AUT (AUT) Requirements Under API 1104

AUT (AUT) needs an approved procedure and personnel qualified in this specific method. API 1104, enforced by American Petroleum Institute develops and maintains the standard; PHMSA makes specified parts.: Employer-based in effect.

API 1104 is the technical spine underneath the federal pipeline rules. Section 8, Inspection and Testing of Production Welds, contains the two clauses a service provider is audited against: 8.3, Qualification of Inspection Personnel, and 8.4, Certification of NDT Personnel. Section 9 gives the acceptance standards for radiographic, magnetic particle, liquid penetrant, ultrasonic and visual results, including undercutting and internal concavity. Section 11 gives the procedures for each nondestructive testing method. Annex A provides alternative acceptance standards for girth welds supported by stress analysis; Annex B covers in-service welding and carries its own inspection clause and its own standards of acceptability. The commercially critical fact: the 22nd edition is current, but the federally enforceable edition for US pipeline work is the 21st.

Source: API Standard 1104 announcement page, api.org — confirms the 22nd edition and its scope covering gas and arc welding used in the construction and in-service repair of pipes and components for the compression, pumping and pipeline transmission of crude oil, petroleum products, fuel gases, carbon dioxide and nitrogen; the July 2021 publication date appears in reseller listings, not on API's own page. American Welding Society study guide for API Standard 1104, 22nd edition (pubs.aws.org) — verified for the clause structure: Section 4 Specifications; Section 5 Qualification of Welding Procedures with Filler Metal Additions; Section 6 Qualification of Welders including 6.6 Nondestructive Testing, Butt Welds Only; Section 7 Design and Preparation of a Joint for Production Welding; Section 8 Inspection and Testing of Production Welds with 8.1 Rights of Inspection, 8.2 Methods of Inspection, 8.3 Qualification of Inspection Personnel and 8.4 Certification of NDT Personnel; Section 9 Acceptance Standards for NDT with 9.3 Radiographic, 9.4 Magnetic Particle, 9.5 Liquid Penetrant, 9.6 Ultrasonic, 9.7 Visual Acceptance Standards for Undercutting and 9.8 Visual Acceptance Standards for Internal Concavity; Section 10 Repair and Removal of Weld Defects with 10.4 Repair Welder Qualification; Section 11 Procedures for Nondestructive Testing with 11.1 Radiographic, 11.2 Magnetic Particle, 11.3 Liquid Penetrant and 11.4 Ultrasonic; Section 12 Mechanized Welding with Filler Metal Additions; Annex A Alternative Acceptance Standards for Girth Welds with A.2 Stress Analysis; and Annex B In-service Welding with B.5 Inspection and Testing of In-service Welds and B.6 Standards of Acceptability: NDT (Including Visual). 49 CFR 192.7 and 195.3 in the eCFR, text current to 1 August 2026, for the incorporated 21st edition and the sections for which it is IBR approved. The full text of clauses 8.3 and 8.4 could not be obtained from a primary source; their titles and location in the standard are verified, their wording is deliberately not quoted here. Accessed 21 August 2026.

AUT under API 1104 — procedure, personnel and evidence
Item	What applies	Why it matters
Regime	API Standard 1104, Welding of Pipelines and Related Facilities	Enforced by American Petroleum Institute develops and maintains the standard; PHMSA makes specified parts of it federally enforceable by incorporating it by reference in 49 CFR 192.7 and 195.3
Method	AUT (AUT)	Needs its own procedure and its own qualified personnel
Procedure approval	The employer's Level III, qualified in this method	The signature an auditor traces
Other methods in scope	RT, MT, PT, UT, PAUT, VT	Each needs separate qualification
Renewal	API 1104 is a standard, not a certificate, so there is nothing to renew. What changes is the edition. API issues new editions and addenda on its own ballot cycle and the 22nd edition is current. The enforceable edition for US pipeline work changes only when PHMSA amends the incorporations by reference in 49 CFR 192.7 and 195.3, which as of the eCFR text current to 1 August 2026 still name the 21st edition, September 2013, with Errata 1 through 5 and Addenda 1 and 2. Track both, and keep the 21st edition on the shelf for as long as you take federally regulated pipeline work.	Applies to the personnel certification behind this method

Does API 1104 require a separate procedure for AUT?

Yes. Every method in scope needs its own written procedure, approved by someone qualified in that method, describing technique, equipment, calibration, scanning or coverage, acceptance criteria and reporting. A single combined "NDT procedure" covering several methods is a finding under every regime that names procedures individually.

Who can approve a AUT procedure under API 1104?

A Level III qualified in AUT. Because API 1104 accepts employer-based certification, that Level III may be contracted rather than employed — but their own qualification must cover AUT, and an auditor will check that before accepting the signature.

What AUT records does a API 1104 audit sample?

The approved procedure, the technician's certification for AUT on the date of work, the calibration status of the instrument used, and the report itself with its acceptance criteria stated. The auditor works backwards from a finished job, so all four have to reconcile.

What is the most common AUT finding at audit?

Evidence that the examination was performed to the approved procedure by a currently-certified technician with calibrated equipment. Under API 1104 an unprovable examination is treated as one that did not happen.

Can a technician certified elsewhere perform AUT under API 1104?

Not automatically. Employer-based certification ends when the holder leaves, so the new employer must certify them under its own written practice. Prior training and documented experience transfer as evidence; the certificate itself does not.

What equipment evidence does AUT need under API 1104?

Calibration status traceable to the day of use, covering the instrument and its accessories — probes, cables, blocks and reference standards for ultrasonics; sources and densitometers for radiography. An in-calibration instrument with an out-of-calibration reference block fails the same way as an uncalibrated one.

How do AUT requirements differ from the other methods in API 1104?

Scope, qualification and evidence are method-specific, so the differences are real rather than administrative. API 1104 also covers RT, MT, PT, UT, PAUT, and each carries its own procedure, its own personnel qualification and its own equipment evidence.

Personnel certification for AUT

Employer-based in effect. API 1104 is a consensus standard, not a certification scheme — API certifies no NDT personnel under it and issues no company approval against it. Clause 8.4, Certification of NDT Personnel, and clause 8.3, Qualification of Inspection Personnel, place the obligation on the company performing the work, which is discharged through a written practice and, in the market, through ASNT SNT-TC-1A Level II certification. An outsourced Level III can write and approve the Section 11 procedures, administer and grade examinations and recommend certification, with the employer signing the certificate. Note that the federal rules which make API 1104 mandatory impose their own separate personnel requirement in 49 CFR 192.243(b)(2) and 195.234(b)(2); satisfy both, because they are not the same test.