Anyone who has attended one of my Process Safety training courses has heard me use the phrase “circuitizing your piping” when we discuss the mechanical integrity aspect for piping. API 570 is our baseline RAGAGEP for our Piping Inspection Program, but API 574 is how these inspections will actually be conducted and this standard is chock full of great information and is a MUST READ for anyone developing a Piping MI program. A small and simple process may be able to have just one (1) pipe circuit, but there are VERY FEW processes where this will work. Most facilities, especially those who have multiple PSM/RMP covered processes will for sure have multiple pipe circuits in their MI inspection program. In fact, most facilities will have hundreds of piping circuits and although this may seem unmanageable at first, it actually makes managing the program much easier in the long run and process safety is a marathon – NOT a sprint! Here are some of the highlights from API 574 that we should consider when setting up a piping inspection program.