Written Practice for API 1104
API 1104 names this requirement as "Nondestructive testing procedures written to Section 11 for each method used — 11.1 radiographic, 11.2 magnetic particle, 11.3 liquid penetrant, 11.4 ultrasonic". The employer's Level III owns it, and a contracted Level III can author and sign it.
The finding auditors record against this document is: Procedures and acceptance criteria written to the 22nd edition on a job that is federally regulated to the 21st. 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.
| 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 |
| Document | Written Practice | the document that defines how the employer qualifies and certifies its own NDT personnel |
| Owner | the employer's Level III | The signature an auditor traces back |
| Where it is checked | Inspect and test production welds under Section 8; repair or remove defects under Section 10 and re-examine; Client. | Usually against a sampled job, not in isolation |
| Common failure | Procedures and acceptance criteria written to the 22nd edition on a job that is federally regulated to the 21st | The gap between the manual and the job file |
What must a written practice contain under API 1104?
It has to satisfy API 1104 as 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 enforces it: the document that defines how the employer qualifies and certifies its own NDT personnel. The test is not completeness on paper but traceability — an auditor picks a finished job and works backwards to this document, so anything it claims must be demonstrable on that job.
Who signs the written practice for API 1104?
The employer's Level III. Because this regime accepts employer-based certification, that role can be filled by a contracted Level III rather than a staff appointment, provided they are qualified in the methods they sign for.
How does a API 1104 auditor test this document?
By sampling. They take a completed job, find the technicians and equipment used, and trace each back through this document to the evidence behind it. A document that reads well but cannot survive that trace is the most common finding across every regime, not just this one.
How long must API 1104 records be kept?
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. Retention is set by the regime and by the client contract above it, and the longer of the two governs. Firms that set one retention period for everything and document it fare better at audit than firms tracking different periods per record type and losing track.
Does a generic template satisfy API 1104?
No. A downloaded template describes a generic firm, and the first question an auditor asks is whether the document describes THIS firm — its methods, its equipment, its people, its actual workflow. Templates are a starting structure; the content has to be the firm's own or the trace fails immediately.
What happens if this document is missing at a API 1104 audit?
It is a finding, and depending on the regime it can suspend the certificate rather than merely generate a corrective action. The related finding auditors record most often is: Procedures and acceptance criteria written to the 22nd edition on a job that is federally regulated to the 21st
Where this sits in the API 1104 evidence pack
- Nondestructive testing procedures written to Section 11 for each method used — 11.1 radiographic, 11.2 magnetic particle, 11.3 liquid penetrant, 11.4 ultrasonic
- Records of certification of NDT personnel under Section 8.4
- Records of qualification of inspection personnel under Section 8.3
- Welding procedure specifications and procedure qualification records under Section 5, or Section 12 for mechanized welding with filler metal additions
- Welder qualification records under Section 6, including the Section 6.6 nondestructive testing of butt welds
- Acceptance criteria sheets keyed to Section 9, or to Annex A where alternative acceptance standards for girth welds are used
- Stress analysis and supporting assessment where Annex A is applied — Annex A.2
- In-service welding procedures, welder qualifications and inspection records under Annex B, including B.5 inspection and testing and B.6 standards of acceptability
- Repair procedures and repair welder qualification records under Section 10
Personnel certification context
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.
Related: the API 1104 overview, outsourced ASNT Level III cover, written practice development, NDT procedure development, a programme gap assessment, interim Level III cover.