If API 570 is your facility’s piping inspection/repair RAGAGEP, the battle over “repair requirements” just got easier! A very popular question in PSM/RMP circles has become…
“Do we have to make repairs in the same manner as we did the initial install of the pipe?”
In other words, what is being asked is…
“Can we bypass some of the ASME B31 requirements like using coded welder or pressure test or leak test when I have to make repairs to the piping?”
Of course, the best answer is NO, you must treat the repairs as cautiously as the original install and meet all the requirements that were intended to be met when the pipe was installed. This means that ASME B31 requirements are the same for a repair as they were when we installed it. But this kind of language is not crystal clear in ASME B31 because the series of codes is for NEW CONSTRUCTION/INSTALLATIONS – not alterations or repairs. So engineers, and those who mascarade as engineers have always liked to play the “show me in the standard/code” game when Process Safety Engineers required the same requirements for alterations/repairs as we did when the pipe was first installed/constructed. But now API 570 makes our position crystal clear!
Section 8 – 8 Repairs, Alterations, and Rerating of Piping Systems contains requirements for welders, documentation, examination, and yes PRESSURE TESTING the repairs BEFORE the piping is returned to service.
(emphasis by me)