NATIONAL BOARD (NBBPVI) Qualifications

Who are the National Board?

The NBBPVI (National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors or just ‘National Board’) is the predominant body in North America for the certifying of pressure equipment inspectors and is closely linked with the ASME BPV (Boiler and pressure vessel) codes. Their role is central to the US integrity industry and holds legal status in many states.

The www.nationalboard.org  website provides excellent summary and reference documents on all their programmes, however here’s a brief summary below.

Their training and certification activities comprise three main ‘programmes’ each with well-established formal procedures and sets of rules.

• Commissioned Inspectors (with endorsements)
• Certified Individuals
• The Pressure Equipment Inspector (PEI) programme

Commissioned inspectors

This is also known as the Authorized Inspector (AI) Commission. It is issued to individuals who have been qualified to perform inspections of boilers and pressure vessels as required by the ASME BPV Code.

There are 2 separate commissions: The In-service Commission (IC) for periodic in-service inspection and the standard AI commission (for inspection during construction. Both involve 2-week NB training courses and stringent computer-based examinations run by the NB’s testing contractor at test centres around the USA.

Commission Endorsements

There are lots of exam ‘endorsements known as O (owner-user inspector), R (Repair), N (Nuclear), I (Nuclear in-service), C (Concrete) and NS (Nuclear supervisor)

To get an endorsement you need to sit a specific training course (most are 5 days) and pass the examination at the end.

Certified Individuals

This is different to the ‘commissions’. A Certified Individual is an employee of an (ASME) certified organization authorized to use ASME marks. Their role is to ensure that ASME Certification marks are properly applied. There are many types of certifications, many related to fairly uncommon or specialist types of equipment. They have designation letters as shown below.

Certification Types

• Electric boilers (EB).
• Cast Iron Boilers (CIB)
• Cast Aluminium Boilers(CAB) and Cast-Iron Boilers CIB)
• Miniature Pressure Vessels (UM)
• Transport Pressure Vessels (TT)
• Pressure Relief Devices (PRD)
• Reinforced Thermoset Plastic (RTP)
• Bioprocessing Equipment (BPE)

Once again there is a NB training course and exam to pass for each type

The Pressure Equipment Inspector (PEI) programme

This is training and certification in pressure equipment inspection but without the status of holding a ‘commission’ carrying AI status. The individual may also be self-employed or work for any inspection company without restriction (unlike for a commission). It recognizes three areas of inspection:

• In-service inspection

This covers inspection, installation, repair etc of non-ASME equipment. You have to pass the In-service commission (IC) course and exam and demonstrate 3 years relevant experience.

• ASME construction

This covers inspection, installation, repair etc of ASME equipment. For this you need to pass the AI course and exam, plus show 3 years’ experience

• Repairs/alterations.

For this you have to pass the IC or AI course/exam plus the NB Repair (R) course and exam

How useful are NBBPVI courses and certifications?

They are just about essential if you want to do pressure equipment inspection work in the USA or Canada. They are also necessary if you want be formally recognised to do ASME inspections in other regions that follow the NB/ASME system.

NBBPVI certification courses are very comprehensive, with suitably difficult exams. In the many countries that do not follow the formal ASME system, NBBPVI qualifications are one, of several, useful ways to demonstrate your competence. Please note that they do only cover only US-based codes and the US way of doing things.

Can we help you further?

We offer a TRIAL TECHNICAL INTERVIEW

If you want to check your knowledge for a specific job role in the integrity industry then try our trial technical interview.  Its purpose is to test you on the technical aspects of the job you are thinking of applying for.  There’s no time limit on it but expect it to last at least 20 minutes.  After the discussion we’ll give you honest feedback on how you did.  Just let us know the type of position you are going for; we’ll do the rest and respond with at time slot for you to call us.

There’s no charge, but we will expect you to call us at the allocated time and be ready to answer technical questions.

Remember your trial interview is on a purely technical subjects.  We are not interested in you personality traits, do-gooding activities or any wonderful extra-curricular interests you may have.