Special Equipment Inspector study guide
Special Equipment Inspector · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Special Equipment Inspector credential certifies professionals who verify the safety of boilers, pressure vessels, piping, elevators, lifting appliances, ropeways, amusement rides, and related equipment. It is intended for engineers, technicians, and regulatory staff who perform statutory inspections, issue reports, and recommend corrective actions. The Special Equipment Inspector study guide has 12 sections and about 4,757 words.
01Laws, Regulations, and Safety Supervision System for Special Equipment
This domain tests whether you can place any real-world act into the correct legal tier and name the supervision instrument that governs it - production licence, notification before construction, use registration, periodic inspection, or personnel certification. Law : 《中华人民共和国特种设备安全法》, in force 1 January 2014.
372 words, about 2 min02General Inspection Principles, Methods, and Quality Control
This domain tests inspection as a controlled process: how a plan is built, which method answers which question, how results are judged against acceptance criteria, and how the organisation keeps that judgement traceable and defensible. Every inspection starts from a written 检验方案 derived from the applicable TSG: scope, item list, methods, sampling proportion, instruments, acceptance criteria, and safety measures.
388 words, about 2 min03Boilers
The boiler domain tests scope definition, classification, safety accessories, water-level and pressure protection, and the periodic inspection cycle - plus your ability to read a boiler's history and say what is due now. A boiler is pressure equipment using fuel combustion or another heat source to heat a working medium: a steam boiler with design normal water-level volume ≥30 L; a hot-water boiler with outlet pressure ≥0.1 MPa gauge and rated power ≥0.1 MW; or an organic heat-carrier boiler.
375 words, about 2 min04Pressure Vessels
This domain tests the scope definition, the medium-group/category logic that drives every downstream requirement, safety accessories, and the periodic inspection cycle tied to 安全状况等级. A pressure vessel is a fixed or transportable container of gas, liquefied gas, or liquid at or above its standard boiling point, with maximum working pressure ≥0.1 MPa gauge, volume ≥30 L, and internal diameter (or maximum internal boundary dimension for non-circular sections) ≥150 mm.
418 words, about 2 min05Pressure Piping and Pressure Pipeline Components
Pressure piping is examined through classification - GA/GB/GC/GD - because class sets design, NDT proportion, and inspection interval. You must also know components, supports, and test pressures.
392 words, about 2 min06Elevators, Escalators, and Moving Walks
Elevator and escalator inspection is dominated by functional tests and by the annual periodic cycle. Expect questions on balancing coefficient, governor/safety-gear linkage, door locking, and escalator geometry and stopping distances.
389 words, about 2 min07Lifting Appliances and Rigging
This domain splits into two halves: which machines fall inside the regulation and how often they are inspected, and the rigging arithmetic and discard criteria that decide whether a lift is safe today. Lifting appliances cover: hoists with rated capacity ≥0.5 t; cranes with rated capacity ≥3 t (or tower cranes with rated load moment ≥40 t·m, or ship loaders/unloaders with productivity ≥300 t/h) where lifting height ≥2 m; and mechanical parking installations of ≥2 levels.
406 words, about 2 min08Passenger Ropeways and Amusement Rides
Both asset families are passenger-carrying, so the exam focuses on the threshold that brings a device into regulation, the annual inspection cycle, and the protective devices that must actually function. Types: reciprocating, circulating (fixed-grip and detachable-grip), and surface tow.
390 words, about 2 min09Large-Scale Special Equipment and Field-Installed Equipment
This domain covers equipment whose final configuration is created on site: field-erected spheres and tanks, site-assembled boilers, long-distance pipelines, and large cranes and rides assembled from shipped sections. The exam tests whether you understand that factory inspection does not travel with the sections.
392 words, about 2 min10Materials, Welding, Nondestructive Testing, and Failure Analysis
This domain links three things an inspector uses together: whether the material and weld are fit for the service, whether the NDT method can actually detect the expected defect, and whether a failure interpretation is supported by evidence. Carbon and low-alloy steels dominate; austenitic stainless steels and non-ferrous alloys appear in corrosive service.
397 words, about 2 min11Inspection Records, Reports, and Defect Disposition
This domain tests the paperwork chain that makes an inspection legally usable: how records are made, how reports are worded, and how a defect travels from observation to closure. Records are completed on site, at the time of the measurement - never reconstructed afterwards.
409 words, about 2 min12Professional Ethics, Safety, and Accident Investigation
The final domain covers conduct, the safety of the inspector at the workplace, and the reporting and classification rules that apply when something goes wrong. These are high-yield, precisely worded items.
429 words, about 2 min