During our process safety audits and engineering reviews for existing processes, the #1 deficiency that we still come across is the lack of piping MI inspections. However, there seems to be a major effort in getting these types of inspections completed as most auditors will now take issue if there are no “official” inspections by a “qualified person” on the process piping. So now they have an audit item they have to close out. And this is where I want to make sure that the money spent is well spent. With the increased demand for inspections, the actual professional inspectors have quite the backlog. This has opened the door to a lot of “want-to-be-inspectors” who offer the service at prices well below market prices. This is very tempting when a business has not budgeted tens of thousands of dollars to perform these critical MI inspections.
My RAGAGEP(s) of choice for piping inspections are API 570 (Program) and 574 (Practice) and these two (2) standards work in harmony to make piping inspection management very manageable.
Our inspection program MUST include a management system for the inspection records and Work Orders driving the inspection frequencies. One thing I want to share is what API 574 says about the “Inspection Report” you should get at the conclusion of the project. Although the standard uses the word “should“, I use the word “must” as all of these data points are critical to managing our inspection program. The standard states…
All inspection records should [MUST] contain as a minimum:
a. The original date of installation
b. The specifications and strength levels of the materials used
c. The original thickness measurements
d. The locations and dates of all subsequent thickness measurements
e. The calculated retirement thickness
f. Previous repairs/replacements
g. Pertinent operational changes, i.e., change in service
These and other pertinent data should be arranged on suitable forms so that successive inspection records will furnish a chronological picture.
Pay close attention to item “d” from above, as this is the #1 item that we tend to find clients missing and it is a BIG MISS; one that can be very costly when it comes time for the next inspection. These piping MI inspections MUST identify exactly where the thickness measurement locations (TML) were taken so when the next inspection is performed, the readings can be compared against the previous readings to aid in identifying thickness losses.
Item “d” does not specify how we must mark our TMLs and there are a number of methods we can use. But the best, by far in my opinion (but also the costliest), is for the inspector to provide isometric or oblique drawing which offer a means of documenting
- the size and orientation of piping lines,
- the location and types of fittings, valves, orifices, etc. and
- the locations at which thickness measurements are taken.
These sketches/isometrics have the following important functions:
- Identify particular piping systems and circuits in terms of location, size, material specification, general process flow, and service conditions.
- Inform the mechanical department of points to be opened for visual inspection and parts that require replacement or repair.
- Serve as field data sheets on which can be recorded the locations of thickness measurements, serious corrosion, and sections requiring immediate replacement. These data can be transferred to continuous records at a later date.
- Assist at future inspections in determining locations that urgently require examination.
The use of a coding system that uniquely identifies the process unit, the piping system, the circuit, and the TMLs is advisable.
So in closing, you should get what you PAY FOR. Hiring a professionally certified API Piping Inspector, you will get all the item above and be in perfect compliance with your MI Piping Inspection RAGAGEP; anything less may save you some $ in the short term, but you will have to chance to get deep into the hole after EPA or OSHA get done with you!!! You get what you pay for – make damn sure you are paying a professional who will get what you need for your process safety needs and compliance needs.