Reports, Stamping, and Administrative Requirements
The paperwork is the product: an unstamped, undocumented item is not a code item. This domain tests data reports, nameplate content, and the administrative rules behind both.
Data reports
Each code has its form - Section I Form P-2, Section IV Form H-2, Section VIII Div. 1 Form U-1 (or U-1A for certain vessels) - signed by the manufacturer and by the AI. A partial data report (Form U-2 for Section VIII) covers work by a supplier who does not complete the item. Reports go to the purchaser, to the jurisdiction when required, and to the manufacturer's files; the item is registered with the National Board and receives an NB number.
Nameplate and stamping
The nameplate carries the code symbol (S, H, U, U2, U3), the manufacturer's name and serial number, year built, MAWP and design temperature, minimum design metal temperature, and the National Board registration number. The sequence is fixed: complete fabrication, required testing and NDE, AI review and signature on the data report, stamping, shipment. Stamping follows the AI's acceptance; it never precedes it.
Administrative rules
Code Cases apply only when accepted by the jurisdiction. Hold points agreed in the quality control program must be honored. Records must be retained and retrievable, and a lapsed commission or certificate of authorization suspends the right to stamp.
Worked example. A finished vessel is ready to ship; the nameplate shows the U symbol, MAWP, serial number, and date, but no National Board number, and the AI has not yet signed Form U-1. Reasoning: two independent defects. The NB number is required nameplate content and comes from registration, and stamping before the AI's signature inverts the required sequence. Finding: register the item, obtain the NB number, complete the nameplate, obtain the signature, then stamp.
Traps. Treating the data report as the manufacturer's paperwork alone; forgetting partial data reports when work is subcontracted; stamping before final acceptance; omitting the NB number or design temperature; applying a Code Case the jurisdiction has never adopted.