Engineering Procedure

SAEP-1160 10 July 2011

Tracking and Reporting of Welding,
NDT and Pressure Testing for Capital Projects
Document Responsibility: Inspection Engineering Standards Committee

Saudi Aramco DeskTop Standards

Table of Contents

1 Scope............................................................. 2
2 Conflicts and Deviations................................. 2
3 Applicable Documents................................... 2
4 Abbreviations................................................. 3
5 General Requirements................................... 4
6 Production Welding........................................ 6
7 Tracking and Reporting
Welder Performance............................. 10
8 Pressure Test Verification............................ 11
9 Guidelines for the
Use SATIPS and SAICS....................... 11

Previous Issue: 2 August 2009 Next Planned Update: 10 July 2016

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Primary contact: Kakpovbia Anthony Eyankwiere on 966-3-8747226

CopyrightSaudi Aramco 2011. All rights reserved.

Document Responsibility: Inspection Engineering Standards Committee SAEP-1160
Issue Date: 10 July 2011 Tracking and Reporting of Welding,
Next Planned Update: 10 July 2016 NDT and Pressure Testing for Capital Projects

1 Scope

This document establishes minimum requirements and responsibilities for the tracking
and reporting of production welding (full penetration grove welds), welder
performance, NDE tracking and pressure test verification associated with In-Kingdom
construction activities at Saudi Aramco facilities.

2 Conflicts and Deviations

2.1 Any conflicts between this Procedure and other applicable Saudi Aramco
Engineering Standards (SAES), Saudi Aramco Materials System Specifications
(SAMSS), Saudi Aramco Engineering Procedures (SAEP), Saudi Aramco
Standard Drawings (SASD), or industry standards, codes, and forms shall be
resolved in writing through the Manager, Inspection Department of Saudi
Aramco, Dhahran.

2.2 Direct all requests for deviations from this Procedure in writing and forward
such requests to the Manager, Inspection Department of Saudi Aramco,
Dhahran.

3 Applicable Documents

Except as modified by this SAEP or other contract documents, applicable requirements

in the latest issues of the following industry Codes, Standards, and Practices shall be
considered an integral part of this procedure.

3.1 Saudi Aramco References

Saudi Aramco Engineering Standards

SAES-A-004 General Requirements for Pressure Testing
SAES-A-007 Pressure Testing Fluids and Lay-up Procedures
SAES-L-150 Pressure Testing of Plant Piping and Pipelines
SAES-L-350 Construction of Plant Piping
SAES-L-450 Construction of On-Land and Near Shore
Pipelines
SAES-W-010 Welding Requirements for Pressure Vessels
SAES-W-011 Welding Requirements for On-Plot Piping
SAES-W-012 Welding Requirements for Pipelines
SAES-W-017 Welding Requirements for API Tanks

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Document Responsibility: Inspection Engineering Standards Committee SAEP-1160
Issue Date: 10 July 2011 Tracking and Reporting of Welding,
Next Planned Update: 10 July 2016 NDT and Pressure Testing for Capital Projects

Saudi Aramco General Instructions

GI-0002.102 Pressure Testing Safely

3.2 Industry Codes and Standards

American Society of Mechanical Engineers

ASME B31.1 Power Piping
ASME B31.3 Process Piping
ASME B31.4 Pipeline Transportation Systems for Liquid
Hydrocarbons and Other Liquids
ASME B31.5 Refrigeration Piping
ASME B31.8 Gas Transmission and Distribution Piping
Systems
ASME B31.9 Building Services Piping
ASME BPV Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code

American Petroleum Institute

API STD 620 Design and Construction of Large, Welded, Low-
Pressure Storage Tanks
API STD 650 Welded Steel Tanks for Oil Storage
API STD 653 Tank Inspection, Repair, Alteration, and
Reconstruction
API STD 1104 Welding of Pipelines and Related Facilities

American Water Works Association

AWWA D100 Construction of Water Tanks

4 Abbreviations
API American Petroleum Institute
ASME American Society of Mechanical Engineers
HT Hardness Testing
IR Inspection Request (formerly RFI, Request for Inspection)
QMIS Quality Management Information System (Electronic Logbook of Inspection
Results)
MSAER Mandatory Saudi Aramco Engineering Requirements

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Document Responsibility: Inspection Engineering Standards Committee SAEP-1160
Issue Date: 10 July 2011 Tracking and Reporting of Welding,
Next Planned Update: 10 July 2016 NDT and Pressure Testing for Capital Projects

MT Magnetic Particle Testing

NDT Nondestructive Testing
PID Projects Inspection Division
PMI Positive Material Identification
PQM Saudi Aramco Project Quality Manager
PT Penetrant Testing
PWHT Post-Weld Heat Treatment
RT Radiographic Testing
SAIC Saudi Aramco Inspection Checklist
SATIP Saudi Aramco Typical Inspection Plan
SATR Saudi Aramco Test Report
SPC Single Point Contact
UT Ultrasonic Testing
VT Visual Testing
WPS Weld Procedure Specification

5 General Requirements

5.1 Production Welding, Welder Performance, Reporting, NDE Tracking, and

Pressure Test Verification

This information shall be gathered, correlated, linked, reported, and stored in an

electronic format (Excel, Access, PDF or similar) acceptable to Saudi Aramco.
The contractor's data management and tracking system must be approved by
Saudi Aramco prior to the start of work. The data tracking system must meet
the minimum requirements of 6.1 and 6.3 below.
Note: For limited scope project work, fewer than 500 groove/butt weld joints, contractor
may elect to use hardcopy tracking system with the approval of the Saudi
Aramco Inspection Department. Reporting for these projects shall use the
applicable SATR such as; SATR weld/welder reports: SATR-W-2013 Weekly
Welders Reject Rate.xls, SATR-W-2018 Weekly Welder Repair & Tracer-RLC-
f.xls, SATR-W-2019 Weekly Weld Status Report-RLC-f.xls, SATR-W-2008 Weld
Summary Report.xls

5.2 Data Availability

The data tracking system(s) shall be maintained and kept current and available
for Saudi Aramco's review at all times. The data shall be available on a daily

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Document Responsibility: Inspection Engineering Standards Committee SAEP-1160
Issue Date: 10 July 2011 Tracking and Reporting of Welding,
Next Planned Update: 10 July 2016 NDT and Pressure Testing for Capital Projects

basis for both current data and cumulative data. Data shall be retrievable by
date for any given day from commencement of the work through project
completion. At the end of the project the archived records shall be submitted in
accordance with contract requirements.

5.3 Data Reporting

The Contractor shall track welding activities on a daily basis and submit to
Saudi Aramco each week a weld tracking and welder performance report for that
week's work. Cut-off date for submitting weekly performance report shall be
agreed to by Contractor and Saudi Aramco PQM.

5.4 Output for cumulative weld data and welder data required by this document is to
be reported weekly in the weld tracking and welder performance report. Shop
and field weld and welder data may be included on the same report.

6 Production Welding

6.1 Minimum Data Requirements

The following minimum data items associated with full penetration groove and
butt welds and associated special processes for pressure piping or field-erected
pressure vessels and API storage tanks are required to be collected, linked, and
maintained for each weld to the extent it is applicable. The acceptance or
rejection of groove and butt weld special processes shall be indicated as
applicable. When UT is used in lieu of RT the tracking and reporting
requirements shall remain the same. Contractor shall record and track
production, inspection and testing of socket and fillet welds in a separate
database and submit to Saudi Aramco on a weekly basis.

DATA ITEM COMMENTS AND CLARIFICATION

Weld Identification Basic Information

Isometric Drawing
Design Information
Number
Weld Joint Number Assigned by Contractor
Line Number Design Information
Line Class Design Information
Pipe Diameter Design Information
Spool Number Design Information
Wall Thickness Design Information
Material Class/Grade Design Information

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Document Responsibility: Inspection Engineering Standards Committee SAEP-1160
Issue Date: 10 July 2011 Tracking and Reporting of Welding,
Next Planned Update: 10 July 2016 NDT and Pressure Testing for Capital Projects

DATA ITEM COMMENTS AND CLARIFICATION

Type of Joint Design Information - groove or butt
NDT Required Design Information Indicate method (s) and extent
PMI Required Yes/No
PWHT Required Yes/No - Regardless of reason for requirement
Post-PWHT NDT Yes/No - Required for final acceptance of all PWHT welds
Sampling required for specific production and PWHT
HT
welds
Design information must reflect actual data should changes occur during evolution of
the project.

Weld Fit-up Inspection

Date of Inspection
SATR Number

In-Process Weld Inspection

Indicate approved welder or welders by identification
Welder Identification
symbol(s) who are welding the joint.
WPS Identification Indicate the approved WPS(s) used to weld the joint.
WPS Parameters Verified - Yes/No, reference SAIC number

Completed Weld Visual Inspection

Visual Inspection Indicate accept or reject per specified acceptance criteria
This number may be the same as IR number or Quality
SAIC/SATR Number
Record number.

Weld Selection for NDT

Indicate Yes/No If "No" record the weld as completed
Selected for NDT
and visually accepted.
Criteria for selection for NDT are listed in the applicable SATIP-W-XXXX.
Note: NDT of PWHT welds for P-Nos 3, 4 & 5 materials prior to PWHT should be
considered for information only and not final acceptance. The intent is to
evaluate the weld quality prior to PWHT so any unacceptable discontinuities
can be repaired prior to PWHT.

Weld Selection for HT

Selected for HT Indicate Yes/No
Criteria for selection of HT are listed in SAES-W-011. (Ref. SATIP-W-011-01 and
SAIC-W-2012)

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Document Responsibility: Inspection Engineering Standards Committee SAEP-1160
Issue Date: 10 July 2011 Tracking and Reporting of Welding,
Next Planned Update: 10 July 2016 NDT and Pressure Testing for Capital Projects

DATA ITEM COMMENTS AND CLARIFICATION

NDT Control and Identification

Date of NDT Request Indicate the date the NDT Request was generated
This number, once assigned to a weld, shall remain with
weld until final acceptance. Repeated NDT on a weld
NDT Report Number shall be indicated by adding or modifying the NDT Report
Number suffix similar to that used for weld repair as
stated below.
Date NDT Completed
Date of NDT Results Date of initial NDT acceptance or rejection

Selection of Tracer Welds

Two tracer welds must be selected for each rejected weld
in a 10% RT system. The two welds must have been
Selection of Tracer Welds welded by the same welder using the same welding
process and use the NDT method as the initial weld for
evaluation.
Identify Original Rejected
Weld
Date of NDT Result Date of acceptance or rejection
Progressive sampling of welds (tracer welds) shall follow the progressive sampling
method as stated in governing SAES. Tracer welds are not to be counted in the 10%
sampling process.

Results of RT Film Evaluation by Saudi Aramco

Indicate the acceptance or rejection of film quality.
Rejection will require the reshoot of rejected film(s). The
Film Quality
weld identification number will have a suffix added as
described 6.2 below.
Indicate the acceptance or rejection of weld quality.
Weld Quality Rejection will require weld repair(s) and the reshoot of
rejected weld or weld areas.
Welds rejected for weld quality requiring repairs shall require modification of their
original weld identification numbers as stated in 6.2 below. (Ref. SATR-W-2018)

Evaluation of other completed Special Processes

Indicate the date of acceptance or rejection of the
PWHT Process
completed and recorded PWHT.
PMI Process Indicate the date of acceptance or rejection of the
completed and recorded PMI for the weld.

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Document Responsibility: Inspection Engineering Standards Committee SAEP-1160
Issue Date: 10 July 2011 Tracking and Reporting of Welding,
Next Planned Update: 10 July 2016 NDT and Pressure Testing for Capital Projects

DATA ITEM COMMENTS AND CLARIFICATION

HT Process Indicate the date of acceptance or rejection of the
completed and recorded HT.
Rejected CSP welds shall require modification of their original weld identification
numbers as stated below. Rejection will also require progressive sampling.

Retests for HT
Status of HT-rejected test If any reading exceeds the specified limit by no more than
10 BHN, then a minimum of three (3) additional
indentations shall be made near the original high reading
Indicate acceptance or rejection of the required 3
additional HT test on the same weld. If all three (3)
Progressive confirmation retests are below the specified limits, then the joint is
testing acceptable. If any of the retest readings are found to
exceed the specified limits, then the weld shall be
considered unacceptable.
If any welds are found to be unacceptable, then two
additional welds from the same lot shall be tested. If
Selection of Tracer Welds
more than one weld in a lot is found to be unacceptable,
then all welds in that lot shall be tested.
Date of NDT Result Date of acceptance or rejection

6.2 Weld Identification Numbering System

The following weld identification numbering system shall be used to identify

and track piping groove and butt welds as a minimum. Weld numbering shall be
consecutive in the direction of flow per line. Each weld shall be identified by
joint number, line number, and spool number. Physical marking of welds shall
comply with the applicable SAES-W specification. In addition to the spool
number and line number identification, each weld shall be identified as follows.
The example of a first weld is used.

W-01 This number has been given to a weld prior to production

welding. If required examinations are accepted no change is
required.

W-01R1 The W-01 weld has been completed and examination has
revealed an unacceptable discontinuity that was repaired.
If subsequent examinations are accepted no change is required.

W-01R2 The W-01R1 weld repair has been completed and examination
has revealed an unacceptable discontinuity. If subsequent
examinations are accepted no change is required. No further

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Document Responsibility: Inspection Engineering Standards Committee SAEP-1160
Issue Date: 10 July 2011 Tracking and Reporting of Welding,
Next Planned Update: 10 July 2016 NDT and Pressure Testing for Capital Projects

repairs are permitted without express approval of Saudi Aramco.

If permitted the suffix R3 shall be used.

W-01RW The unaccepted weld W-01R2 has been cut out and the joint has
been rewelded. The identification methodology above is to be
applied should further weld repairs be necessary.

W-01T1 The W-01 weld has been completed and examination has
revealed

W-01T2 an unacceptable weld discontinuity or HT tests have been

rejected. Progressive sampling is required in both cases and the
"tracer" welds will be identified. If subsequent tests are accepted
no change is required. Repairs on tracer welds will require
further sampling in which case the suffix numbering system shall
progress accordingly.

Welds fabricated in the field shall be prefixed with the letter 'F' and welds
fabricated in a weld shop with the letter 'S'. The above numbering system shall
be applied as a minimum for all types of tests and inspections of pipe welds.

6.2.1 The weld numbering identification system for pressure vessels, tanks,
and other pressure-retaining non-pipe welds shall be approved by the
Inspection Department Representative prior to the start of work.

6.2.2 Contractors/fabricators may propose alternative numbering systems for

approval by PQM. The identification system shall be used to identify all
examinations, surveys, inspections, etc.

6.3 Pipe welds are to be tracked and reported by line class as follows. Pressure
welds other than piping shall be tracked and reported by equipment number as
follows.
1) Number of welds completed
2) Number of welds subjected to NDT (excluding tracer welds)
3) Number of welds rejected by each NDT method applied
4) Number of welds subjected to PMI
5) Number of welds subjected to PWHT
6) Number of welds subjected to HT
7) Number of welds repaired and rejected
8) Number of repairs outstanding
9) Report actual backlogs:

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Document Responsibility: Inspection Engineering Standards Committee SAEP-1160
Issue Date: 10 July 2011 Tracking and Reporting of Welding,
Next Planned Update: 10 July 2016 NDT and Pressure Testing for Capital Projects

a) PMI Backlog
b) PWHT Welds - Outstanding PWHT
c) Completed Welds - Outstanding (backlog) NDT (by NDT method)
d) HT Backlog
e) Tracer Welds - Outstanding NDT
f) Tracer Welds - Outstanding HT
g) Weld rejection rate by line class and NDT method (joint and linear
basis)
h) Tracer weld reject rate percentage
i) Overall production weld rejection percentage
j) SA RTFI results to be reported by number of weld films reviewed,
separate film quality and weld quality results, and percentage
disagreement with initial film interpreter.
Note: A backlog exists when Special Process results are not received and
recorded within a project-specific time, usually 7 days, after the welds have
been visually accepted.

7 Tracking and Reporting Welder Performance

7.1 Welder performance data shall be tracked and recorded on a daily basis and
reported to Saudi Aramco weekly during the Weekly Meeting. Welder
performance percentage rejection rate shall be calculated and reported on a per
joint and linear basis.

7.2 The contractor shall track and report the following welder performance data:
1. Total number of pressure welds made per weld type (e.g., fillet, groove,
butt)
2. Total number of pressure welds made per weld process
3. Total number of pressure welds rejected by NDT method

7.3 Reporting Minimum Requirements

7.3.1 Reporting format shall follow the weld identification scheme as stated in
paragraph 6.2.

7.3.2 Paragraph 6.3 lists the minimum requirements that shall be included in
the weld tracking and welder performance report submitted to Saudi
Aramco each week.

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Document Responsibility: Inspection Engineering Standards Committee SAEP-1160
Issue Date: 10 July 2011 Tracking and Reporting of Welding,
Next Planned Update: 10 July 2016 NDT and Pressure Testing for Capital Projects

8 Pressure Test Verification

For each pressure test, the Contractor shall demonstrate to the satisfaction of the
Inspection Department Representative the following, as a minimum, prior to pressure
testing:

Submittal to SAUDI ARAMCO of a Pressure Test Package containing the

following:
Reference the "Approved" Pressure Test Procedure
Pressure Test Diagram which shall include the limits of piping (including test
manifold) and equipment included in each pressure test, high points and low
points (drain), locations of pressure gauges, test pressures, test temperature, test
fluid, line flushing requirements, and safety precautions
Relief valve capacity, testing and installation
Pressure gages and recorders calibration records
COMPANY Safety Instruction Sheet (for critical piping) and Pressure Test
Report Form
Copies of P&ID and isometric drawings of the piping system to be pressure
tested
Piping spools control sheet with NDT extent and results.
Pre-pressure test check List
Re-instatement procedure and Check List
Flange set completion documentation for permanent installations
Identification of pressure testing SPC from contractor
Lay-up method to be applied
Verification of chemical dosing calculations when applicable
Test manifold hydro test verification

9 Guidelines for the Use SATIPS and SAICS

9.1 Project-specific SATIP witness and hold points may be modified from initial
approved requirements as the project progresses. Requests for SATIP
modifications must be requested and shall have the concurrence of the Saudi
Aramco Inspection Department and should be directed to the appropriate Saudi
Aramco Project Quality Manager.

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Document Responsibility: Inspection Engineering Standards Committee SAEP-1160
Issue Date: 10 July 2011 Tracking and Reporting of Welding,
Next Planned Update: 10 July 2016 NDT and Pressure Testing for Capital Projects

9.2 Use of Welding and NDT SAICS

9.2.1 One SAIC per day per activity is required for production welding on a
daily or continual basis, e.g., fit-up, in-process, and final inspection.
Applicable weld numbers must be entered in the Remarks Box on the
appropriate SAIC.

9.2.2 Special welding activities such as branch connections, tie-ins, sleeve

installation, hot-tap welding, and temperature tie-ins will require a
separate IR per weld per activity in accordance with the applicable
SATIP.

9.2.3 NDT subcontractors must complete NDT Checklists on a daily basis per
above but not as an IR with the exception of the start of NDT activities.

Revision Summary
10 July 2011 Revised the "Next Planned Update." Reaffirmed the contents of the document, and reissued
with no other changes.

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