Quality Manual NDT Section for NQA-1
NQA-1 names this requirement as "Quality Assurance Program manual mapped to the eighteen Part I Requirements, with the graded approach and quality levels defined". The management representative owns it, and a contracted Level III can author and sign it.
The finding auditors record against this document is: Graded approach applied inconsistently, so safety-related work is executed under procedures written for a lower quality level. NQA-1 is the implementing standard that turns the eighteen abstract criteria of 10 CFR 50 Appendix B into auditable requirements. Part I contains the eighteen Requirements — Organization; Quality Assurance Program; Design Control; Procurement Document Control; Instructions, Procedures and Drawings; Document Control; Control of Purchased Items and Services; Identification and Control of Items; Control of Special Processes; Inspection; Test Control; Control of Measuring and Test Equipment; Handling, Storage and Shipping; Inspection, Test and Operating Status; Control of Nonconforming Items; Corrective Action; Quality Assurance Records; Audits. Part II adds supplemental subparts for specific activities, including Subpart 2.7 Software Control and Subpart 2.14 Commercial Grade Dedication. Requirement 9 covers special processes such as welding and NDE; Requirement 2 covers indoctrination, training and the qualification of inspection and test personnel.
Source: ASME NQA-1-2022, 'Quality Assurance Requirements for Nuclear Facility Applications' (ASME/ANSI listing); ASME NQA-1-2024 issued 24 July 2024 is the newest edition. NRC Regulatory Guide 1.28, Revision 6, 'Quality Assurance Program Criteria (Design and Construction),' issued September 2023 and announced in the Federal Register on 11 September 2023, endorses NQA-1-2017, NQA-1-2019 and NQA-1-2022 subject to exceptions and clarifications, extends endorsement to Part II, and also endorses NEI 14-05A Revision 1 (September 2020) for accreditation in lieu of commercial grade surveys for laboratory calibration and test services. Part I Requirement list and the Part II Subpart 2.7 and 2.14 titles cross-checked against an ASME/ANS Section technical overview presentation dated 21 January 2026 and ASME's own standard page. ASME NQA-1 Certification programme description and CA Connect process from asme.org. NOTE: the specific paragraph number within Requirement 2 that addresses NDE personnel could not be confirmed from the standard itself and is deliberately omitted. Accessed 21 Aug 2026.
| Item | What applies | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Regime | ASME NQA-1, Quality Assurance Requirements for Nuclear Facility Applications | Enforced by The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (standard owner and operator of the voluntary NQA-1 Certification programme); the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission endorses it through Regulatory Guide 1.28, and the U.S. Department of Energy imposes it on its own contractors |
| Document | Quality Manual NDT Section | where the NDT programme sits inside the firm’s quality system, and how it is controlled |
| Owner | the management representative | The signature an auditor traces back |
| Where it is checked | Close findings with cause determination and corrective action under Requirement 16, then receive the NQA-1 Quality Program Certificate. | Usually against a sampled job, not in isolation |
| Common failure | Programme written to Part I but silent on the Part II subparts the work actually triggers — most often Subpart 2.7 for NDE acquisition and sizing software and Subpart 2.14 for commercial grade dedication | The gap between the manual and the job file |
What must a quality manual ndt section contain under NQA-1?
It has to satisfy NQA-1 as The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (standard owner and operator of the voluntary NQA-1 Certification programme); the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission endorses it through Regulatory Guide 1.28, and the U.S. Department of Energy imposes it on its own contractors enforces it: where the NDT programme sits inside the firm’s quality system, and how it is controlled. 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 quality manual ndt section for NQA-1?
The management representative. 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 NQA-1 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 NQA-1 records be kept?
NQA-1 compliance itself does not expire; it is maintained continuously and verified by audit. NQA-1 Part I Requirement 18 requires audits to verify compliance with the programme, and in practice suppliers run internal audits of all requirements annually and are audited by customers on a recurring cycle — NUPIC's standard vendor schedule is 33 months. The ASME NQA-1 Quality Program Certificate is renewed by reassessment; ASME publishes a price guide covering both new certificates and renewals but does not publish the renewal interval on its programme pages, so it is not stated here. 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 NQA-1?
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 NQA-1 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: Programme written to Part I but silent on the Part II subparts the work actually triggers — most often Subpart 2.7 for NDE acquisition and sizing software and Subpart 2.14 for commercial grade dedication
Where this sits in the NQA-1 evidence pack
- Quality Assurance Program manual mapped to the eighteen Part I Requirements, with the graded approach and quality levels defined
- Indoctrination and training records — attendance sheets, training logs and personnel training records — and records of qualification for inspection and test personnel under Requirement 2
- NDE written practice to SNT-TC-1A or ANSI/ASNT CP-189, with the NDE procedures qualified under Requirement 9, Control of Special Processes
- Inspection and test plans and acceptance criteria under Requirements 10 and 11, and the inspection, test and operating status controls of Requirement 14
- Procurement documents and Approved Suppliers List evidence under Requirements 4 and 7, including sub-tier flowdown of NQA-1 and 10 CFR Part 21
- Commercial grade dedication procedure and critical characteristics records where Part II Subpart 2.14 applies
- Software control documentation under Part II Subpart 2.7 for any NDE acquisition, analysis or sizing software used in safety-related work
- Nonconforming item and corrective action records under Requirements 15 and 16
- Audit programme records — plan, checklist, report and evidence of corrective action completion — under Requirement 18
- Quality assurance records under Requirement 17, held in storage meeting the standard's fire-protection provisions
Personnel certification context
Employer-based. NQA-1 does not certify individuals and does not operate a central scheme; Requirement 2 makes the supplier responsible for indoctrination, training and for qualifying inspection, examination and test personnel, and for NDE it points to the ASNT documents — ASNT Recommended Practice SNT-TC-1A or ANSI/ASNT CP-189 — implemented through the supplier's own written practice. That means an outsourced Level III can write and approve the written practice and the NDE procedures, administer and grade examinations, and sign as the certifying technical authority where the written practice designates them, while the employing supplier retains the certification decision and the records. ASME's NQA-1 certificate attests to the programme, not to any individual.
Related: the NQA-1 overview, outsourced ASNT Level III cover, written practice development, NDT procedure development, a programme gap assessment, interim Level III cover.