Certification Overview

NDT is a very important industry. It assures safety and quality in all engineering systems and structures. It is for this reason that correctly qualified personnel operate in the industry. To enforce this principle, the various NDT institutes have developed certification schemes, enabling employers to ensure their staff are correctly trained to carry out non-destructive testing. Over several decades of development, we now have the current status of two fundamental types of personnel certification; employer based certification, and central certification.

Employer Based Certification

This is a system by which employers construct their own 'Written Practice'. A written practice describes the responsibilities of each level of certification, as expected by the company, as well as describing the training, experience and examination requirements for each level of certification. There are several documents that provide requirements or recommendations for employers while establishing a written practice. SNT-TC-1A is a recommended practice published by ASNT, the current version is 2011; this recommended practice gives guidelines for an employer to establish a written practice, it only provides recommendations for the written practice, and not requirements. CP-189 is a standard, published by ANST, which outlines requirements for any written practice that conforms to the standard. CQI provides training and examinations services to support an employer’s written practice. We also provide Level 3 Services, to enable companies to set up their own written practices. One of the advantages of employer based certification is that the training and examination is structured to methods and products specific to each individual company.

Central Certification

The idea of central certification is that an operator can obtain certification from a central certification scheme, which is recognised by a large range of employers. Hence, limiting the problem of having to train to each individual employer’s certification scheme. It also provides employers with a reliable guide as to how much training an operator has had. DIN EN ISO 9712/ ACCP provided the requirements for training, work experience, and examination, for all NDT operators certified under their scheme. There are a minimum number of training hours, which vary for each method and level, in addition to a minimum number of hours of work experience. The work experience can be either obtained before or after examination, it is recommended that it is obtained before. If examination is taken before experience, a results notice is issued and experience must be obtained within 24 months. Once the examination has been passed, and the work experience obtained, application is made to Sector Cert/ASNT for the certification to be issued.

* These are additional to hours/months already obtained from Level 1. To go direct to level 2, the sum of level 1 and level 2 hours/months should be obtained. E.g. to do PT Level 2, the requirements would be 40 hours training, and 4 months work experience.

Work experience is when a trainee assists, and watches a qualified NDT operator. The period in month required is based on a 160 hours per month basis.

Level 3 Certification

There are 2 types of Level 3 central certification in NDT, ASNT Level 3 and DIN EN ISO 9712 Level 3, An employer based Level 3 certification is also available; this should not be confused with the ASNT Level 3 scheme.

ASNT Level 3

The ASNT scheme works similarly to the DIN EN ISO 9712 Level 3 scheme, in terms of work experience. A Basic Examination must be passed, and each additional method examination required at Level 3, to obtain ASNT Level 3 status. CQI offers Level 3 training suitable for ASNT Level 3, however we cannot offer examination, this has to be done at a location determined by ASNT, at china it should be done by China NDT Society each year.

SNT TC-1A Level 3

The ASNT SNT TC-1A scheme works similarly to the DIN EN ISO 9712 Level 3 scheme, in terms of work experience. A Basic Examination must be passed, and each additional method examination required at Level 3, to obtain ASNT SNT TC-1A Level 3 status. CQI offers Level 3 training suitable for ASNT SNT TC-1A Level 3, and CQI ASNT level 3 will be assign as third party level 3 to support your company to exam level 3 candidate. If the candidate can pass exam and has enough experience, he can be authorized by company as SNT TC-1A level 3.

DIN EN ISO 9712 Level 3

In the DIN EN ISO 9712 Level 3 program, the requirements for certification are that:

•   The Level 3 Basic Examination has been passed. 
•   A minimum amount of work experience has been obtained (see below for options).  
•   The Level 2 in the method is held; otherwise the Level 2 practical exam must be taken

Education Experience

No degree or diploma 4 years

Successful completion of technical school or at least 2 years of engineering or science study at an accredited college or university 2 years

Graduate or successful completion of at least three years accredited science or engineering college or university 1 year

No degree or diploma - 6 years

Successful completion of technical school or at least 2 years of engineering or science study at an accredited college or university - 4 years

Graduate or successful completion of at least three years accredited science or engineering college or university - 2 years