Inmetro / Cgcre Compliance for Inspection Service Providers

Inspection bodies, testing and calibration laboratories, and certification bodies operating in Brazil. Personnel certification is central or third-party here, so the firm cannot certify its own technicians internally.

Two routes matter to an NDT service provider: accreditation as an Organismo de Inspeção Acreditado under ISO/IEC 17020, where Inmetro maintains a specific non-destructive testing scope; and, for an industrial end user's in-house inspection department, certification of a Serviço Próprio de Inspeção de Equipamentos (SPIE) under NR-13's Annex II, whose conformity assessment requirements Inmetro writes and owns. Cgcre is the gatekeeper for anything in Brazil entitled to be called accredited. It accredits inspection bodies against ABNT NBR ISO/IEC 17020, testing and calibration laboratories against ISO/IEC 17025, personnel certification bodies against ISO/IEC 17024, product certification bodies against ISO/IEC 17065 and validation/verification bodies against ISO/IEC 17029. For an inspection service provider, accreditation converts a technically competent crew into a report a regulator or a demanding client accepts without argument.

Source: Portaria Inmetro nº 62, de 31 de março de 2026, 'Aprova a Instrução Normativa Inmetro e os Requisitos de Avaliação da Conformidade para os Serviços Próprios de Inspeção de Equipamentos – Consolidado', Annexes I and II, extracted and read directly; it cites Consulta Pública nº 17 of 21 November 2024 (DOU 11 December 2024) and Processo SEI nº 0052600.011368/2022-51, and adopts Portaria Inmetro nº 200/2021 (Requisitos Gerais de Certificação de Produtos, RGCP) as its general certification rules. Cgcre's status as sole recognised accreditation body and the conformity assessment body types and standards from Inmetro's accreditation pages on gov.br. Limitation: the inspection-body scope acronyms — including OIA-END for non-destructive testing and OIA-OG for oil and gas fabrication — come from Inmetro's inspection body accreditation page, but the ftp.inmetro.gov.br and www4.inmetro.gov.br hosts were unreachable from this environment on 21 August 2026, so the scope list was not re-read against the primary page, no accreditation counts are stated, and the accreditation surveillance cycle for OIA is not asserted. Verified 21 August 2026.

Inmetro / Cgcre at a glance — authority, scope and what it demands
Item	What applies	Why it matters
Authority	Inmetro, a federal body under the Ministério do Desenvolvimento, Indústria, Comércio e Serviços; accreditation is performed by its Coordenação Geral de Acreditação (Cgcre), described by Inmetro as the only accreditation body recognised by the Brazilian government	The body that issues, audits and can withdraw
Applies to	Inspection bodies, testing and calibration laboratories, and certification bodies operating in Brazil.	Whether this binds your firm at all
Personnel certification	Central or third-party certification required	Decides whether an outsourced Level III can sign for you
Renewal	SPIE certificates are valid for 48 months from issue (clause 6.2.5.3). Maintenance audits run every 12 months from the certificate date. That may be extended to 18 months only where all four conditions hold: certified for at least two certification cycles; no suspension in the last two cycles; no warning in the last cycle; and no Category A non-conformities in the last cycle. The extension takes effect only from the start of the cycle following the request and can be revoked at any time following a major accident, a warning or a suspension. Recertification must be concluded before the current certificate expires. Portaria Inmetro nº 62/2026 revokes Portarias Inmetro nº 537/2015, nº 582/2015, nº 177/2023 and nº 382/2023 twelve months after it takes effect; certificates already issued are updated to reference it at the next evaluation stage, and adoption of INI or a Safety Instrumented System by a certified SPIE requires a specific-scope audit.	Diarise from the certificate date, not from memory
Methods in scope	UT, PAUT, TOFD, RT, MT, PT	Each method needs its own procedure and qualified personnel
Industries	Refining, Petrochemical, Chemical, Pulp and paper, Sugar and ethanol	Where this regime shows up in contracts

Who does Inmetro / Cgcre apply to?

Inspection bodies, testing and calibration laboratories, and certification bodies operating in Brazil. Two routes matter to an NDT service provider: accreditation as an Organismo de Inspeção Acreditado under ISO/IEC 17020, where Inmetro maintains a specific non-destructive testing scope; and, for an industrial end user's in-house inspection department, certification of a Serviço Próprio de Inspeção de Equipamentos (SPIE) under NR-13's Annex II, whose conformity assessment requirements Inmetro writes and owns.

Can an outsourced Level III sign for Inmetro / Cgcre compliance?

Not for the certification itself. Inmetro / Cgcre requires central or third-party personnel certification, so technicians are certified by the scheme rather than by the employer. A consulting Level III still adds value on procedures, documentation, gap assessment and audit attendance — but cannot substitute for the scheme's own certification.

What documents does a Inmetro / Cgcre audit ask for?

Solicitação formal de certificação to the OCP, with a detailed description of the establishment, its location, general layout and the geographic distribution of operating units (SPIE clause 6.2), Information on activities performed by third parties and outsourced installations capable of affecting the certification, including equipment connected to SPIE equipment, Types and quantities of equipment controlled, NR-13 classification, available human resources with their locations, functions and competences, Programa e plano de inspeção, with evidence of minimum compliance with the programme, Procedimentos escritos for the principal activities performed. Auditors open records before they open manuals, because a manual describes intent while records show practice. The most common failure is a documented system that does not match what the technicians actually do.

How often is Inmetro / Cgcre renewed?

SPIE certificates are valid for 48 months from issue (clause 6.2.5.3). Maintenance audits run every 12 months from the certificate date. That may be extended to 18 months only where all four conditions hold: certified for at least two certification cycles; no suspension in the last two cycles; no warning in the last cycle; and no Category A non-conformities in the last cycle. The extension takes effect only from the start of the cycle following the request and can be revoked at any time following a major accident, a warning or a suspension. Recertification must be concluded before the current certificate expires. Portaria Inmetro nº 62/2026 revokes Portarias Inmetro nº 537/2015, nº 582/2015, nº 177/2023 and nº 382/2023 twelve months after it takes effect; certificates already issued are updated to reference it at the next evaluation stage, and adoption of INI or a Safety Instrumented System by a certified SPIE requires a specific-scope audit. Firms that diarise renewal from the certificate date rather than from the last audit avoid the lapse that forces a full reapplication.

What are the most common Inmetro / Cgcre findings?

Contracted NDT reports annexed to the consolidated inspection report but neither referenced nor technically validated by the responsible PLH, contrary to the SPIE reporting rule, No documented criteria for evaluating the performance of contracted inspection services, or no records of those evaluations (clause 9.2), Inspection equipment list incomplete, or calibration not traceable to nationally or internationally recognised standards with no documented and periodically reviewed alternative basis (clause 10.5), Repeated delays in executing the inspection plan detected across successive audit cycles. These recur because they are records problems rather than capability problems — the work is being done correctly and the evidence is not being kept.

Which NDT methods does Inmetro / Cgcre cover?

UT, PAUT, TOFD, RT, MT, PT, VT, ET. Each method in scope needs its own approved procedure and personnel qualified in that specific method; a Level III qualified in ultrasonics cannot sign for radiography.

Personnel certification under Inmetro / Cgcre

Inmetro does not certify NDT people; it accredits the bodies that do, under ABNT NBR ISO/IEC 17024, which is how ABENDI's SNQC acquires its legal weight. In the SPIE requirements consolidated by Portaria Inmetro nº 62/2026, clause 5.1.3.11 a requires NDT inspectors to hold the qualification and certification of ABNT NBR NM ISO 9712, welding inspectors ABNT NBR 14842 and painting inspectors ABNT NBR 15218. Employer-issued certification is not accepted for those roles. Clause 5.1.3.12 is the only relief valve: for NDT methods not covered by national standards, an international qualification or documented formal training from the manufacturer or technology owner may be required instead.

The audit sequence

Formal application to an Organismo de Certificação de Produtos (OCP) established in Brazil and accredited by Inmetro, submitting the establishment description, equipment inventory and resource information.
Initial audit planning — the OCP builds the audit plan, verifies the inspection programme including any overdue items, and defines the sample; the workforce (efetivo) is verified and the checklist prepared.
On-site initial audit against the checklist, with the inspection programme assessed in full and the remaining requirements assessed by sampling.
Non-conformity treatment — Category A RGI deviations must be corrected during the audit period and the audit is interrupted if immediate action is impossible; up to three common Category A non-conformities are permitted subject to an OCP-approved action plan; corrective and preventive action within 90 days.
Critical analysis and decision by a Certification Commission constituted by the OCP with tripartite, equal representation of the Ministério do Trabalho e Emprego, the workers of the establishments and the establishments themselves.
Certificate of Conformity issued, valid 48 months from the date of issue.
Maintenance audits every 12 months from certificate issue, and recertification concluded before the certificate expires — planned like a maintenance audit but decided under the initial-evaluation rules.

Documents an auditor asks for

Solicitação formal de certificação to the OCP, with a detailed description of the establishment, its location, general layout and the geographic distribution of operating units (SPIE clause 6.2)
Information on activities performed by third parties and outsourced installations capable of affecting the certification, including equipment connected to SPIE equipment
Types and quantities of equipment controlled, NR-13 classification, available human resources with their locations, functions and competences
Programa e plano de inspeção, with evidence of minimum compliance with the programme
Procedimentos escritos for the principal activities performed
Arquivo técnico — the maintained, current technical file needed to satisfy NR-13, with mechanisms to distribute information on request
Registros de qualificação e certificação for own and contracted personnel, including ABNT NBR NM ISO 9712 certificates for NDT inspectors
Lista atualizada da aparelhagem de inspeção with calibration records and traceability to nationally or internationally recognised standards
Registros de auditorias internas and the internal audit procedure covering auditor qualification, experience and independence
Relatório de inspeção consolidado signed by the PLH, with contracted NDT reports annexed, referenced and technically validated by that PLH

Findings firms get against Inmetro / Cgcre

Contracted NDT reports annexed to the consolidated inspection report but neither referenced nor technically validated by the responsible PLH, contrary to the SPIE reporting rule
No documented criteria for evaluating the performance of contracted inspection services, or no records of those evaluations (clause 9.2)
Inspection equipment list incomplete, or calibration not traceable to nationally or internationally recognised standards with no documented and periodically reviewed alternative basis (clause 10.5)
Repeated delays in executing the inspection plan detected across successive audit cycles
NDT technicians certified to a scheme other than ABNT NBR NM ISO 9712 with no justification under the clause 5.1.3.12 exception for methods lacking national standards
Non-intrusive or risk-based inspection used to define or postpone intervals before the specific-scope audit required by clause 6.7
Safety valve opening-pressure tests exceeding the 12-month maximum applied to each boiler
No dedicated PLH, or inspection staff lacking the exclusive dedication to inspection, integrity assessment and remaining-life activities that NR-13 Annex II requires