theThe Official
Journal of theInternational
Committee for
Non-Destructive
Testing

ICNDTjournalYear five – Issue n. 1
May 2003

The world Organisation for NDTGREAT OPPORTUNITIES FOR NDT PEOPLE!
The forthcoming 3rd Pan American Conference on NDT to be held in Rio deJaneiro, Brazil, next 2-6 June, and the 11th Asia-Pacific Conference scheduled in
November 3-7 in Jeju Island, Korea are the greatest NDT events of year 2003.
Don’t miss such appointments !

PANNDT

3rd PAN AMERICAN CONFERENCE ON NDT Rio de Janeiro, 2-6 June 2003

Palavra Do Presidente (Word of President)
Estamos na contagem regressiva para consolidar arealização da 3ª Conferência Pan-americana de
END, marcada para os dias 02 e 06 de junho próximo, na cidade do Rio de Janeiro, desafio que a Associação Brasileira de Ensaios Não Destrutivos ABENDE, aceitou em 1998, quando o Brasil foi
escolhido, pela primeira vez, entre todos os paísesda América Latina para sediar o evento.
Nesses últimos anos, temos somado os esforços
com os nossos associados e, em especial, com a
AGFA, Confab, Kodak, MCT, Metal-Check,
PQU, Petrobrás,Pasa e Usiminas empresas patrocinadoras, no sentido de reunir o maior
número possível de técnicos, profissionais eacadêmicos que atuam no mercado de END.
Uma das ações do Comitê Pan-americano de
END foi viajar para diversas partes do mundopara divulgar a Conferência - cujo tema central é“A alta tecnologia com confiabilidade na inspeção e segurança e respeito ao meio ambiente”-, e estimular a vinda de outros países, meta
que se cumpriu com a inscrição de 70 trabalhostécnicos do Exterior.
Sabemos que esse evento em muito poderá contribuir para fortalecer a imagem do país e, portanto, estamos cuidando de todos os detalhes paraque o visitante sinta-se recompensado. A 3ª Conferência Pan-americana de END compreende:sessões especiais, palestras e conferências em seu
programa técnico, com a presença de especialistas
internacionais; uma exposição técnica de equipamentos, produtos e serviços de END; o seminário do Grupo Latino-americano de Emissão
Acústica e o um workshop que discutirá a “Harmonização Internacional em Treinamento e Certificação de Pessoal em END”.
Maria Izabel Laczko Gebrael
Presidente do Comitê
Pan-Americano de END

11th APCNDT

welcoming message
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
It is my pleasure to invite you to the 11th Asia-PacificConference on Nondestructive Testing (APCNDT) to
be held in Jeju, Korea on November 3 - 7, 2003.
For many years nondestructive testing (NDT) has become an increasingly important aid in a whole range
of industries, and been responsible for the safety andreliability of structures and products. NDT has also
provided very vital tools in the effective performanceof research, development, and design and manufacturing processes not only in the traditional industries but
also the newly emerging industries. Only with the appropriate use of NDT techniques can the benefits ofadvanced materials science be fully achieved.
The 11th APCNDT will explore and discuss ways andtechniques to further the advancement of this technology to work toward improved quality management
and process monitoring systems over a wider range ofindustrial applications. The conference will serve as aplatform for exchanging knowledges, experiences,
views about the ever growing role that NDT can playin the development of the emerging industries such as
the environmental, bio, and nano technologies.
I extend a cordial invitation to every one of you to be
an important part of this conference, which will takeplace in the Jeju Island, one of the most exotic placesin the Orient, with a rich cultural heritage and rare
natural beauty. We will do everything to make yourexperience at the 11th APCNDT most rewarding, enriching and memorable. The 11th APCNDT is for us
all. All the committees have had the privilege of laying
a foundation for an informative and enjoyable meeting. And, your presence is just the key to turn it into
reality.
I look forward to seeing you in Jeju, Korea.

HIGHLIGHTSASME ANNOUNCETHE ACCEPTANCE
OF ISO 9712/EN 473
The new wording in the Article 1 ofSection V of the ASME Boiler andPressure Vessel Code will be as thefollowing:“National and international central
certification programs, such as the
ASNT Central Certification Program (ACCP), may be alternatively
used to fulfill the examination requirements in T-120 (e) as specified
in the employer’s written practice.”
The revision will be published on July 1, 2003 in the 2003 Addenda

COMMENT BY B. RAJ,CHAIRMAN OF PGP
Dear Mr. Nardoni
It is wonderful to hear from you the success with ASME. We are all together towork and achieve harmonization of certification internationally and acceptanceof ISO 9712/EN 473 standard internationally. The next step would be education, tapping frontline research for industry, eminent journal and sustaining
excellence by rewarding the best among
the professionals. God bless you and all
associated with ICNDT.
Baldev Raj

Barcelona, June 2002. A relevant recommended guidelines for
qualification and certification of NDT
personnel based on ISO 9712 has beenpresented in draft form by ICNDT.

Sincerely,
Sekyung Lee, Ph.D.
Chairman,-Organizing Committee of
11th APCNDTTHE ICNDT FLAG AROUND THE WORLDTHE 28th ICNDT MEETING
Barcelona, Spain
20 June 2002
Report from Barcelona 2002

ICNDTEXECUTIVE MEETING
Chennai, India,
6 December 2002

ICNDT
ICNDT Publication

Editor: ICNDTManaging Director: G. Nardoni Issued: Quarterly Printed copies: 10000 Subscription: 10 $ - 11 €Address: Via A. Foresti, 5A - 25127 Brescia (Italy) Tel. ++39 030 321918 - Fax ++39 030 3739176 - E-mail: icndt@icndt.org

May 2003 – n. 1 — page 2

the ICNDT journal

2002 Events

Mr Thompson receive a special honour plaque for his contribution to ISRANT Conference
ICNDT Honorary Member
Mr Kopinek and his wife with the
ICNDT flag given to him by
Mr. Link and Mr. Nardoni.

Toast of ICNDT President with Mr
Harper ,President of BINDT
during the Annual Conference

M. Farley and G.Aufricth going to
IAEA in Vienna to discuss
ICNDT collaboration
for the incoming NDT programs

The 8 thth European Conference on NDTThe most important event of the year has been held in Barcelona last June.
More than 2000 persons, including 788 registered attendees, 401 exhibitor’s staff officially accredited
and more than 1000 visitors of exhibition made the 8th ECNDT a very successful NDT event . The exhibition was enriched by 104 booths, including 90 NDT companies and 14 National NDT Societies from
Europe and overseas. The technical programme included 400 papers by authors coming from 45 world
wide countries; the presence of 67 papers by authors from 13 countries outside of Europe geographic area,
underlined the international feature of this Conference.
Several important meetings were also held in conjunction with the Conference, namely : the 28th
Meeting of ICNDT , the Meeting of Board of Director of EFNDT, the PGP Meeting, the ICNDT Seminar on ISO 9712, the presentation of ICNDT Recommended Guidelines for Qualification and certification of NDT personnel according to ISO 9712, the presentation of the adopted EFNDT flag.

AEA Technology – CBI Technicians take a break after a training course on austenitic steel

September 2002- BINDT Board of Directors discussed
active co-operation with ICNDT.

The opening

The guitars, expressione of Spanish music,
made cheerful the opening.

Mr Murphy (left) has presented the ISO 9712 Certification
Procedure at the special session of NDT. (Vancouver 2002)

The conference hall

EFNDT Board of Directors

The new EFNDT flag

ICNDT meetting

The ASME secretariat staff is looking the ASME news published on ICNDT Journal (Vancouver 2002)

page 3 — May 2003 – n. 1

the ICNDT journal

TRENDS IN THE CERTIFICATION AND THE QUALIFICATIONOF NDT PERSONNEL ACCORDING TO ISO 9712
Dr. R.V. Murphy – Natural Resources Canada (NDT Certifying Body), Ottawa, ON, Canada - ISO Representative in ICNDT
Nondestructive testing plays a fundamental role in diagnosis and evaluation of the continued fitness for service of engineered structures. For example: the failure of aircraft landing
gear, an oil/gas pipeline, a nuclear
pressure vessel, etc. would have serious consequences. NDT is the primary non-invasive assessment tool
used to reduce the risk of failures ofengineered components, failures that
could result in loss of life, deterioration of health or destruction of the environment. It logically follows that
persons who perform these safety-critical inspections be competent.
How can we ensure the competency of
the NDT inspectors? Competence
can be assessed through a process ofqualification in which the inspector
demonstrates that he/she meets certain minimum requirements for education, training and experience andsuccessfully passes written and practical examinations. Since the early
1960’s we have witnessed the development of qualification processes thatwere administered either by the employer (2nd party qualification) or by
an independent body (3rd party certification). NDT techniques are evolving - becoming more complex and theknowledge required of the inspector issimilarly increasing. Industry standards and global trade are demandinga guarantee of more reliability in theassessment of NDT inspectors.
How can we ensure more reliability inthe assessment of NDT inspectors?
Ideally, we would like every inspector
to be assessed the same way. It logically follows that we need a global
standard that defines a set of common
assessment criteria such as training,
experience and examinations. It also
follows that we can increase assessment reliability by reducing the number of assessors. Thus, today we witness the powerful drive toward thegoal of one global NDT standard to
be implemented in the same way ineach country by one National certifying body.

This global effort began in 1985 whenthe International Committee for Nondestructive Testing (ICNDT) established minimum requirements for several NDT methods and provided thisinformation to the International Organization for Standarization (ISO).
In 1992, the first version of ISO 9712
(ISO 9712:1992), “Non-destructive
testing - Qualification and certification of personnel" was published as areference to the certification process.
The basic change of ISO 9712 frommost other schemes was that the assessment of competency was to bemade by a third party, independent of
the employer. A secondary change
was the requirement for the certifying
body to comply with the provisions ofEuropean Standard EN 45013:1989,"General criteria for certification bodies operating certification of personnel” that required the certifying bodyto have a certain administrative andorganizational structure, a quality
manual and document-control system.
ISO 9712:1992 allowed certifying
bodies up to 15 years to fully comply
with all the provisions of the Standard.
However, member countries of theEuropean Union required more immediate standardization/compliance.
Thus in 1993, the European Committee for Standardization (CEN: Comité
Europeén de Normalisation) revised
the ISO standard and published theEuropean Standard EN 473:1993,“Qualification and certification of
NDT personnel – General principles”. During the 7 years after publication of ISO 9712:1992, many countries introduced or modified their existing NDT certification schemes tobe in full compliance or to align withthe provisions of ISO 9712. Examples
include: USA (ASNT/ACCP), Canada, Japan, Australia, etc. In twentytwo European countries, the plethora
of existing certification bodies operating under different industrial norms
were eliminated and generally replaced by one central certifying body
per country. These twenty odd European certifying bodies formed a federation, the European Federation for
Non-destructive Testing (EFNDT).
Membership in EFNDT is open tonational certifying bodies who are accredited under European Standard
EN 45013 to implement EN 473.
Certain provisions of ISO 9712:1992
were found to be less than optimum
and revision of the International Standard began in 1995 culminating withthe publication in May 1999 of thesecond edition, ISO 9712:1999, “Nondestructive testing - Qualification andcertification of personnel". This wasfollowed shortly with the publicationin October 2000 of the second editionof the European Standard EN
473:2000, “Non-destructive testing Qualification and certification of
NDT personnel – General principles". These two standards were/are
95% the same, but still different.

In October 1999, at an ISO meetingin Vancouver Canada, industry representatives spoke of their frustration
withhavingtopayforcertification/qualification under several similar but different NDT standards. It was decided that what wasneeded was one truly global NDT
standard – a fusion of ISO 9712 andEN 473 with the best of other recognized NDT Standards (e.g. SNTTC-1A). Thus work began on thethird edition of ISO 9712 with very
close cooperation between the members of ISO, CEN, EFNDT and ICNDT. The Draft International Standard (DIS ISO 9712) was released today (August 8, 2002) for a fivemonth vote by members of ISO
Technical Committee 135, Subcommittee 7.
In October 2001 at the Asia-Pacific
NDT Conference in Dacha
Bangladesh, ICNDT and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
along with the Asia-Pacific Committee(APCNDT) promoted a Multilateral
Recognition Agreement (MRA) based
upon compliance with ISO 9712:1999.
Ten countries (Australia, Bangladesh,
India, Malaysia, Myanmar, New
Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, theRepublic of Korea and Sri Lanka)
signed this MRA. However, a need
was identified for a guide to the development of a quality management system for use by the certifying bodies.
The idea of having a single International NDT accreditor to replace accreditation by national accreditation
bodies was also advanced.

In June 2002 in Barcelona Spain, during the 28th meeting of ICNDT, therepresentative of IAEA stated that the
IAEA would promote and financially
support the establishment in developing countries of only one NDT standard - ISO 9712. ICNDT announced
official support in its strategic policy
for ISO 9712 as primary reference forthe certification of NDT personnel.
ICNDT was charged with the responsibility to develop a simple guide to
the establishment of a quality management system for certifying bodies. It
was also noted that several countries,
not just developing countries, havedifficulty with accreditation by theirnational accreditation body. ICNDT
was identified to be the logical choice
to assume the role of International accreditor for all certifying bodies. This
would ensure that all national certifying bodies would be assessed in exactly
the same way and provide assurance
that certified personnel were reliably
assessed everywhere in the world.
Such accreditation would be in accordance with the provisions of recently(2002) published standard ISO 17024,“General requirements for bodies op-

erating certification systems of persons”, the replacement document for
EN 45013:1989.
Also in Barcelona, at meetings of
CEN and ISO, work packages were allocated for the establishment of standardized curriculum for each of themain NDT methods. This work will
be followed by the revision of training
hours specified within ISO 912.
There will also be standardized criteria for assessment of training organizations implementing the new standardized curricula.
At the beginning of this paper, I posed
the question, "How can we ensure thecompetency of the NDT inspectors?"
I believe that through ISO 9712 andthe combined efforts of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the European Committee
for Standardization (CEN), the European Federation for Non-destructive
Testing (EFNDT), the International
Committee for Non-destructive Testing (ICNDT), the Pan-American
Committee on NDT (PACNDT), theAsia-Pacific Committee on NDT(APCNDT) and International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA), we are approaching true global harmonizationof the NDT certification process.
ISO 9712 will set the minimum requirements for education, training andexperience and establish a commonality and equality of written examinations and practical examinations/test
specimens. A common training curriculum for each NDT method andstandardized criteria for assessment of
the training organizations will assist
this normalization. We are headed toward International accreditation by
ICNDT of each National certifying
body. In summary, we are building the
key components of a global certification scheme that will ensure the competency of NDT inspectors throughout the world.

Dr. Richard V. MurphyManager Non-Destructive Testing
Certification Material Technology
Laboratory – CANMETMinerals and Metals Sector
568 Booth Street Ottawa, Ontario,
Canada K1A 0G1
Tel: (613)-943-0583, Fax: (613)-943-8297
Email: rvmurphy@nrcan.gc.ca
Web Site: http://ndt.NRCan.gc.ca

May 2003 – n. 1 — page 4

the ICNDT journal

STATUS OF THIRD PARTY CERTIFICATIONACCORDING EN 473/ISO 9712 - EUROPE AND CANADA
Status of NDT Personnel Certification in Europe:
A survey among EFNDT members

Total Number of Certified Operators vs Methods
Level 3The survey was performed at the request of EFNDT BoD meeting held in
Madrid in October 2001. Answers were received from 17 members, all ofthem performing certification in accordance with EN 473:
AEND Spain; AIPnD Italy; ARoEND Rumania; OgfZP Austria; BANT
Belgium; BANK Belarus; BINDT United Kingdom ;Bulgarian Society for
NDT Bulgaria; COFREND France; CrSNDT Croatia; CNDT Czech Republic; DGZfP Germany; KINT The Netherlands; MAROVISZ Hungary;
RSNDTTD Russia; Serbian Society for NDT Serbia; SGZP Switzerland.
The first table gives the total number of valid certifications on 31/12/2001
per industrial sector (as far as possible, sectors have been labelled according
to the definitions given in EN 473 Annex A).
The second table gives the number of certified operators per sector at thethree levels.

45.000Level 240.000Level 135.000Level 330.000Level 225.000Level 1

20.00015.00010.0005.000
0Castings

Tubes and
Pipes

Metallic
products

Aerospace.

OthersTotal Number of Certified Operators vs Methods

102.347

TOTAL NUMBER OF CERTIFIED OPERATORS AS PER 31/12/2001:

45000
40000
35000
30000
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0

Castings Forgings Welds Tubes and Pipes Wrought products Metal manufac. Metal ic products Pressure Vessel Pre and In-Service Insp. Aerosp. Railways Shipbuild. Others TOTAL
Level 1 4 6 7 6 9 2 1.623 1.125 9 5 0 1.319 8 2 1 1 2 3 6.676 1 9 2 7.539 4 6 4 1.597 23.588
Level 2 1.068 7 6 8 15.477 3.100 1.342 2.114 4.136 3.299 28.591 1.931 3.133 2 1 2 7.460 72.631
Level 3 1 3 6 1 1 0 1116 144 1 0 1 3 0 2 7 7 8 2 1 1 2.585 2 4 5 301

2 3 5 8 6.128

TOTAL 1.671 1.570 18.216 4.369 2.393 3.735 5.735 3.633 37.852 2.368 10.702 6 8 8 9.415 102.347

Level 3
Level 2
Level 1UT

1METHODSLEVELTOTAL NUMBER OF VALID CERTIFICATIONS AS PER 31/12/2001:
Castings Forgings Welds
(c)
(f)
(w)

130.523

Tubes
Pre andWrought
andMetal Metallic Pressure Inproducts
Aerosp. Railways Shipbuild. Others TOTAL
Pipes
manufac. products Vessel Service
(wp)
(t)
Insp.

UT

248

502

1071

556

708

590

491

39

1174

89

3128

129

826

9551

MT

48

145

33

166

143

602

251

28

2232

38

2500

13

473

6672

PT

55

94

36

75

110

558

88

19

2098

48

34

10

310

3535

ET

0

14

60

451

42

166

37

2

492

50

1073

0

235

2622

RT

111

27

812

153

0

235

43

33

939

13

4

35

0

2405

AT

0

0

0

0

0

2

0

0

44

0

0

0

0

46

VT

68

0

30

63

14

545

76

16

183

14

1212

295

0

2516

Other

0

0

0

0

0

14

0

2

214

0

0

0

20

250

TOTAL

530

782

2042

1464

1017

2712

986

139

7376

252

7951

482

1864

27597

UT

410

644

9681

1481

1084

769

2226

1964

5974

851

2081

58

3805

31028

MT

137

139

721

444

156

999

1452

313

9523

523

44

29

1901

16381

2

PT

224

135

627

316

154

1056

711

280

12772

903

1342

22

1136

19678

ET

0

10

155

879

93

64

296

37

880

734

0

0

2462

5610

RT

419

46

8393

821

0

535

354

419

4388

225

0

31

178

15809

AT

0

0

0

0

0

8

0

0

146

0

0

0

0

154

VT

64

0

73

264

18

409

112

961

1353

73

116

91

94

3628

0

1082

0

0

429

5

20

571

5

0

0

261

2373

974 20732

4205

1505

4269

5156

3994

35607

3314

3583

231

9837

94661

Other

0

TOTAL

1254

UT

19

89

691

88

70

194

136

60

770

85

32

5

32

2271

MT

15

38

62

23

30

160

89

36

787

130

0

2

0

1372

3

PT

36

26

61

14

29

154

87

30

874

114

0

2

32

1459

ET

0

5

18

40

16

37

28

11

200

79

0

0

0

434

RT

97

17

527

47

0

120

71

43

620

66

0

4

32

1644

AT

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

16

42

0

0

0

0

59

VT

24

0

22

7

3

90

25

42

287

2

0

0

0

502

Other
TOTAL
Gran Total

30

0

1

0

0

5

0

9

99

0

0

0

380

524

221

175

1383

219

148

760

436

247

3679

476

32

13

476

8265

24157

5888

2005

1931

2670

7741

6578

4380

46662

4042

11566

726

12177 130523

MT

PT

ET

RT

AT

VT

Other

CANADA
From the officeof Dr.Richard Murphy,
Manager NDT Certification
TOTAL CERTIFIED PERSONS

4.000

Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), a Ministry of
the Federal Government of Canada, implemented
third-party NDT certification in 1960 based upon a
National Standard of Canada issued by the Canadian
General Standards Board.
Currently, there are 4,000 certificated persons holding 10,500 NDTcertificates. The Canadian certification scheme is inaccordance with the National Standard of Canada,
CAN/CGSB-48.9712-2000 which is compliant with
ISO 9712:1999 and EN 473:2000. NRcan's Certifying Agency has a permanent staff of eight: one manager, three administrators and four technical experts.
The Certifying Agency has fifteen examinations centres, generally located in Technical Colleges, sitedacross Canada. Ten centres offer practical and written examinations and five centres offer only written
examinations. Examinations are 'on-demand'; thecandidate may schedule his/her examinations at anyof the appropriate test centres at any
convenient and available time. Each test centre possesses three different sets of examinations for each of
the NDT methods. One set of examinations ischanged each year so that all examinations arechanged every three years.
A total of 664 test specimens are used in the practicalexaminations and these specimens are the propertyof and are controlled by Certifying Agency. Most
specimens for magnetic particle and liquid penetrant
examination contain real flaws; parts industry rejected as no longer fit for service. All examinations (written and practical) are invigilated at the test centers
but are graded by Level 3 examiners at the Certifying Agency. The Certifying Agency is supported bya twelve member Advisory Body (50% Level 3's) to
guide the implementation of the National certification scheme.

page 5 — May 2003 – n. 1

the ICNDT journal

GLOBALIZATION AND HARMONIZATION OF NDT PERSONNEL CERTIFICATION
by John Thompson (Shorted version – first part)
SYNOPSIS
The subject embraced by the title of this paper is probably themost widely and intensely debated topic within the field of nondestructive testing. It is also a topic which has generated extreme
passions, often divided into two camps – pro or anti 2nd party approval of NDT personnel.
It was the development by ASNT of the historic guideline, SNTTC-1A, which first introduced a structured approach to training and‘approval’ (it is no longer correct to refer to ‘certification’ in thiscontext since, in ISO terminology, certification implies the involvement of a third party) of NDT personnel. However, being a guideline, TC-1A could never be prescriptive; companies implementing
the guidance within could choose to do so on a total or piecemeal
basis.
The International Committee for NDT (ICNDT), recognising
the need for a standard, requested that ISO develop a 3rd party
certification standard for NDT personnel and offered a number
of ICNDT documents (ICN WH 85 : 1985 - The complete recommendations on international harmonisation of training, qualification and certification of NDT personnel) as a basis for the first
ISO working draft.
There have been some fundamental developments in Europe overthe past four years, resulting in the founding of a European Federation for NDT with almost thirty member NDT societies having shared ideals and aspirations.
The European Pressure Equipment Directive - 97/23/EC - wasformally adopted by the European Parliament and Council on
29th May 1997. It entered into force on 29th November 1999 butcompliance with its requirements will be optional until 29th May
2002. The purpose of the directive is to harmonise national laws
regarding design, manufacture and conformity assessment of pressure equipment and assemblies (vessels, storage containers, heatexchangers, shell and water tube boilers, industrial pipework, safety devices and pressure accessories)
ASME Code requirements for NDT personnel have been revised
following recent code case enquiries to reference ASNT ACCP
certification. Further code case enquiries have been submitted to
ASME during 2000 in which it is proposed that the various codes
embody a wider acceptance of third party issued certificates ofcompetence.
This paper will elaborate on all of the topics briefly covered inthis summary.
STANDARDS
As a consequence of the widespread misuse of the concepts detailed in SNT-TC-1A, there was a perceived need to develop astandard which prescribed requirements in such a way that theserequirements could be specified by purchasers of tested goods or
testing services, thus protecting the interests of those directly andindirectly benefiting from the non-destructive testing applied bycertified competent personnel.
• ISO 9712 was developed at the request of the ICNDT by ISO
Technical Committee 135 Sub Committee 7(ISO/TC135/SC7) and issued in 1991 in order to provide aninternational standard which would have the effect of harmonizing the certification of NDT personnel throughout theworld. ISO 9712 was the first international standard specifying independent (central) certification. The second edition of
the standard was published early in 2000, and a third edition(intended to allow implementation of the Vienna Agreement[q.v.]) is already at an advanced WG draft stage.

•

•

•

•

EN 473 was developed by a CEN Technical Committee(CEN/TC138) specifically for the European Union in orderto provide a more stringent set of requirements than ISO
9712, which allowed, in its first edition, up to fifteen years forcountries adopting the standard to implement all of its provisions. The second edition of this standard was published in
October 2000.
ISO 11484 was developed specifically to provide for the needs ofthe manufacturers of steel tubes (for pressure purposes) where
testing is usually carried out using automated systems which,once set up, require minimal NDT skills to operate. It was notconsidered appropriate, by the ISO member representatives of
the industry concerned, to apply the provisions of ISO 9712 tolevels 1 and 2 personnel in this industry, but 11484 does caterfor both 2nd and 3rd party certification.
prEN 10256 was developed by the European Committee for
Iron and Steel Standardization (ECISS) for similar reasons tothose that led to the development of the international standard
ISO 10256; the industry utilizes a high proportion of automatedtesting and the application of EN 473 would lead to over qualification of operators.
EN 4179 was developed by the Association of European
Aerospace Manufacturers (AECMA) to suit the particularneeds of their industry, which were not felt to be adequately
served by EN 473. This industry sector uses a range of sometimes very esoteric NDT techniques, often automated andcomputerised, which it was considered would be beyond thescope of independent certification examinations. Added tothis, there was a need to harmonise the certification of personnel employed in the European aerospace industry with therequirements of MIL-STD-410 (now AIA-NAS-410) since
this standard is often specified in contractual arrangementswith US manufacturers.

VIENNA AGREEMENT
ISO/TC135/SC7/WG6 is currently engaged in a second revisionof ISO 9712 with a view to of harmonisation and a fusion with
EN 473 perhaps under the Vienna Agreement.
It is expected that, following the next scheduled meeting of theWG, which is made up of ISO ‘P’ member representative experts
consisting of more or less equal representation from European
and non-European ‘P’ members, the final WG Draft will be approved for submission to SC7 for approval as a Committee Draft.
ICNDTThe International Committee on NDT is today seeking to establish for itself a wider and more meaningful role in the international NDT community. Already, much good work has been done under the recent presidency of Mr G Nardoni (President of the Italian NDT Society), including a laudable project to help ride theworld of land mines.
At the recent 15th World Conference on NDT in Rome, the ICNDT was presented a paper proposing that it consider adopting
an international role as an Association of NDT Personnel Certification Bodies.
Such an association could act as a peer review group, agreeing
specifications (for the use of the member certification bodies)
which it is not possible to incorporate, for various reasons, within
any standard at present. It will be interesting to see whether theinternational NDT community is at last ready to consider such a
proposal.

AUSTRALIAITALY

AUSTRALIAN NDT CERTIFICATION RECEIVESINTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

The 10th Italian Conference on NDT was held from 2
to 4 last April in Ravenna organised by the Italian Society for NDT ( AIPnD ).
Despite of the national character of the conference many
international events were included in the technical program. Plenary lectures were held as the following:• Advanced Ultrasonic Probes by Boro Djordjevic(USA );• ASME in the Global Pressure Equipment Arena by
Don Bray ( USA ) ;• Federal Aviation Administration Nondestructive
Evaluation Research and Development Efforts by
Alfred Broz ( USA ) and• NDT- Strategy for Humanitarian Demining by
Vjera Krstelj ( Croatia )In addition a number of open panel discussions were
held on the following topics:• “Certification of NDT personnel in Italy, Europe
and in the world ” with the participation of Mr. Murphy Chairman of ISO TC 135.
• “Application problems of European Directive PED”
• “Trend in NDT Technology and Certification of
Personnel in Aerospace” with the participation of Mr
Broz from FAA.
• NDT for pressure equipment with ASME stamp "with the participation of Mr Sullivan and Mr Bray
from ASME.

On the 7th of May 2002, the Australian Institute for
Non-Destructive Testing (AINDT) was awarded
JAS-ANZ accreditation as a certifying body to EN
45013. JAS-ANZ is the Joint Accreditation System
of Australia and New Zealand. The accreditation
process was carried out in accordance with JAS-ANZ
Procedure 20 – General Requirements for Bodies
Operating Certification of Personnel (Incorporating
EN 45013 and JAS-ANZ Guidance to the applicationof EN45013).
Tony Craven Chief Executive of JAS-ANZ formallypresented the Accreditation Schedule and Certificate
in Brisbane to John Maccarone, AINDT Federal
President, on the 28th June 2002.
The scope of Accreditation covers the following certification standards:∑ AS 3998 – 1992 (ISO 9712) – Non-Destructive
Testing – Qualification and Certification of Personnel – General Engineering, and∑ ISO 9712-1999 (soon to be AS 3998 – 2002) Non-Destructive Testing – Qualification and Certification of Personnel – General Engineering.
A primary objective of JAS-ANZ is to establish international links so that the certifications that are issued
by an accredited certification body, such as AINDT,
will be recognised in any other market. JAS-ANZ
has given priority to achieving mutual recognition
with existing accreditation bodies and establishingstrong links with accreditation programmes, particularly in Asia, Europe and North America.
This effectively means that AINDT certification issued to ISO 9712 under the JAS-ANZ accreditation
would be deemed equivalent to other internationallyaccepted NDT certification programmes. This is asignificant achievement for the AINDT certification
system and should help with the promotion of tradefor Australian producers and exporters.
AINDT will now work with JAS-ANZ to market thissignificant achievement for the Australian NDT Industry to ensure the full potential of mutual recognition in international markets is realised.
John Maccarone
AINDT Federal President

EFNDT
The European Federation for NDT (EFNDT) was formed in
1999 from the members of the previous European Council for
NDT (ECNDT)The purpose of the Federation is to promote all aspects of nondestructive testing including the technology, research, development application, training and information in all countries within
the geographical area of Europe, according to the UN definitions
and to initiate any actions likely to improve its quality and reliability. The EFNDT:
will contribute to the removal of technical barriers and act as
spokesman for the non destructive testing community in Europe.
To this end, it will encourage contacts and exchanges between European associations or groupings and will maintain relations withassociations or groupings in other geographical regions, including
other regional NDT Committees.
THE EUROPEAN PRESSURE EQUIPMENT DIRECTIVE(PED)
Within the Directive, Pressure Equipment is categorised at fourlevels (I to VI) according to degree of hazard: category III and IV
equipment, with potentially the greatest hazard, will require conformity assessment by 'notified bodies' and 'recognised third party
organisations'. The following extracts are relevant to this paper:
97/23/EC Article 13 clause 1: Members states shall notify the Commission and the other member states of the third party organizations
which they have recognised for the purposes of the tasks referred toin Annex 1, sections 3.1.2 and 3.1.3.
97/23/EC Annex I clause 3.1.3: Non-Destructive Tests. For pressure equipment, non-destructive tests of permanent joints must be
carried out by suitable qualified personnel. For pressure equipment in categories III and IV, the personnel must be approved bya third party organisation recognized by a member state pursuant
to Article 13.
97/23/EC Annex IV: Criteria to be met when designating the notified bodies referred to in Article 12 and the recognised third
party organizations referred to in Article 13. (attached hereto forreference).
prEN 13480 : part 5 - Inspection and testing - clause 8.4.3 (Personnel qualifications). Personnel performing tests shall be qualified and certified in accordance with EN 473 for the appropriate
testing method (this requirement is repeated in clauses 8.5 to 8.9
which cover NDT methods VT, MT, PT, RT and UT).
prEN13445 part 5 - Inspection and testing - clause 2 (Normativereferences) includes reference to EN 473.
prEN13445 part 5 - Inspection and testing - clause 6.1.3.5.7(Qualification of NDT personnel): NDT personnel shall be qualified and certified in accordance with EN 473 except for visual examination and leak testing (for which personnel shall be qualified
but not certified). NDT personnel shall hold an appropriate certificate of competence at level 1, 2 or 3, as appropriate, which isdelivered as described in tables H-1 and H-2 depending on theconformity assessment module (tables H-1 and H-2 state that for
category III and IV equipment, qualification and certification of
NDT personnel may be (is?) carried out by recognised third party
organisation).paragraph (b)?
Dr John Thompson
Manager, Certification Services Division,
The British Institute of NDTMember, British Institute of NDT and ASNTICNDTSecretariat
All are invited to take partin keeping this journal alive!

S. Ghia

E. Rochfort

Subscriptions help in keeping
this Journal alive!

FAX

ICNDT Journal Subscription Form
I would like to receive the next four issues of ICNDT Journal.
Name …………………..................…...........………………………..................….................................……......
Surname …………………..................…...........…………………..................…...........…….....................……
Company …………………..................…...........………………………..................…...........……..................
Address ………………….........................…...........…… City …………………..................…...........……
State …………………..................…..............................…… Zip …………………..................…...........……
Phone …………………..................…..........................…… Fax …………………..................…...........……
E-mail …………………..................…...........………….................…...........……………………….....................
Date …………………......................…… Signature …………………...............................…...........……
Method of payment
 Bank Transfer

 Cheque Credit Card N° …………………..................…...........………………………..................…..............
Exp. Date …………………..................…...........……
Authorised Signature …………………..................…...........……

Subscription cost : US $ 10 - 11 € for one year ( 4 issues )During the last listed panel relevant discussion took
place about NDT personnel performing examination ofpressure equipment with ASME stamp. It was underlined that NDT personnel have to be trained and qualified according to the specific written practice of the
manufacturer, which describe the responsibilities of thequalification and certification of NDT personnel that
perform the test of the part and report it's conformity
with the requirements of the relevant ASME code.

Payment must be addressed to :Istituto Bancario San Paolo di Torino
Brescia Agency N° 5- Via Crotte-25127 Brescia, Italy
Bank Account : IBSP IT TM 154 c/c 434
ICNDTc/c AIPnD - Via Foresti,5 - 25127 Brescia, Italy
Phone +39 030 3739 173, Fax +39 030 3739 176,
E-mail: icndt@icndt.org
Send this form and you will receive the ICNDT Journal

May 2003 – n. 1 — page 6

the ICNDT journal

THE 28TH MEETING OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR NDT WAS HELDIN BARCELONA, SPAIN, ON THURSDAY 20 JUNE 2002 DURING THE 8TH ECNDT.
The 28th ICNDT Meeting was attended by a total of 45 persons representing 33 world wide countries (27 of which voting). Many important items was approved . Among these are the following: ICNDT Recommendation Guidelines for Qualification and Certification of
NDT Personnel according to ISO 9712, Fine tuning of Constitution, ICNDT Financial Statement. The Minutes of the 28th ICNDT
meeting are available on ICNDT web site http//: www.icndt.org
Country

Name

Society

Voting

ALGERIA
ARGENTINA

Faurouz Bettayeb
Eisa Hogert
Mario Armette
Gerhard Aufricht
Heinrich Theiretzbacher
Mahi U Khan
Maria Izabel Gebrael
Joao Antonio Conte
Jose S R Jinier
Douglas Marshall
Douglas Whitely
Richard V Murphy
Ana Lypolt
Pavel Mazal
Bjarne Larsen
Michael Poudrai
Rainer Link
Ioannis Prassianakis
Ferenc Fucsok
Dr Baldev Raj
Kamal Mahzoon
Mirmajid Ghaemi
Michael J Prendergast
G Shoef
G Nardoni
Mikio Takagi
Yeo YanTeng
Rachad Alami
Mohammad Lahlou
Hein Hoogstraate
Rune Kristiansen
Jan Mottl
Luis M Ferreira Negrao
Luis Vieira Gomez
Proxy for V Klyuev
Janez Grum
Emilio Romero
Andrey Shekero
Valentin Uchanin
Steve Lavendar
Mike Farley
Silvia Infanzon
John Stringer
Thom Passek
Nguyen Minh-Hong

CSC
ENDE-CAC-CNEA















AUSTRIABANGLADESH
BRAZILCANADACROATIACZECH REPUBLIC
DENMARKFRANCEGERMANYGREECEHUNGARY
INDIA
IRAN
IRELANDISRAELITALY
JAPAN
MALAYSIA
MOROCCONETHERLANDSNORWAYPOLANDPORTUGALRUSSIASLOVENIASPAINUKRAINE
UNITED KINGDOMURUGUAYUSA
VIETNAM

Austrian Society for NDT (OGfZP)BSNDTABENDECINDEISO
CrSNDT
CNDT
Danish Society for NDT
COFREND
DGzfPHellenic Society of NDTScientific Society of Mech. Eng Org. of NDTIndian Society for NDTIranian Society for NDT
Irish Inst. Of Welding & Eng. Inspection
Israeli Society for NDT
JSNDI
MSNT
COMEND






KINT
Norwegian Soc. For NDTPolish Society for NDTRELACRE

Russian Society for NDTSlovenian Society for NDT
AEND
USNDT






BInstNDTAENDURASNT



ICNDT Meeting Participants

Mr Romero President of AEND presents
to Mr Nardoni a painting as reminder of
8th ECNDTVietnam Assoc. for NDT

ICNDT Financial Accounts ( Euros )
1999

Year

2000

2001

2002

Average/year

SECRETARIAT

Durable Equipment
Maintenence
Phone/Internet
Printing of Documents
Mail
Consumables
Cost of personnel
Reimburs.and subsistance
Total

0
0
0
1260.15006510.04
672.698443.91

0.00
0.00
0.00
4446.18
2272.412076.167538.98
1048.9217383.68

2916.26
309.87671.1663.21
672.6361.97
2852.3911687.42
19235.96

1255.160.00
1591.35
4642.00 (1)0.00
225.1611284.00
437.62
19435.29

2085.71154.941131.26
2602.89736.26590.827046.35
3461.66
16124.71

Total11349.14
2444.8313793.97

9531.212455.75
11986.96

3486.08
1070.164556.244103.00 (2)1960.406063.407117.36
1982.79
9100.14

Total

854.741713.09002567.822754.260.00
5336.700.00
8090.97

14984.122730.891175.100.00
18890.113035.00
3797.00
2251.00 (3)7994.00 (4)17077.00

5407.032060.25
2190.70
1998.5011656.48

ICNDT Journal

Printing
Mail and shipment
MISSIONS

Chair
Secretariat
Members
Meetings

Gran Total¼24,805.70 ¼37,461.61 ¼42,682.31 ¼42,575.69(1) Printing of ICNDT International Guide, folders and photocopies(2) Printing of ICNDT Journal(3) Reimbursement to relevant members(4) Cost of ICNDT meeting in Barcelona

36881.33

Total amount of Euros 147.523
donated by the Italian Society for
NDT to support ICNDT new asset according to the new constitution approved in Rome 2000.

Mr Marshall Chairman of 16th WCNDTand Mrs Gebrael Chairman of 3rd
PANNDT.

page 7 — May 2003 – n. 1

the ICNDT journal

THE 6th FAR EAST CONFERENCE ON NON DESTRUCTIVE TESTING. TOKYO, Japan, 21-24 October 2002
On conjunction with the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Japan Society of Non Destructive Inspection (JSNDI)
The 6th Far East Conference on Non-Destructive Testing was held on Tokyo 21-24 October 2002 on conjunction with the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of theJapan Society of Non Destructive Inspection (JSNDI). The conference, in the English language, brought together experts from the Far East with particularly strong
representation from the academic communities in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Papers on the full range of methods (ultrasonics, stress and strain measurement, eddy current, infrared, acoustic emission, magnetics, radiography, and optical method) were supplemented by three sessions specifically on NDT of Concrete. A total of one
hundred referred papers were presented.
Proceedings have been published by JSNDI and are available on CD-ROM from JSNDI.

INTERNATIONAL PANEL DISCUSSION ON QUALIFICATION AND CERTIFICATION OF NDT PERSONNELTokyo, Japan, 22 October 2002
An international panel discussion on qualification and certification of NDT personnel washeld in conjunction with the 6th Far-East
Conference on Non Destructive Testing. Objective of the panel was to provide an opportunity for each panellist to present information
on how NDT personnel are currently qualified and certified in each organisation, and to
discuss this topic with other in attendance,
thereby broadening awareness and understanding of the situation in each organisation.

REPORT BY MIKE FARLEY
During the conference an important International Panel Discussion was held on Qualification and Certification of NDT Personnel.
Ten short presentations were given:Mr Kiyoshi Kato (JSNDI) described the current Japanese certification system (58,766 certificates issued to the end of 2001) withthree levels to the NDIS standard 0601.
Dr Yukio Ogura (JSNDI) explained that JSNDI will move to Japanese standard JIS Z 2305 based on ISO9712 from 2003.
Mr Roy Gilmour (AINDT) stated that ISO9712-1999 soon to be AS 3998-2002 is now being used as a basis for certification in Australia and the Australian Institute AINDT has been awarded accreditation as a certifying body to EN45013 by the Australian equivalent of UKAS (JAS-ANS).
Dr Guiseppe Nardoni (ICNDT) expressed his delight at the widespread adoption of ISO9712, which is based on the initial work on
training guidelines by ICNDT. He explained that ICNDT is preparing a Handbook of Guidelines on Qualification and Certification of NDT Personnel according to ISO9712. The draft had been circulated for comment in Barcelona to the full ICNDT and so
far comments have been positive. We can therefore be confident that the Handbook will be finalised without a great deal of change.
Mr Stephen Black (ASNT) concentrated on the newly announced transition arrangements for ASNT Certificate holders to ACCP
driven, he explained, by the need to promote third party certification at the behest of codes and standards making bodies. Individuals “transitioned” under the new arrangements will have to take an examination within five years.
Dr Mike Farley (ICNDT/EFNDT) described the present status of PCN as an accredited third party certification scheme run by
BInstNDT to meet the needs of industry whilst complying with EN473 and ISO9712. PCN is healthy and growing (both geographically and in technical scope) and is a founder member of ECP.
Speaking on behalf of EFNDT, Mike Farley described the formal status of the European Federation of NDT and the mutual recognition agreement between the NDT Societies of Europe. More than 150,000 EN473 certificates have been issued by 30 NDT societies. Responding to the need for greater harmonisation, the EFNDT has created ECP – the European Certification Process which
provides Certification Bodies with a common definition of sectors, a bank of examination questions, specifications for practical exams
and examination specimens. The NDT Societies of France, Germany and Britain have announced that they will each adopt ECP
during 2003 and other certification bodies are expected to follow.
Dr Geng Rong Sheng (ChSNDT) explained the position in China. The Chinese standard (GB9445) has been modified
to reflect ISO9712-1999 and a unified National Certifying Body (with Authorised
Bodies and Examination Centres) is being
set up through the Chinese National Bureau of Technical Supervision.
Dr Jong Po Lee (KSNT) described thepresent position in Korea with four levels(roughly equivalent to Levels 1, 2 and 3
plus a Professional Engineer Level).
Large numbers (>10,000) of these Koreannational certificates have been issued.
There are also smaller numbers of ASNT
Level III Certificate holders (554) and Korean Electric Power Industry Codes Certificate holders (~2,500). However noneof the three schemes complies with
ISO9712 and the Korean NDT Society is
studying how to address this.
Dr Chung-Yue Wang of the Society of
Non destructive Testing of China-Taipei
explained that since 1981 in Taiwan certification was in accordance with ROCSNT-PQ-01, itself based on SNT-TC-1A.
In 1996 the national standard CNS-13588
was established in compliance with
ISO9712. The NDT Society is seeking
to implement this new standard as a step
towards the goal of international mutual
recognition.
Discussion centred on how ISO9712
schemes could gain recognition (by European PED Notified Bodies, ASME etc.).
The role of “proficiency testing” to compare the relative proficiency of certificate
holders from the various international
schemes was outlined by Mr Gilmour.
The Chairman Dr Norikazu Ooka of JSNDI summarised the conclusions and recommendations of the Panel Discussion as
follows:• Guidelines should be developed andagreed by ICNDT, ASNT, FENDT,EFNDT and APCNDT on requirements
for mutual recognition of National NDT
Certification schemes.
• Agreement needs to be reached on industry sectors covered by certification
schemes and different requirements of industry sectors e.g. Nuclear, Aerospace,
Pressure Vessel, General Engineering.
• FENDT to propose to APCNDT toform a Working Group to participate indevelopment of Guidelines.
• It is important that the Asia and PacificRegion is more involved in the development of Mutual Recognition of NDT Certification Schemes.
The best forum forthis would seem to be
APCNDT. It is recommended that astronger role is given
to APCNDT by
FENDT.

INDIA - NDE 2002

National Seminar of the Indian Society
for NDT Chennai, 5-7 December 2002

ICNDT Executive Committee Meeting
Chennai, India, 6 December 2002

Mike Farley

May 2003 – n. 1 — page 8

the ICNDT journal

Draft of ICNDT Recommended Guidelines presented in Barcelona at the 28th ICNDT Meeting
Forwardby Mik to ISO 971
io Taka2
gi Former ChaSinceirman of ISO T
destru the effectiven
C 135
c
e
t
iv
s
s
e
o
testingof the
f
a
n
y
p
a
d
e
p
e
r
p
s
p
li
ons wh• Increased training hours
ends ucationfor theopoa mean test, a proce perform or won the capa f nonb
d
s
h
u
o
fo
re
a
r
re
p
w
e
e
valua
as de
resp ilities
tenc• Training syllabus up dated by ICpropria e of personnting and doc veloped to ponsible
NDT Working Group and ISO-TC
non-dete theoretica el whose du umenting the rovideltisuperv structive te and practic es require th com135- SC7- WG2stems ise, monitor sts that theyal knowledge e aprange from the woror evaluate. perform, s of the• Examination made independnon-deof industrial ld-wide com An added incpecify,
Any ce structive tes applications parability of entive
ent examination centres underStanda rtification b ting approac requiring co a wide
mm o ncontrol of the certification bodyqualificrd shall com ody adoptin hes.
g thisply witation atransitio
h leveInter nnd cvels 1 a n period of ertification, l 3 requiremeational• More detailed requirementsub
nts for
n
p
u
d
t
to
is
five yea
The aim 2.
rs to impermitted afor practical examination (country is to permplementleso app that has noit the starting
description of test piecesb o d y a licable whe third party c of the syste
NDT m p p li e s t h e n an indepe ertification. m in aand references )created ethod or w c e r t if ic a t io n ndent certif It is alic
hen a
It is rec .
new ins c h e m e t o a ation• Audits of certifying
dustriaa valua ognised thatl secton e w
r isding s ble contribu efforts of IC
body through the auNDT pechemes for qtion to impleNDT have promualifica
thorized qualificationv
An ext rsonnel.
tion an ent the outs ided
ensive
d
c
w
e
r
appli
ill imtificatio tanauthority
n offety of prove reliabilitcation of thisthe world wid y of industria norm to ind
e commlpuunity. roducts and strysa-

ADVANTAGE OF
ISO 9712 CERTIFICATION

Dear Sergio,
I recently received the 2002 Draft copy of the"INCDT Recommended Guidelines for Qualification and Certification of NDT Personnel according to ISO 9712"
I enjoyed it very much.
If at all possible I would appreciate anotherfour copies to share with my Executive andCertification Board Secretary.
Please confirm if you are able to send me additional copies.
Ciao,nciatioerppAJohn Maccarone
AINDT Federal President
Phone: + 61 7 3243 7365
Fax: + 61 7 3243 7544
email: maccarj@az1.bp.com

ILITY
B
A
S
N
O
P
S
E
R
EMPLOYER---- Original Message ----From: Ecuador "Sendre Cía. Ltda."
To: ghia-icndt
Cc: icndt@icndt.org
Sent: Friday, September 27, 2002 11:49 PM
Subject: ICNDT GUIDELINESn
ciatioerppADEAR MR. GHIA,I HAVE RECEIVED THE ICNDT RECOMMENDED GUIDELINESFOR QUALIFICATION AND CERTIFICATION OF NDT PERSONNEL
ACCORDING TO ISO 9712 STANDARD, AND I FOUND IT VERYVALUABLE AND USEFUL TO ACCOMPLISH THE QUALIFICATIONAND CERTIFICATION OF NDT PERSONNEL ALL OVER THE
WORLD.
CONGRATULATIONS FOR THIS EXCELLENT WORK.
BEST REGARDSOMAR SERRANOESPOL - ESCUELA POLITECNICA DEL LITORALGUAYAQUIL - ECUADOR“a challenge

for safety”

The draft of this document was issued to ICNDT Members and others for comments in Barcelona. A revision of the Guidelines is being prepared and will be issued during 2003 following approval by the Policy and General Purpose Committee.