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Qualifications & Certification Talk

Revised PSL/30 process for the logging of industrial NDT work experience

Industrial non-destructive testing (NDT) experience is defined as the experience acceptable to the Certification Body, gained under qualified supervision, in the application of the NDT method and in the sector concerned, needed to acquire the skill and knowledge to fulfil the provisions of qualification. 

 

This article provides guidance to the candidate, employer and suitably qualified person (see definitions within PSL/30) for the purpose of making a signed declaration attesting to the candidate having met all the necessary industrial experience and competency requirements for certification to be released by PCN. For further information on all NDT method-specific industrial experience requirements, the reader should consult ISO 9712, PCN24/GEN and/or PSL/30. 

PSL/30 now mandates that all industrial experience attained by the candidate shall be documented and recorded in the form of a personal experience log (an example personal experience log is contained within PSL/30 and may be used by the candidate and employer). During completion of the personal experience log by the candidate, the log shall be monitored and reviewed by suitably qualified persons at strategic points during the industrial experience gathering process. This shall ensure that the candidate has the required supervision, guidance and support when gathering NDT experience on the employer’s products or plant. 

When the candidate has attained the necessary amount of industrial experience to meet the requirements contained within the latest version of ISO 9712, and the suitably qualified person is satisfied that the candidate is competent to carry out the required NDT inspections on the employer’s products or plant, then the suitably qualified person in conjunction with the employer and candidate shall make a final signed declaration on Form 1 contained within PSL/30 before submitting their PSL/30, which is to be supported by the completed PSL/57 C, to the Authorised Qualifying Body (AQB) and/or PCN for consideration and possible certification release. 

Where there is doubt as to the quality and content of information supplied on PSL/30 Form 1, then the AQB or PCN may ask to review, in full, the candidate’s personal experience log. In the event that a false statement is found to have been made by the candidate, suitably qualified person or employer concerning pre-certification experience declarations, then any certification awarded as a result shall be classified null and void, with appropriate additional measures being implemented through use of CP27: the code of ethics for PCN certificate holders.

It is also essential that all NDT employers are aware of their responsibilities under section 5.5.1 of ISO 9712, where responsibility to document the validity of the personal information provided to PCN, which shall include the declaration of education, training, industrial NDT experience and visual acuity needed to determine the certification eligibility of the candidate, lies directly with the employer. 

If the candidate is unemployed or self-employed, then the declaration of education, training and industrial NDT experience shall be attested to by at least one independent party acceptable to the Certification Body (in instances such as this, PCN can provide further guidance as necessary to fulfil the task). 

The process of gathering NDT experience should not be seen to be overly complicated but should ensure that the candidate for certification has had the opportunity to experience such items as are included in the following list. The list is not exhaustive but does provide examples of worthy inclusions that may be entered into the candidate’s personal experience log: 

• Use of written NDT instructions; 
• Use of NDT codes; 
• Use of NDT standards; 
• Experience of NDT procedures; 
• Experience and evidence of liaising with clients in order to understand the inspection task(s) required; 
  
• Calibration of NDT equipment in accordance with NDT techniques, procedures, codes or standards; 
• Evidence of having accomplished the hands-on NDT inspection task in accordance with an appropriate NDT instruction, code, standard or client brief while under appropriate qualified supervision; 
• Knowledge of other NDT methods that may be deployed in order to confirm or assist with inspection findings and or problems; 
• An understanding of the product technology associated with the material, component, structure or employer’s plant for the purpose of classifying and reporting on defects or discontinuities associated with the manufacturing process or in-service conditions experienced; 
• Evidence of NDT report writing following completion of the NDT inspection task by documenting inspection task results in accordance with the client’s/employer’s brief; 
• Having an awareness of all statutory and local health and safety implications associated with completion of the task; and
• Evidence of liaising with customers, equipment suppliers and regulatory bodies in order to discuss and understand the NDT deployed on a product. 

Evidence of the above-listed tasks entered into the candidate’s personal industrial experience log all go towards building a solid industrial NDT experience record. When carried out under the guidance of a suitably qualified person, this shall ensure that the candidate is competent to carry out unsupervised 

NDT on behalf of the employer after certification has been issued by PCN. For further guidance in relation to this article, please contact: technical@bindt.org

Ongoing verification of Basic Radiation Safety competence for PCN certification in RT – Mandatory notice

Due to global differences within requirements for radiation safety and the difficulties in PCN being able to establish parity between a specific country’s requirements for radiation safety when compared to the BINDT requirements for PCN Basic Radiation Safety (BRS), the BINDT Certification Management Committee (CMC) has mandated that candidates for initial PCN radiographic testing (RT) certification and subsequent revalidation of any issued PCN RT certificate shall be required to pass the PCN BRS examination as a means of proving competence for radiation safety. 

Successful completion of the PCN BRS certification examination will verify to PCN that the candidate’s knowledge for radiation safety has met the minimum training and examination requirements for radiation safety, which shall be the satisfactory benchmark in terms of level of knowledge and understanding.

This rule will be enforced irrespective of the existence of other national or local regulations that normally apply in a given country and which may fall short of the above benchmark. 

This revised requirement is not intended to discredit either national or local regulations that apply at any given worksite and it is the responsibility of the person conducting industrial radiography to comply with all local/legal requirements and/or approved codes of practice.   

All candidates presenting for PCN RT certification shall be expected to be in compliance with this revised requirement by 1 March 2025. It is strongly recommended in the interim period that persons presenting for initial or recertification look to address these revised requirements for PCN BRS certification to avoid disappointment and/or delay in renewing PCN RT and/or radiation safety certification examinations. 

Certification Technical Committee volunteer call out

The BINDT Certification Services Department and the Technical and Industrial Department are looking for industry representatives to join the Certification Technical Committee (CTC) and/or method-specific Working Groups to develop/update PCN certification schemes. 

The CTC, which is a sub-committee of the PCN Certification Management Committee, is concerned with technical matters relating to the certification of personnel engaged in testing, inspection or engineering asset management covering all current and new methods.

The active method-specific Working Groups are:

• Ultrasonic Testing (and advanced techniques);
• Eddy Current (and advanced techniques);
• Radiographic Testing (and advanced techniques); and
• Marine Composites.

The majority of meetings will be held remotely. Members of the CTC shall be individual members of BINDT; this is not a requirement for working group representatives. 

If you feel you have the knowledge and time to dedicate to the development of these PCN schemes, BINDT would like to hear from you. 

Please contact Jennifer Cook, Certification Manager, at: jennifer.cook@bindt.org or Patrick Boulton, Senior Technical Engineer, at: patrick.boulton@bindt.org for further information or to register your interest.

Changes to PCN (NDT) certificate numbering

BINDT has recently implemented a change in the way certificate numbers are generated, while preserving key aspects. This change will primarily affect candidates’ certification numbers that are entered into the database on/after the date of 14 March 2024.

The change is necessary due the allocation of sequential numbering that could specifically be used to keep certificate numbers unique. The below now defines the new certificate number structure:

• Alpha indicator/s to represent the Authorised Qualifying Body
• Two randomly generated characters or numerical characters
• Two characters to show the year of issue, for example 24
• Digit 1 = Sector of certification
• Digit 2 = Method of certification
• Digit 3 = Level of certification
• Four randomly generated characters or numerical characters.
  
  
  
  

PCN Rail Certification – Update

BS EN ISO 9712 compliant certification for the testing of railway axles and running rail remains a high priority within BINDT. As such, the Institute is currently working with Serco to reintroduce the supply of PCN Rail certification. See: https://www.serco.com/uk/sector-expertise/transport/rail-technical-services/training-svs

All enquiries for PCN Rail training and examination can be directed to Serco.

 

PCN introduces electronic certificates

The British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing (BINDT) has announced that its Personnel Certification in Non-Destructive Testing (PCN) certificates are to be issued electronically, so that PCN certificate holders will be able to view and print their certificates from their laptop or mobile device.

The launch of electronic certificates (e-certificates) will help to protect the quality and robustness of the PCN scheme whilst also making the issue of certificates a more streamlined and efficient process.

The new key features include:

• The PCN holder’s photograph and signature will now appear on the certificate, thus removing the need for separate ID cards.
• A watermark, end of qualifications statement and reminder of penalties for forgery are included on the certificate to safeguard integrity and increase security of certificates.
• Certificates will include a statement reminding certificate holders that they should always comply with the PCN code of ethics.
• Certificates will also include information encouraging verification of PCN certification using the online verification tool or the PCN Verifier app.

The e-certificates will be issued using digital rights management (DRM) security software. The PCN holder will be able to view their certification on computer, laptop or mobile device via a secure password-protected portal. For certificate holders who do not always have Internet access, certificates can be saved for a period of time so that they can be accessed when not connected.

To be eligible for e-certification, the PCN holder must ensure PCN has an up-to-date electronic copy of their photo (taken within the past 10 years) and signature. To submit or update these items, please complete the PSL33 form and submit the form and image to pcn.applications@bindt.org

Once your e-certificate is available, you will be emailed with instructions to access it. If you are not eligible for e-certification, you will receive a conventional hard-copy certificate.

New contact emails for certification department

As part of its improvements to services, the British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing has implemented some new contact details for the PCN team:

pcn.enquiries@bindt.org for general PCN enquiries

renewals@bindt.org for all PCN Level 1 and Level 2 applications
pcn.applications@bindt.org for any other PCN applications ie late, deferral or post experience.

PCN service-level agreement update

Please be advised that BINDT has implemented a 28 working days service-level agreement (SLA) for the PCN team. You will note that this has changed from 14 days. The reason for this is to provide its end-users with a realistic turnaround time for receiving certification. Further to this, and with the assistance of the Quality/Technical teams, the Certification Services Department (CSD) is continuing to discuss and action improvements to its services for the benefit of end-users, members and stakeholders. A statement of improvements under development is published on the ‘PCN News’ page of the BINDT website: www.bindt.org/Certification/pcn-news under ‘Improvements to services’. This will continue to be updated.

 

Pressure Equipment Directive

 

The British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing (BINDT) has received an appointment from CASL (an LRQA company), formerly WQ-iC Ltd, a recognised third-party organisation (RTPO) and notified body (NoBo No 2893) based in Dublin, Ireland.

BINDT would like to assure its end-users, members and stakeholders that the Institute is working hard to ensure improvements are made to services offered. Some of its current projects are as follows:

Resources

The Certification Services Department and the Technical and Industrial Department have recently conducted a recruitment drive and additional resources have been allocated to improve services, including PCN, and address new technologies and schemes. Training is underway within the PCN team to assist with the increasing number of results and applications.

Revision of the PCN Scheme to the latest edition of BS EN ISO 9712
The Certification Services Department and the Technical and Industrial Department are working together with industry representatives to fully revise the PCN Scheme in line with the latest edition of BS EN ISO 9712. Although there are many changes to incorporate, BINDT aims to ensure there is no significant impact to PCN certificate holders and that this improves and streamlines the PCN Scheme overall. The scheme was released on 1 July 2024 and will be referred to as PCN24. 

Software development
BINDT is working on several projects to streamline certification processes. This includes external and internal application processes:
     An online Product Technology course for aspirant PCN certificate holders
     An internal application management system
     Online applications. 

Progress will be reported as it happens on the ‘PCN News’ page of the BINDT website, which can be viewed by visiting: www.bindt.org/certification/pcn-news

 

Sector	Method
2. Pre- and in-service  6. Welds	20. Eddy current
	21. Magnetic particle testing
	22. Liquid penetrant testing
	23. Visual testing
	24. Ultrasonic testing
	25. Radiography
	27. Time-of-flight diffraction
	28. Phased array
	29. Computer radiographic testing
	34. Radiographic interpreter
	35. Computer radiographic interpreter