Working Groups

The Institute has a number of groups that meet the specific needs of members with particular interests.

Figure 1 shows some of the groups that exist at the time of writing. Further groups may be established as topics arise.

Current Working Groups include:

Membership of all groups is open to members (and in some cases non-members) at no additional charge. Group members benefit from discussion of current topics of interest or controversy and from the interchange of views between individuals all sharing a specific common interest. As a group, they can influence affairs that they couldn’t as individuals.

For further information, contact Cindy Bailey at the Secretariat (cindy.bailey@bindt.org).

Engineering Council Working Group The Engineering Council Working Group (ECWG) reports to the MQ&E Committee, with the aims of:

Establishing and maintaining a working procedure for dealing with Engineering Council applications
Considering all applications for Engineering Council registration by all available routes and appointing suitable mentors as required
Determining a candidate’s suitability for registration
Establishing and maintaining BINDT requirements for university degrees
Reporting to MQ&E on all cases considered.

Materials Testing Working Group The Materials Testing Working Group (MTWG) is responsible for the practical aspects of the Materials Testing Exhibitions. Whilst overall exhibition policy and strategy sits with the Trade & Industry Executive Committee, the MTWG is more focused on the nuts and bolts of the event, covering all aspects from venue contracts to floorplans to budgets and publicity. The Group routinely consists of about eight people, three members from the Trade & Industry Executive Committee and also around five BINDT staff members, selected such that their areas of expertise cover all aspects of the exhibition, including finance, planning, health and safety, sales, floor management, marketing and publicity.

NDT and CM Certification Working Groups The Certification Services Department of BINDT facilitates a number of Certification Working Groups, each focusing specifically on a particular technique or application for which PCN certification is, or could be, available. The NDT Technical Working Groups work specifically to develop and update PCN certification schemes in accordance with EN ISO 9712, while the CM Technical Working Groups specifically focus on developing and updating PCN certification schemes in accordance with ISO 18436.

The groups comprise volunteers representing both industry and training and examination providers and meetings may take place at least quarterly in various locations.

If you feel you have the knowledge and time to dedicate to the development of PCN schemes and would like to volunteer your services, or for more information, contact Patrick Boulton (patrick.boulton@bindt.org) or Jennifer Cook (jennifer.cook@bindt.org).

Standards Working Group The Standards Working Group is concerned with technical matters relating to ISO/EN/BS standards, including reviewing, amendment and creation of standards, and its members therefore have relevant expertise in any of BINDT’s propositions.

The Standards Working Group provides expertise for the purposes of:

Drafting documents detailing BINDT’s input into ISO/EN/BS standards
Developing documents to address the existing and future needs of industry
Ensuring that, when drafting documents, or through the revision and amendment of existing documents, they are compatible with ISO/EN/BS requirements
Ensuring that scientific and technical developments and new materials are adequately catered for in the development of ISO/ EN/BS standards
Undertaking a review of technical material and making recommendations for redrafting or amendment of existing standards and the need to draft additional documents.

Working Group on NDT for Heritage Boilers The BINDT Working Group on NDT for Heritage Boilers was created as one of the recommendations of the BINDT Workshop on NDT Requirements for Heritage Railway Boilers, held in February 2018, and this was its inaugural workshop/meeting. The Group was formed to recommend potential improved NDT methods, NDT training and qualifications, validation methods for NDT techniques and the samples required for validation and pre-inspection calibration.

The other main recommendation of the Requirements Workshop was for the Heritage Railway Association (HRA) to form a group for reviewing the HRA boiler codes of practice (guidance notes), including allowables for defect types, safety factors going beyond the original design documents and including more on NDT with input from the BINDT Working Group on NDT for Heritage Boilers.

Working Group Objectives
The objectives of the new group are derived from the report of the BINDT Workshop on NDT Requirements for Heritage Railway Boilers, the report of which is available to download here. The objectives are listed below.

To develop and evaluate potential improved NDT methods for heritage boiler inspection and to make available the outcomes of the evaluations in terms of capabilities and limitations
To create a recommended practice for ensuring that NDT inspections can be relied upon to accurately reflect the boiler condition, including oversight of NDT training, experience and qualifications
To create a best practice guidance document for appropriate NDT methods, including information to assist in the choice of the most appropriate method
To make possible the validation and sign-off of NDT written procedures for specific inspections
To collect, design and manufacture samples required for validation of NDT techniques and calibration blocks for pre-inspection calibration
To create a central illustrated repository for shared information about failure modes, experiences and NDT inspections on specific boiler types that would future-proof the heritage sector as we lose the first-hand experience.

Requirements Workshop
The following is a summary of the other requirements identified at the requirements workshop:

Define new NDT methods to find small defects in the known problem areas and the surrounding environment. Monitoring of defects should be undertaken
It is important to use suitably trained NDT operators and a list of those who have the required training, qualifications and experience in each method should be considered.A review of the HRA guidance notes is required to include NDT and this review should be undertaken by a group that includes the insurers, who agree a process and establish a central repository for sharing experiences of working with boilers of specific types
It is important to review the defect allowables standards for the heritage sector to encompass these defects, allowing for the long period of generation of defects and the potential for monitoring defects
A central illustrated repository for shared information about failure modes and NDT inspections on specific boiler types/locomotive types would future proof the heritage sector as we lose the first-hand experience. HRA is to be approached to host this
Guidance on the advantages and disadvantages of different NDT methods
Guidance on NDT best practice, where possible, would provide a starting point – a validated NDT solution – allowing the competent person to consider it as their recommended inspection
Training and certification of in-house staff, for example to NDT ‘Level 1 limited’ just for ultrasonic stay inspection
Provision of test samples both for validation and for proving the functionality of the equipment at the time of inspection
A process for validation of the reliability of NDT procedures (techniques) is required.

Links to documents:
Click here to view the report on the BINDT Workshop on NDT for Heritage Railway Boilers, 13 February 2018.
Click here to view the report on the Inaugural Workshop of the BINDT Working Group on NDT for Heritage Boilers, 13 February 2020.