Ultrasonic Testing Report With an Expired Technician Certification
On a five-story special moment frame in Seismic Design Category D, the contract documents require 100% ultrasonic testing of CJP beam-flange groove welds, with acceptance criteria per the governing welding standard. The testing agency submits a report covering 24 welds: all accepted. The report is signed by a technician listed as 'ASNT Level II, UT.' Three things catch the special inspector's eye: the report states testing was performed six hours after weld completion; the calibration reference is described only as 'shop standard block'; and the technician's certification card shows an expiration date about seven weeks before the test date. The EOR has not yet reviewed the report. The contractor wants the inspector to sign the weld log so the metal deck can proceed.
1. Should the special inspector accept this report? Justify the decision.
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No. The report is not acceptable evidence of compliance, for three independent reasons:
- Personnel qualification. Nondestructive testing must be performed by personnel certified to the required level, and the certification must be current on the date of the test. An expired card means the individual was not a qualified Level II at the time - a defect that cannot be cured retroactively by a renewed certification.
- Calibration/traceability. A reference described only as 'shop standard block' does not demonstrate that the equipment was set up on a block of the required material, thickness and configuration with traceable calibration. Without that, the amplitude-based accept/reject decisions have no defensible basis.
- Timing. The examination interval must satisfy the project specification and the governing welding standard; some criteria expressly require delayed examination (for example, quenched-and-tempered steels examined no sooner than 48 hours after welding) because certain discontinuities do not appear immediately. Six hours may or may not be acceptable for A992 under this project's criteria - but the inspector cannot assume; the requirement must be confirmed against the specification, and if a delay applies, the test must be repeated.
Any one of these defects voids the report. All three together make the '24 accepted' meaningless as an acceptance record.
2. What must be established before these welds can be considered to have satisfied special inspection?
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The welds need a valid examination, not just another piece of paper:
- Re-test by a qualified agency whose technician holds a current certification at the required level for the method, with certification documents submitted and verified before mobilization.
- Written procedure and technique for the UT, reviewed for compatibility with the joint geometry, thickness and material.
- Calibration records for the instrument and the reference block, traceable to a standard, with the block's material and configuration matching the production welds.
- Correct timing per the specification and the governing welding standard, with the test date and weld completion dates recorded for each weld.
- EOR review and acceptance of the results against the project's acceptance criteria - the inspector verifies that examination occurred and was performed properly; the EOR owns the structural acceptance decision.
- Scope confirmation: the re-test must cover all 24 welds plus any weld whose record depended on the same technician, equipment or calibration during the affected period.
Until these exist, the welds are 'examined but not accepted,' and the inspection record must say so.
3. What should the inspector put in the daily report and what communication is required?
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The report must be factual, complete and defensible months later:
- Identification of the welds by mark/number, the testing agency, the technician and the certification number with its expiration date.
- The specific deficiencies observed: expired certification, unspecified/untraceable calibration reference, and the six-hour interval with the weld completion times.
- The action taken: report rejected, contractor and testing agency notified, re-test required, deck placement not released on the basis of this report.
- Written notice to the contractor, the testing agency, the EOR and the AHJ - the contractor's verbal request to 'sign the log' must be answered in writing, not verbally.
- A nonconformance entry with a tracking number and closure status left open.
- A clear statement of what the inspector did not do: the inspector did not perform or interpret the UT, and did not accept the welds.
Keep the tone factual; avoid conclusions about weld quality. The record should show that the deficiency was identified, escalated and left open until resolved.