Written Practice for SNT-TC-1A
SNT-TC-1A names this requirement as "Written Practice for the control and administration of NDT personnel training, examination and certification, approved by the employer's NDT Level III and retained on file". 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: Written Practice is a copy of the standard rather than a description of how the firm actually trains, examines and certifies. SNT-TC-1A is a recommended practice, not law. It gives an employer the framework for qualifying and certifying its own NDT personnel. For an inspection service provider the deliverable is a Written Practice covering training, examination, experience, vision and recertification for every method and level the firm sells, reviewed and approved by the employer's NDT Level III and retained on file for audit. Customers then audit the firm against its own Written Practice rather than against the standard directly. The 2024 edition adds the ASNT 9712 Program to the recognised examination routes, restricts eye drops used to improve vision, tells employers to assess whether externally referenced examinations meet their requirements, and expects written-examination proctors to be trained.
Source: ASNT Recommended Practice No. SNT-TC-1A (2024), with Addendum — ASNT product listing (source.asnt.org) and ASNT standards page (asnt.org/standards-publications/standards); the addendum took effect May 2025 and ASNT recommends use with ANSI/ASNT CP-105 (2024). ASNT 'Ten Key Shalls of SNT-TC-1A' and 'What to Do in an Audit' (asnt.org blog). ASNT Employer-Based Certification Accreditation Program, certification.asnt.org — audit stages, three-year validity and published audit fees (single site and multi-site up to 150 technicians US$5,300; 151–500 technicians US$6,150; 500+ by quote), checked August 2026. 49 CFR 192.243(a)–(b) quoted from the govinfo CFR text. ASME Section V Article 1 T-120 and Section VIII Div. 1 UW-54 taken from secondary technical summaries, not read from the code; treat the clause designations as indicative. Vision examination frequency deliberately not stated as a number here — it was not verified against the 2024 text.
| Item | What applies | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Regime | ASNT Recommended Practice No. SNT-TC-1A, Personnel Qualification and Certification in Nondestructive Testing | Enforced by American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT) publishes it. Nobody enforces SNT-TC-1A directly — it becomes binding when a code, customer or regulator invokes it (ASME BPVC Section V and Section VIII, AWS D1.1, the API inspection codes, prime purchase orders). ASNT Certification Services LLC will audit and accredit a firm's programme against it through the Employer-Based Certification (EBC) Accreditation Program. |
| 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 | Accreditation decision — certificate valid three years and listing on the ASNT EBC registry; Renewal through the same. | Usually against a sampled job, not in isolation |
| Common failure | Written Practice is a copy of the standard rather than a description of how the firm actually trains, examines and certifies | The gap between the manual and the job file |
What must a written practice contain under SNT-TC-1A?
It has to satisfy SNT-TC-1A as American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT) publishes it. Nobody enforces SNT-TC-1A directly — it becomes binding when a code, customer or regulator invokes it (ASME BPVC Section V and Section VIII, AWS D1.1, the API inspection codes, prime purchase orders). ASNT Certification Services LLC will audit and accredit a firm's programme against it through the Employer-Based Certification (EBC) Accreditation Program. 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 SNT-TC-1A?
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 SNT-TC-1A 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 SNT-TC-1A records be kept?
Recertification is periodic and the interval is fixed by the employer's own Written Practice, not by ASNT. ASNT describes a recommended maximum interval of five years between renewals for NDT personnel. Recertification requires evidence of continued competence — re-examination or documented continuing activity — plus current vision records. Accreditation of the programme itself under the ASNT EBC route runs three years, with some registrations on one-year terms requiring annual surveillance. 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 SNT-TC-1A?
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 SNT-TC-1A 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: Written Practice is a copy of the standard rather than a description of how the firm actually trains, examines and certifies
Where this sits in the SNT-TC-1A evidence pack
- Written Practice for the control and administration of NDT personnel training, examination and certification, approved by the employer's NDT Level III and retained on file
- NDT Level III qualification records — ASNT NDT Level III certificates, or the outside-agency Level III agreement plus that person's credentials
- Training records showing classroom hours per method and level against the SNT-TC-1A training table, with content traceable to ANSI/ASNT CP-105 topical outlines
- Documented on-the-job experience with dates, method, and supervisor attestation
- General, specific and practical examination records, graded answer sheets, and the Level III-approved examination question bank
- Vision examination records — near-vision acuity and colour contrast differentiation
- Individual certification and recertification records stating method, level, technique and effective dates
- Evidence that outside training or examination services used by the employer were assessed against the Written Practice
- Calibration records for equipment the examinations and inspections depend on (light meters, gauges, reference standards)
Personnel certification context
Employer-based. The employer — not ASNT, not a third party — issues the certificate, and ASNT is explicit that where the person holds no third-party certification the credential is revoked on termination of employment. Because SNT-TC-1A states that in no case shall a certification examination be administered by oneself or by a subordinate, and because the Written Practice must be approved by an NDT Level III, a firm with no Level III on staff routinely engages an outside agency Level III. That contracted Level III can write and approve the Written Practice, build and grade examinations and recommend certification; the employer still signs and issues the certificate.
Related: the SNT-TC-1A overview, outsourced ASNT Level III cover, written practice development, NDT procedure development, a programme gap assessment, interim Level III cover.