Liquid Penetrant Testing (PT) Requirements Under INN / SICEP
Consumables are batch-controlled: certificates for each batch, contamination checks, and the sulphur and halogen limits where the material demands it. INN / SICEP, enforced by Instituto Nacional de Normalización (INN), which is both the national standards body.: Employer-based certification is accepted, and in practice is the norm.
An auditor examining PT asks for penetrant, developer, cleaner and emulsifier batch records, plus the light meters for the inspection environment. Chile does not licence NDT companies. Access is controlled in two separate places instead. Accreditation: INN runs the Sistema Nacional de Acreditación and accredits inspection bodies against NCh-ISO 17020:2012 under its accreditation regulation INN-R401. Accreditation is voluntary in itself but becomes obligatory wherever a technical regulation incorporates it; applications go through INN's SDAC portal on forms F407-21-01 and FD-D06-04, and accreditations are granted for five years, renewable, with surveillance evaluations during the term. Commercial access: the mining majors screen contractors through SICEP, the Sistema de Calificación de Empresas Proveedoras, which rates financial capacity, operational and technical capability, legal and labour compliance and risk prevention. A firm can be technically excellent and still not be biddable without SICEP standing.
Source: INN, Organismos de Inspección accreditation page and accreditation FAQ (accessed August 2026), giving NCh-ISO 17020-2012 as the applicable standard, the SDAC application route at sdac.inn.cl, forms F407-21-01v02 and FD-D06-04v01, guidance DA-D06, criteria document DA-D22 v07, fee regulation INN-R410 v08, accreditation regulation INN-R401, the five-year renewable accreditation term with surveillance during the term, IAAC MLA founding membership and founding membership of Global ACI, successor to the merged ILAC and IAF; INN catalogue record for NCh-ISO9712:2018, "Ensayos no destructivos - Calificación y certificación del personal que realiza ensayos no destructivos", published 30 August 2018, shown as No Vigente; INN list of approved standards showing NCh3918:2026 and NCh3919:2026 on acoustic emission; Chile Decreto Supremo N° 132 (Ministerio de Minería), Reglamento de Seguridad Minera, published 7 February 2004, Articles 185, 188, 191 and 378, text read directly; Chile Decreto Supremo N° 10 (Ministerio de Salud, Subsecretaría de Salud Pública), Reglamento de calderas, autoclaves y equipos que utilizan vapor de agua, published 19 October 2013, superseding DS N° 48; INN accreditation certificate OI232 for NDT held by an accredited inspection body; SICEP public pages and Asociación de Industriales de Antofagasta material (accessed August 2026).
| Item | What applies | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Regime | Sistema Nacional de Acreditación del Instituto Nacional de Normalización (INN) and Chilean Mining-Sector Inspection Requirements | Enforced by Instituto Nacional de Normalización (INN), which is both the national standards body and the national accreditation body; Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería (SERNAGEOMIN) for mine safety; the SEREMI de Salud for boilers, autoclaves and steam equipment; SICEP, administered by the Asociación de Industriales de Antofagasta, as the mining supplier register |
| Method | Liquid Penetrant Testing (PT) | 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 | UT, PAUT, TOFD, RT, MT, VT | Each needs separate qualification |
| Renewal | INN accreditation is granted for five years and may be renewed for further five-year cycles, with surveillance evaluations during the term to verify continued conformity; INN does not publish a fixed surveillance month on its public pages, so confirm the schedule in INN-R401 rather than assuming one. SICEP standing is a periodically updated diagnosis rather than a fixed-term certificate and lapses if the file is not maintained. Boiler and autoclave inspection under the Ministry of Health regulation runs on a frequency tied to equipment category; establish the category before quoting an interval to a client. | Applies to the personnel certification behind this method |
Does INN / SICEP require a separate procedure for PT?
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 PT procedure under INN / SICEP?
A Level III qualified in PT. Because INN / SICEP accepts employer-based certification, that Level III may be contracted rather than employed — but their own qualification must cover PT, and an auditor will check that before accepting the signature.
What PT records does a INN / SICEP audit sample?
The approved procedure, the technician's PT certification on the date of work, and the equipment evidence — penetrant, developer, cleaner and emulsifier batch records, plus the light meters for the inspection environment. The auditor works backwards from a finished job, so every item has to reconcile with the report and its stated acceptance criteria.
What is the most common PT finding at audit?
Batch certificates missing for consumables used, or dwell time not recorded. It is a records failure rather than a technique failure — the examination was performed correctly and the evidence supporting it cannot be produced, which under INN / SICEP is recorded the same way as not having done the work.
Can a technician certified elsewhere perform PT under INN / SICEP?
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 PT need under INN / SICEP?
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 PT requirements differ from the other methods in INN / SICEP?
Scope, qualification and evidence are method-specific, so the differences are real rather than administrative. INN / SICEP also covers UT, PAUT, TOFD, RT, MT, and each carries its own procedure, its own personnel qualification and its own equipment evidence.
Personnel certification for PT
Employer-based certification is accepted, and in practice is the norm. Chile has adopted ISO 9712 as NCh-ISO 9712, but the 2018 edition is shown as no longer current in INN's own catalogue, and INN's register of accredited personnel certification bodies does not list a Chilean body certifying NDT personnel to it, so there is no verified domestic route to an ISO 9712 certificate. Chilean technicians therefore hold employer certification written against ASNT SNT-TC-1A, or ISO 9712 certificates issued by foreign bodies. An outsourced ASNT Level III can write and sign the employer's written practice, approve procedures and certify Level I and II staff, which is how most Chilean NDT firms operate.
Related: the INN / SICEP overview, outsourced ASNT Level III cover, written practice development, NDT procedure development, a programme gap assessment, interim Level III cover.