A2LA (American Association for Laboratory Accreditation) is a non-profit US accreditation body that accredits testing and calibration laboratories to ISO/IEC 17025 and inspection bodies to ISO/IEC 17020.
Acceptance criteria are the documented limits, taken from a code, standard or client specification, against which inspection results are evaluated to decide whether a component or weld is accepted, repaired or rejected.
Acoustic emission testing (AE) is a passive method in which sensors mounted on a structure detect the transient elastic waves released by active defects, such as growing cracks or leaks, while the structure is under load.
The Australian Institute for Non-Destructive Testing (AINDT) is the professional body for NDT in Australia; it operates a personnel certification scheme aligned with ISO 9712, publishes technical guidance and runs conferences and training.
API Standard 1104, Welding of Pipelines and Related Facilities, covers qualification of welding procedures and welders, production welding, and the inspection and acceptance criteria (visual, RT, UT, MT, PT) for pipeline welds, with provisions for automated ultrasonic testing and alternative acceptance criteria.
API 510, Pressure Vessel Inspection Code: In-service Inspection, Rating, Repair, and Alteration, is the American Petroleum Institute code governing the inspection and maintenance of pressure vessels once they are in service, including intervals, methods, repairs and the qualification of authorised inspectors.
API 570, Piping Inspection Code: In-service Inspection, Rating, Repair, and Alteration of Piping Systems, is the API code for metallic and FRP process piping after commissioning, defining piping service classes, inspection types and intervals, condition monitoring locations and repair rules.
API 653, Tank Inspection, Repair, Alteration, and Reconstruction, is the API standard for aboveground atmospheric storage tanks built to API 650 or similar, defining routine, external and internal inspections, their intervals, minimum thicknesses and repair requirements.
AS 4037, Pressure equipment - Examination and testing, is the Australian standard specifying the examination (including NDT) and testing requirements for pressure equipment manufactured to standards such as AS 1210, AS 1228 and AS 4041.
AS/NZS 1554 is the joint Australian/New Zealand standard series for structural steel welding; Part 1 covers welding of steel structures and defines weld categories SP (structural purpose) and GP (general purpose), with inspection and NDT requirements, and further parts cover stud welding, reinforcing steel, high-strength steels, fatigue-loaded structures, stainless steel and sheet steel.
ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section V, Nondestructive Examination, specifies the methods, procedures, equipment checks and personnel requirements for NDT referenced by the other ASME code sections; acceptance criteria are set by the referencing section, not by Section V.
ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section VIII, Rules for Construction of Pressure Vessels, sets design, fabrication, examination and testing requirements for pressure vessels in three divisions, and defines which welds need NDT and the acceptance criteria for it.
SNT-TC-1A is the American Society for Nondestructive Testing's recommended practice under which an employer qualifies and certifies its own NDT personnel according to a company Written Practice covering training, experience, examinations and recertification.
Asset integrity management (AIM) is the systematic combination of design, inspection, testing, monitoring, maintenance and assessment activities that keeps an asset able to perform its function safely and reliably throughout its life.
An asset register is the structured list of physical assets (plants, tanks, turbines, vessels, equipment) with their identifiers, location, hierarchy of sub-assets, documents and the history of every inspection and job performed on them.
An audit trail is the chronological, tamper-evident record of actions taken in a system (who created, changed, uploaded, approved or sent what, and when), used to reconstruct events and demonstrate control.
An authorised signatory is a named person, approved within an accredited inspection body or laboratory and recognised by the accreditation body, who may review, sign and release reports or certificates within a defined technical scope.
Automated ultrasonic testing (AUT) moves ultrasonic probes mechanically along a weld with position encoding, so the inspection is repeatable, fully recorded and evaluated against zonal or imaging criteria.
AWS D1.1/D1.1M, Structural Welding Code - Steel, published by the American Welding Society, covers design, prequalification and qualification of welding procedures and personnel, fabrication and inspection (including UT, RT, MT and PT acceptance criteria) for welded steel structures.
A calibration certificate is the document issued by a calibration laboratory recording the as-found and as-left readings of an instrument against traceable reference standards, with measurement uncertainty, environmental conditions and the date, from which the user sets the next due date.
A client portal is a customer-facing login where an inspection company's clients can view or download reports, certificates, asset histories and job status without emailing the office.
Corrective and preventive action (CAPA) is the quality process that investigates the root cause of a non-conformance or audit finding, implements actions to stop it recurring or occurring, and verifies that the actions worked.
Corrosion mapping is an encoded ultrasonic scan of a defined area that records thickness at every point and presents it as a colour-coded C-scan image, showing the extent and pattern of internal corrosion or erosion.
CSWIP (Certification Scheme for Welding and Inspection Personnel) is the certification scheme run by TWI Certification Ltd covering welding inspectors, NDT operators, plant inspectors and underwater inspection personnel.
Computed radiography (CR) captures the radiographic image on a reusable phosphor plate that is read by a laser scanner; digital radiography (DR) captures it directly on a digital detector array.
Document control is the set of rules and tools that govern how quality documents (procedures, templates, forms, work packs, standards) are approved, identified, revised, distributed and withdrawn, so that only current, approved versions are used.
An electronic signature (e-signature) is data attached to a document that identifies the signatory and their intent to sign; on inspection reports it records the technician's and reviewer's approval without printing and scanning.
Eddy current testing (ET or ECT) drives an alternating current through a coil to induce circulating currents in a conductive material; cracks, thickness changes or conductivity variations alter the coil impedance and are displayed as signals.
Employer-based certification (for example under SNT-TC-1A) is issued by the technician's employer and expires when they leave; central certification (ISO 9712 via PCN, AINDT and others) is issued by an independent body and travels with the technician.
EN 4179 and NAS 410 are the European and American standards for qualification and certification of NDT personnel in the aerospace industry, employer-based with oversight by a National Aerospace NDT Board (NANDTB) and a responsible Level 3.
The EN ISO 17635 series comprises ISO 17635 (general rules for NDT of welds in metallic materials, selecting methods and acceptance levels by ISO 5817 quality level) and the method standards ISO 17636 (radiographic), ISO 17637 (visual), ISO 17638 (magnetic particle), ISO 17640 (ultrasonic) and ISO 17643 (eddy current).
The enquiry-to-invoice workflow is the end-to-end sequence an inspection job follows: enquiry, quote, job creation and assignment, fieldwork, reporting, time and cost capture, closure and invoicing, with the records each step produces.
FSM (field service management) software schedules and dispatches field work; ERP (enterprise resource planning) runs finance and resources across the business; QMS software manages quality documents and non-conformances; LIMS (laboratory information management system) tracks samples, tests and results in a laboratory.
Guided wave testing (GWT, also long-range ultrasonic testing) sends low-frequency torsional or longitudinal waves along a pipe from a collar of transducers and detects changes in cross-section, screening tens of metres in each direction from a single location.
Hardness testing (HT) measures a material's resistance to indentation or rebound; in inspection work it verifies heat treatment, post-weld heat treatment and heat-affected-zone hardness limits set by codes such as NACE MR0175.
Horizontal linearity is the extent to which an ultrasonic instrument displays echo positions along the time base in true proportion to their distance, so that equally spaced reflections appear equally spaced on the screen.
International Accreditation New Zealand (IANZ) is New Zealand's national accreditation body; it accredits testing and calibration laboratories to ISO/IEC 17025 and inspection bodies, including NDT and pressure equipment inspectors, to ISO/IEC 17020.
Infrared thermography (IRT) uses a thermal camera to image surface temperature differences that reveal electrical hot spots, refractory or insulation loss, blocked flow, moisture and subsurface delaminations.
An inspection and test plan (ITP) is a controlled document listing the inspection and test activities for a scope of work in sequence, with the applicable procedure, acceptance criteria, responsible party, record produced and the client's involvement level (hold, witness, review or surveillance).
The inspection interval is the period between successive inspections of an asset, set by a code (for example API 510, API 570, API 653, AS/NZS 3788), by legislation, or by a risk-based inspection assessment, and expressed as a next inspection due date.
An internal audit is a planned, independent review by the organisation of its own quality management system and technical activities, verifying that procedures are followed and effective and feeding findings into corrective action.
ISO 10675, Non-destructive testing of welds - Acceptance levels for radiographic testing, specifies acceptance levels for indications in welds examined to ISO 17636; Part 1 covers steel, nickel, titanium and their alloys and Part 2 aluminium and its alloys.
ISO 5817, Welding - Fusion-welded joints in steel, nickel, titanium and their alloys (beam welding excluded) - Quality levels for imperfections, defines three quality levels, B (stringent), C (intermediate) and D (moderate), with limits for each type of imperfection.
ISO 9001 (Quality management systems: Requirements) is the international standard for a quality management system; certification is issued by a certification body and covers the whole organisation's processes rather than technical competence.
ISO 9712 (Non-destructive testing: Qualification and certification of NDT personnel) is the international standard for central, third-party certification of NDT technicians by an accredited certification body, in three levels per method and sector.
ISO/IEC 17020 (Conformity assessment: Requirements for the operation of various types of bodies performing inspection) is the standard to which inspection bodies, including NDT and in-service inspection companies, are accredited by NATA, IANZ and other national bodies.
ISO/IEC 17025 (General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories) is the standard against which NATA, IANZ and other bodies accredit laboratories, including NDT and materials testing labs and calibration providers.
Job costing is the accumulation of all costs (labour hours at cost rates, travel, consumables, subcontractors, equipment) against a specific job so that they can be compared with the revenue invoiced for it.
A job register is the master list of all jobs an inspection company has opened, each with a unique job number, client, site, scope, assigned technician, status and links to its documents, timesheets, costs and invoice.
Leak testing (LT) detects and locates leaks in pressure boundaries using methods that range from bubble solution and pressure-decay measurement to helium mass-spectrometer tracer-gas detection.
Liquid penetrant testing (PT, also dye penetrant inspection) applies a low-viscosity dye to a cleaned surface, lets it seep into surface-breaking flaws, removes the excess and uses a developer to draw the trapped dye back out as a visible indication.
Magnetic particle inspection (MT, also MPI) magnetises a ferromagnetic part and applies fine iron particles; flux leaking at a surface or near-surface discontinuity attracts the particles into a visible indication.
Measurement uncertainty is a parameter, usually stated as an expanded uncertainty at a 95 percent confidence level (k = 2), that characterises the range of values within which the true value of a measured quantity is expected to lie.
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NATA (National Association of Testing Authorities, Australia) is Australia's national accreditation body; it accredits testing and calibration laboratories to ISO/IEC 17025 and inspection bodies to ISO/IEC 17020, among other programs.
NDT certification levels define what a technician may do: Level 1 performs tests under instruction, Level 2 sets up, performs, interprets and reports against codes, and Level 3 writes procedures, oversees the NDT operation and trains and examines others.
An NDT procedure is the controlled, Level 3-approved document that defines how a method is applied for a range of applications under a code; a technique sheet (or work instruction) applies that procedure to a specific job with the exact probe, angles, calibration, scan plan and acceptance criteria.
A non-conformance report (NCR) documents a departure from a specified requirement (a rejected weld, an out-of-calibration gauge, a missed procedure step), the decision on what to do about it, and the evidence that it was closed.
Non-destructive testing (NDT) is the inspection of materials, welds, components or structures for defects and properties without damaging them or taking them out of service.
Offline data capture is the ability of a field application to record inspection data, photos and forms while the device has no network connection and synchronise them to the server once connectivity returns.
PCN (Personnel Certification in Non-Destructive Testing) is the ISO 9712-compliant central certification scheme run by the British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing (BINDT) and accepted by clients worldwide.
Phased array ultrasonic testing (PAUT) uses a probe with many small elements fired with programmed time delays to steer, sweep and focus the ultrasonic beam and build an image of the inspected volume.
Positive material identification (PMI) verifies the chemical composition and alloy grade of a component, weld or fitting non-destructively, usually with a handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) or laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) analyser.
Proficiency testing is the evaluation of a laboratory's or inspector's performance by comparing results on the same test items with those of other participants or reference values, organised by a provider accredited to ISO/IEC 17043.
A purchase order (PO) is the client's formal commercial document authorising the supply of services or goods at agreed terms; its number must appear on reports and invoices for the client to process payment.
Radiographic testing (RT) passes X-rays or gamma rays through a component onto film or a digital detector, producing an image in which internal voids, inclusions and lack of fusion appear as density differences.
Recertification is the periodic renewal of an NDT certificate, by evidence of continued work and vision (renewal) or by re-examination (recertification), at the intervals set by the certification scheme.
A reference block is a machined piece of known material and geometry (IIW V1 and V2 blocks, step wedges, blocks with side-drilled or flat-bottom holes, notched blocks) used to calibrate range and sensitivity of NDT instruments and to demonstrate a technique.
Revision control is the practice of identifying each version of a document with a revision number, recording what changed and who approved it, and ensuring that only the current revision is in use while earlier ones remain retrievable.
Risk-based inspection (RBI) is a methodology, described in API RP 580 and quantified in API RP 581, that prioritises inspection effort and sets intervals according to each equipment item's probability of failure and the consequence of that failure.
Rope-access NDT is non-destructive testing carried out by technicians who reach the work face using industrial rope-access techniques certified under IRATA or SPRAT, avoiding scaffolding or elevated work platforms.
Scheduling and dispatch is the allocation of jobs to technicians, equipment and time slots, taking into account location, client requirements and, in NDT, the certificates and calibrated equipment each job requires.
A shutdown (turnaround, TAR or outage) is a planned period in which a plant or unit is taken out of service so that inspections, maintenance, repairs and modifications that cannot be done during operation are completed on a compressed schedule.
Time-of-flight diffraction (TOFD) is an ultrasonic weld inspection technique that uses two probes in pitch-catch arrangement and times the weak signals diffracted from flaw tips to size defects accurately through the wall.
A timesheet is the record of hours (and often costs) a technician spends per job and per day, used to bill clients, pay staff, measure job profitability and evidence who did the work.
Traceability is the ability to relate a result to a reference through an unbroken, documented chain: metrological traceability links an instrument reading to national or international measurement standards, while material traceability links a component to its heat number, certificates and inspection records.
UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) is the national accreditation body of the United Kingdom, accrediting laboratories (ISO/IEC 17025), inspection bodies (ISO/IEC 17020) and personnel certification bodies (ISO/IEC 17024) such as the PCN scheme.
Ultrasonic testing (UT) sends high-frequency sound pulses into a material and analyses the echoes to detect internal discontinuities, measure thickness and size flaws.
Ultrasonic thickness gauging measures the remaining wall of a pipe, vessel, tank or structure with a compression-wave probe, typically at fixed condition monitoring locations, to calculate corrosion rates and remaining life.
Vertical linearity is the extent to which the displayed height of an ultrasonic echo stays proportional to the amplitude of the received signal, so that a reflector returning twice the signal is displayed twice as high.
Visual testing (VT) is the examination of a component or weld with the eye, aided by lighting, magnification, gauges, mirrors, borescopes, cameras or drones, to detect surface defects and check dimensions and workmanship.
Work in progress (WIP) is the value of jobs that have been started or completed but not yet invoiced; in service companies it is mostly unbilled labour and costs waiting for a report to be finished or a job to be closed.
A work order is the internal or client-issued instruction that authorises and describes a specific piece of work (scope, asset, location, timing, safety requirements) and is the unit against which labour, materials and reports are recorded.
A welding procedure specification (WPS) is the written instruction for making a weld (process, materials, consumables, parameters); a procedure qualification record (PQR, or WPQR under ISO) records the test weld and mechanical tests that qualified it.
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