| The current revision of NAS 410 is Rev. 2 issued February 2003. This issue was a major revision. It incorporated requirements to additionally meet UK requirements. The link to the left goes over some of the major changes you should be aware of. It is important to note that everyone working to the NAS 410 requirements must be meeting the Rev. 2 requirements as of September 2003.
While most prime suppliers accept supplier NDT personnel qualified and certified to NAS 410 requirements, a few such as Pratt & Whitney and Honeywell have unique requirements that must also be met. These unique requirements are discussed in our NAS 410 training module available on this site in the training room.
Highlights
The following are highlights of the NAS 410 rev. 2 document to assist you in knowing some of the key changes and interpretations associated with the requirements of the document. Interpretations given will be those given by NAS committee members or PRI (Performance Review) staff. If changes to these interpretations happen, we will post them here. Also, among these highlights will be items (areas of the spec) often having nonconformances found associated with them.
IMPLEMENTATION (Para. 1.2.2) - It is important to know that the qualification/certification requirements of the rev. 2 only have to be implemented for recertification of individuals after Sept. 2003, unless you adopted the requirements sooner, when their certifications expire. Now for a bit of clarity - The Sept 2003 is the latest date the requirements of rev. 2 were to have been adopted (see left edge of document for implementation requirement. If your certification was under the previous revision and you were certified where NAS 410 is required by customers, you would not have to meet the rev. 2 requirements, unitl re-certification is requried. Example: An individual certified August 13, 2003 individuals would have to meet the rev. 2 requirements August 13, 2006 if a 3 year re-certification cycle is used..
LEVELS OF QUALIFICATION (PARA. 1.4) - It is important to note the Instructor and Auditor are levels of qualification and should be covered in your qualification documentation somewhere. The auditor qualification could be in aan internal audit procedure, but should meet NAS 410 requirements as a minimum.
DEFINITIONS (Sect 3) - I want to cover a few items were nonconformances have been known to be found.
1. CERTIFICATION (para. 3.2) - It must be remembered that the certification of an individual is a written statement by the EMPLOYER, not a contracted level 3.
2.
RESPONSIBLE LEVEL 3 (para. 3.24 & 4.5.2) - While the intent of this requirement stemed from facilities with multiple level 3's, it is being applied to all facilities. Between these two paragraphs, the following must be met:
a) The employer must designate, IN WRITING, who the level 3 is that will be responsible for assuring the requirements of NAS 410 Rev. 2 are complied with.
b)
If there is more than one test method at a facility, a designate "Responsible Level 3" must be documented for each method.
c) Subcontracted level 3's that hold this responsibility should be designated as well.
3. TECHNIQUE (para. 3.27) - There has been a lot of confusion between method and technique. The example given in the document pretty well outlines UT examples of different techniques in a method. I will give you examples to use for the following other methods commonly audited.
It is IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER, the facility should identify what specific techniques are in use at their facility.
a) (The Method) Penetrant Testing - (The Techniques) - Visible dye, Fluorescent Dye. These may be further broken down if desired. For example some have defined post emulsified fluorescent dye and water washable fluorescent dye as two separate techniques. Some will designate in a format such as Type 1, Method A, Form a.
b) (The Method) Magnetic Particle Inspection - (The Techniques) Wet Fluorescent, Wet Visible, Dry Visible
c) (The Method) Radiography
- (The Techniques) X-ray, Radioscopy, Gamma, Computed Tomography, etc.
4. TEST SAMPLES (para. 3.28) - Here is another area of common nonconformance.
While this definition does allow the use of actual hardware, it must be remembered that whatever sample is used, it must have known discontinuities or defects that require evaluation. This applies to at least 1 sample per technique and 2 samples per method (see para. 7.1.4.2 thru 7.1.4.3) . The intent for this portion of the exam in the case of an individual who will interpret for product acceptance/rejection is that they have the ability to properly interpret what they find to a given acceptance standard. If no interpretation is required, this ability must be determined by the exam.
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS (Sec. 4) - This section of the document states what must be in an organizations written practice. Paragraphs 4.1.1 through 4.1.7 outline what essential elements the written practice must cover. Note that this is often copied verbatim from what is in the NAS 410, but you can reference paragraphs in NAS 410 in your document to cover the requirements, as long as the requirements are clear. There are exceptions here. A complete training outline
will not be found in NAS 410 so you will have to develop one and include it somewhere in a writtten practice. Also, some customers may have requirements that exceed NAS 410 requirements and you may have to include those in your practice and not use the minimum requirements of NAS 410.
A worthy note to make regarding para. 4.1.5 is the fact that the individual(s) or organization(s) that will administer the exams must be designated in the written practice. Example: If "Joe's PT World" or "John Downs" is the examiner, they should be designated as such in your written practice.
OUTSIDE AGENCY (Para. 4.5.3) - "The employer shall document the suitability of an outside source selected to perform any function to meet the requirements of NAS410." In the audit world, evidence of a contracted individual's qualification to be able to perform the function(s) they are contracted for to meet NAS 410 requirements must be on file. At minimum a resume of the individual should be on file. The intent here is to assure someone that may only have experience in pipeline work using visible dye are not used to approve aerospace items where fluorescent dye is used. They should have some evidence of competence in your area. If they are the employers (Contractors) level 3, they may need Aerospace Prime approvals as the representing Level 3. Primes that require approvals are Roll Royce, Honeywell, Boeing and Pratt & Whitney. This approval documentation should also be on file with the employer of the outside level 3.
REQUIREMENT FOR QUALIFICATION (Sect 5) - The important thing to consider here is that what each level 1, 2, 3, is suppose to be able to do, that is what should be covered in the qualification examination. Instructors used are to be designated by the responsible level 3 (ref. para. 5.1.6). This basically is considered to be in writing.
TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE (Sect 6) -
TRAINING (6.1) - This paragraph details what should be included in a training outline for level 1's & 2's. It is often found that individuals will use ASNT SNT-TC-1A guidline outlines for these outlines, but using them alone is deficient to the requirements of this paragraph. Below is a list of items that need to be shown on and part of the training outlines:
For those used by the employer -
a) Adequate technical theory for the method
b) Applicable techniques, specifications and procedures in use at the
facility
c) Inspection equipment, calibration requirements, materials and
standards in use at the facility
d)
Products
(mfg'd by the employer), safety requirements
e) Training hours required for each method
f) Interpretation of indications, when applicable
g) List of training references used for the training (including published materials and internal company related documents)
NAS 410 states here also that General, specific and practical training may be obtained with the employer or outside agency AND SHALL ALWAYS BE SUPPLEMENTED BY PRACTICAL ON-THE-JOB TRAINING WITH THE EMPLOYER.
Training Facilities
(para. 6.1.3) - There are some considerable changes to requirements for training facilities in this revision of NAS 410. It states classroms shall permit undisturbed instruction, well equipped with training aids, models, samples, etc. to ensure all aspectes of the training course requirements are met. It also state a number of representative test samples containing natural or artificial defects SHALL BE AVAILABLE to cover the range of testing to be used by the candidate. Also pinted out is that these samples CAN NOT be used for the practical examinations for certification.
MINIMUM TRAINING REQUIREMENTS (Para. 6.2, TABLE 1) - The minimum training hours for the Penetrant and Magnetic Particle test methods have changed to 16 hours for level 1's and 16 hours for level 2 qualifications. These hours are considerable greater than before. Because of this there is a paragraph (6.2.2) that addresses how to handle the change upon recertification of individuals who have been certified under lessor hour requirements. This provision basically states the responsible level 3 will determine an individuals previous training to what would be covered in the newer requirements and it's adequacy to meeting current requirements.
One if two options are exercised here. Additional training is sometimes given, or documented equivalency based on training a person has received since the class hours were given is published and placed in the person qualification records to become part of the training records.
EXAMINATIONS (Sect. 7) -
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