OP23 Draft Revision 4 (Underrevision)
21/02/2022
Page 1 of 7

ICNDT Operating Procedure OP23: Management ofthe ICNDT Examination Question Bank (EQB)(Under revision)
Executive Summary
The ICNDT Examination Question Bank (EQB) comprises a stand-alone database application
containing over 7,000 multiple choice questions covering Levels 1, 2 and 3. The database application
is capable of generating question papers manually or automatically, with selection options for
sector, method, level and difficulty.
The objectives of the EQB are to:•satisfy requirement for fairness, validity and reliability in qualification examinations•help harmonise the standard of qualification examinations•help to make examinations more rigorous by enabling users to ensure that papers more
evenly cover the required body of knowledge for a particular subject••

enable national bodies to share effort in generating suitable questions
improve the quality of examination papers by increasing the number of questions available

This document is a strategic level Operating Procedure as defined in Operating Procedure OP18 andis subject to approval by the ICNDT Executive Committee (IEC) and the International Committee.
As specified in OP 18 the EQB is operated by the ICNDT Certification Executive Committee (ICEC),
supported by Work Instruction OP 23/WI/1 approved by the ICEC and ICNDT Working Group 1(WG1).

Disclaimer
The ICNDT accepts no liability for the use of the EQB by purchasing Personnel Certification Bodies.

Jurisdiction
The sale and maintenance of the ICNDT EQB is subject to the jurisdiction of Austria.
Secretariat: The British Institute of NDTMidsummer House, Riverside Way, Bedford Road, Northampton NN1 5NX, UK
Tel: +44 1604 438300; Fax: +44 1604 438301; Email: icndt@bindt.org

Revision and Approval Status
Issue / Draft
OP23 Draft
Issue 1 Rev 0
OP 23 Issue 1
Draft AOP 23 Issue 1
Draft BOP 23 Issue 1
Draft B1
OP 23 Issue 1
Draft COP 23 Issue 1
Draft DOP 23 Issue 1
OP23
Revision 3
OP23
Revision 4

OP23 Draft Revision 4 (Underrevision)
21/02/2022
Page 2 of 7DateDetails
30/07/2013 Document includes both strategic andoperating level documents as appendices.
15/11/2013 Document reformatted to include only strategiclevel content. Operating level Work Instructions
to be provided in separate documents.
05/12/2013 Incorporated comments from PGP; additional
cosmetic changes
10/12/2013 Minor changes in response to comment fromICEC and WG1; no adverse comments
13/12/2013 Updated draft and date; passed to PGP

Status / Approval
For ICEC discussion

20/12/2013 Value of fees taken out of OP

Approved by PGP

31/12/2013
15/02/2017 Approval by PGP replaced with approval by theInternational Committee.
Issue 2 changed to Revision 3
21/02/2022 Method of delivery of EQB under revision.

Approved for issue
For PGP approval

For ICEC discussion

For ICEC/WG1
approval
Approved by ICECand WG1For PGP approval

For PGP approval

Secretariat: The British Institute of NDTMidsummer House, Riverside Way, Bedford Road, Northampton NN1 5NX, UK
Tel: +44 1604 438300; Fax: +44 1604 438301; Email: icndt@bindt.org

OP23 Draft Revision 4 (Underrevision)
21/02/2022
Page 3 of 7

Scope

This Operating Procedure covers the operation of the ICNDT Examination Question Bank. The
Operating Procedure is supported by Work Instruction OP 23/WI/1 which is under the control ofICEC.

References
OP 18:OP 19:OP 23/WI/1:

ICNDT Certification Executive Committee
ICNDT Multilateral Recognition Agreement
Management of the ICNDT Examination Question Bank (in preparation)

Abbreviations
EQB
ICEC
ICNDTIECMRAOP
PCB
PGPC
WG1

Examination Question BankICNDT Certification Executive Committee
International Committee for Non-Destructive Testing
ICNDT Executive Committee
Multilateral Recognition Agreement
Operating Procedure
Personnel Certification Body
Policy & General Purposes Committee
ICNDT Working Group 1

Access to the EQB
The EQB is available for purchase by Personnel Certification Bodies (PCB) meeting two main
requirements:
1.
2.

The PCB has been proposed by a member of ICNDT which is a signatory of the ICNDTMultilateral Recognition Agreement (Operating Procedure OP 19 Schedule 1).
The PCB has registered in the ICNDT Multilateral Recognition Agreement (OperatingProcedure OP 19, Schedule 2), or committed to apply for registration.

In addition the prospective Client PCB shall agree to the following conditions of purchase and use:
1.
2.
3.
4.

The ICNDT will give no guarantee regarding the suitability of the questions or operating
software and accepts no liability for the use of the EQB.
A purchase and license fee is payable prior to release of the ICNDT examination questionbank and associated software.
ICNDT EQB questions held at examination centres shall be subject to strict measures ofsecurity and confidentiality to prevent loss or compromise.
Only personnel authorised by the Purchasing Certification Body shall have access to theICNDT examination question bank software and database, which must be rigidlycontrolled.
Secretariat: The British Institute of NDTMidsummer House, Riverside Way, Bedford Road, Northampton NN1 5NX, UK
Tel: +44 1604 438300; Fax: +44 1604 438301; Email: icndt@bindt.org

OP23 Draft Revision 4 (Underrevision)
21/02/2022
Page 4 of 75.

6.
7.

The PCB’s approved examination centre(s) shall have in place an operating procedure
which ensures that candidates are, at all times during examination, closely supervised byan authorised representative of the purchasing Certification Body in order to ensure thatno ICNDT examination material is removed by any candidate.
ICNDT examination questions shall not be re-sold or further distributed by thepurchasing Certification Body.
Failure to abide by these conditions of use shall result in withdrawal of the rightto use the ICNDT EQB and cancellation of registration of the purchasing Certification
Body under the ICNDT MRA.

Fees
The fees comprise:••

A one-off outright purchase fee;
An optional annual fee to support:o Advice on use;o Solutions to user or application problems;o Improvements to the application;o Extensions to the question bank.

The fees for will be set by the IEC and confirmed at the Annual Meeting of ICNDT.
The ICEC may on their own responsibility offer reduced fees in cases where a purchaser is offering
payment in kind, for example providing additional questions or translations into another language.

Processes
Application to purchase
The process map for application to purchase is shown in Figure 1.
The decision to accept or reject the application to purchase shall represent a consensus view of all
ICEC members. This may be achieved in a meeting or, if that would introduce delay, by email
exchanges. If a unanimous agreement cannot be reached the decision will be made by a simple
majority of ICEC members with the ICEC Chairman having a casting vote in case of a tie.

Identification, development and validation of new questions
The Administrator will collate comments and proposals from Client PCBs, WG1 and otherorganisations for changes and extensions to the question bank. These may include but not be limited
to:••comments on grammatical or technical errors in existing questions
the need for additional questions to cover certain topics or sectors
Secretariat: The British Institute of NDTMidsummer House, Riverside Way, Bedford Road, Northampton NN1 5NX, UK
Tel: +44 1604 438300; Fax: +44 1604 438301; Email: icndt@bindt.org

OP23 Draft Revision 4 (Underrevision)
21/02/2022
Page 5 of 7•

the need for new questions to cover revised standards and syllabi, and areas of newtechnology•new questions offered by Client PCBs or donated by other organisations

At least annually, the Administrator shall provide a paper summarising all comments and proposals.
This will form the basis for discussions by the ICEC and WG1 on what changes are needed and how
these should be resourced.
Any new questions shall be validated by nominees of the WG1 for accuracy and relevance.

Translation
Where a need is identified, the ICEC shall assess the possibility of translation of the question bankinto other languages, on a cost-shared basis, based on a cost / benefit analysis and noting thepossibility of offering the EQB on favourable terms to organisations prepared to offer a payment inkind by providing translations. The ICEC shall take adequate steps to ensure that any translation isaccurate both in grammatical and technical aspects.

Summary of Roles and Responsibilities
ICEC membership•••••

Monitor process
Approve Work Instructions
Approve recommendations for sale of EQB
Recommend fees and provide financial reports to IEC
Contribute to discussion on resourcing of changes to the examquestion bank

Administrator (ICECSecretary)••••••

Process applications
Recommend sales to ICEC
Inform prospective Client PCBs of the ICEC accept / reject decision
Distribute database application and user manual to new Client PCBs
Distribute annual updates if PCB has paid for support option
Respond to questions from Client PCBs, passing them to Software
Support Consultant as necessary
Collate comments from Client PCBs, WG1 and any other sources on
the need for changes to the question bank; produce paper annually
to form basis for ICEC and WG1 discussion on how to resourcechanges
Receive and forward validated questions to Software Support
Consultant for import into database
Maintain files to demonstrate that the EQB is operated in accordancewith this Operating Procedure•••

ICNDT Treasurer••

Raise invoice for payment when notified that application has been
accepted
Advise Administrator when payment has been madeSecretariat: The British Institute of NDTMidsummer House, Riverside Way, Bedford Road, Northampton NN1 5NX, UK
Tel: +44 1604 438300; Fax: +44 1604 438301; Email: icndt@bindt.org

OP23 Draft Revision 4 (Underrevision)
21/02/2022
Page 6 of 7Software Support(To be published)

Client Personnel
Certification Body(PCB)
WG1

••
•

Distribute unlock code to new Client PCBs
Import new questions to database
Develop enhancements to application as required and specified byICEC•••

Report technical or grammatical errors to the Administrator
Report issues with the application to the Administrator
Contribute new questions for validation and importation•

Identify the need for new questions to cover revised standards andsyllabi, and areas of new technology
Contribute to discussion on resourcing of changes to the examquestion bank
Arrange for review and validation of new questions••Secretariat: The British Institute of NDTMidsummer House, Riverside Way, Bedford Road, Northampton NN1 5NX, UK
Tel: +44 1604 438300; Fax: +44 1604 438301; Email: icndt@bindt.org

OP23 Draft Revision 4 (Underrevision)
21/02/2022
Page 7 of 7

Figure 1 Process map for EQB application to purchase

Secretariat: The British Institute of NDTMidsummer House, Riverside Way, Bedford Road, Northampton NN1 5NX, UK
Tel: +44 1604 438300; Fax: +44 1604 438301; Email: icndt@bindt.org