340.4(b). In delegation of inspection, the process must specifically

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 Guideline for the Competence Assessment of Inspectors

address the competence and assignment of inspections to competent persons per

B31.3 340.4(c).

The preceding paragraph may be used to establish the process whereby a scope of
piping inspection is identified; the competency required to perform the inspections as
the owners Inspector is identified; a suitable candidate is trained and evaluated to
perform these identified inspections; and this inspection function is delegated to the
candidate. The candidate may then be authorized by the owner to inspect the piping
and certify the inspections by signing off on the AB-83 as the owners Inspector. The
method used to identify the scope of piping inspection should be defined. This
delegation process shall be documented and auditable.

7.0 CONCLUSION

This guideline describes an overall process for the assessment of the Inspector
performing the inspection and certifying repairs and inspecting and certifying pressure
piping.

Through time further guidance may be added for subsequent activities identified by
industry stakeholders as relevant to the competency assessment of personnel involved
in the integrity assessment of pressure equipment.

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 Guideline for the Competence Assessment of Inspectors

The following flowchart was taken from UKAS-RGO Guidelines on the Competence of
Personnel Undertaking Engineering Inspections and could be used to outline the
assessment process.

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 Guideline for the Competence Assessment of Inspectors

8.0 REFERENCE DOCUMENTS

CAN/CSA-ISO 10015-00 (National Standard of Canada) Quality Management

Guideline for training
Cogent: Guidelines for Competency Management Systems for Downstream and
Petroleum Sites
AS/NZS (Australian/New Zealand Standard) 4481:1997 Pressure Equipment
Competencies of inspectors
UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) RGO Guidelines on the
competence of personnel undertaking engineering inspections
AICIP Australian Institute for the Certification of Inspection Personnel
AB-512 Owner-User Pressure Equipment Integrity Management Requirements
AB-513 Pressure Equipment Repair and Alteration Requirements
AB-515 Requirements for Inspection Companies

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 Guideline for the Competence Assessment of Inspectors

9.0 APPENDIX 1 Example of an INSPECTOR PROFILE FOR

CERTIFYING REPAIRS

Define the scope of the repairs.

Training and competence assessment must be based on the scope of repairs.
Assessment to an established company standard to be: written, oral and/or
demonstrated.

Competency: Training, Knowledge and Experience

Assessment Comments:
Elements
Criteria (descriptions and limitations if applicable)

Certification/Verification/assessment by the Supervisor

In-service Inspector
-API 510 or
-National Board IS
NDE certification
Technologist diploma
Reference Materials
Company policies and
procedures
Company repair standards
AB-512
AB-513
PCC-2
ASME Section VIII Div 1
API 577
API 582
NBIC
NDE procedures
PWHT procedures
Other applicable codes
Administrative
Repair organization QC
program
AB-40 & completion guide
Legislation: PESR
Repair Inspection Experience
Coordinated X number of
repairs under direct
supervision by a senior
inspector or supervisor

- Supervisor authorizes the inspector to inspect and certify repairs.

- Inspector signs that he understands the requirements for inspection and
certification of repairs and alterations.
- Checklist, authorization by the supervisor, and acceptance by the inspector are
kept on file for auditing purpose.

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 Guideline for the Competence Assessment of Inspectors

10.0 REVISION LOG

Edition Rev # Date Description

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