Vol. 10, No. 3 • July 2010
Q.	I would like to know if SNT-TC-1A has been absorbed by CP-189. Some people in my country have commented on this coalition. Is this true or false?  P.C., Rionegro, Columbia
A.	False. Recommended Practice No. SNT-TC-1A: Personnel Qualification and Certification in Nondestructive Testing and CP-189: ASNT Standard for Qualification and Certification of Nondestructive Testing Personnel are two totally separate documents. SNT-TC-1A does not mention CP-189 at all in its main certification pages. The only mention of CP-189 occurs in the descriptions of the NDT and PdM basic examinations at the back of the document. In CP-189, SNT-TC-1A is only listed as a reference document in section 10.0, "Referenced Publications"; there is no other mention of SNT-TC-1A in the document. Paragraph 2.2.1 of CP-189 does state that an NDT Level III must hold a current ASNT NDT, ASNT PdM Level III, or ACCP Professional Level III certificate, but this refers to ASNT's certification programs, not SNT-TC-1A. As a recommended practice, SNT-TC-1A provides guidelines for employers to create an in-house certification program and those guidelines can be modified* to meet the employer's specific needs. Once the selected guidelines are written into the employer's written practice, then those guidelines become the certification requirements for that company. On the other hand, CP-189 is an ANSI American National standard and it has requirements that cannot be modified by the employer. If a company wishes to certify their NDT personnel in accordance with CP-189 then that company must meet all of the CP-189 requirements exactly as written. * In 2004 the ASNT SNT-TC-1A Interpretation Panel received an inquiry asking about what modifications an employer can make to the SNT-TC-1A guidelines. Inquiry 04-1 and the panel response are copied below. The most recent edition of the ASNT publication Interpreting SNT-TC-1A, which has all of the SNT-TC-1A inquiries and panel responses from 1975 through 2010, can be found in PDF format in the members only section at www.asnt.org. A printed version can be purchased online at ShopASNT, www.asnt.org/shop/index.ihtml or by contacting the ASNT Book Department at (800) 222-2768. Reference item number 2040. Respectfully, James W. Houf Senior Manager, ASNT Technical Services Department Inquiry 04-1: Is it the intent of Paragraph 1.4 that an employer can modify the "Guidelines" of SNT-TC-1A to the extent that Level II and Level III NDT personnel can be "certified" without any examinations if written this way in the written practice? What are the limits that are intended regarding how much the employer can deviate from SNT-TC-1A as written? If no limits are given, the employer can change the entire context of SNT-TC-1A to eliminate all certification exams. Is that the intent? Response: No. The provisions of Paragraph 1.4 allow modification of the detailed recommendations; it is not intended to allow elimination of the basic provisions of the document. No. Paragraph 9.2. requires certification in accordance with "Section 8, Examinations" as described in the employer's written practice. General Comments: SNT-TC-1A allows for modification of detailed recommendations as necessary to meet particular needs. The intent is that there be a technical rationale to support such modification. Elimination of requirements, such as training, experience and examination, goes beyond modification of detailed requirements.
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