T9074-AS-GIB-010/271 Compliance for Inspection Service Providers
Any activity performing NDT under a NAVSEA contract or on Navy ships and systems — government and commercial shipyards, regional maintenance centres, trident refit facilities, intermediate maintenance activities and their NDT subcontractors. Personnel are qualified under employer-based certification, so a contracted Level III can sign the written practice and administer examinations for the firm.
"Activity" is defined as all sites of an organisation under the same quality assurance management using the same quality assurance plan, which is what determines how many written practices and Examiner appointments a multi-site inspection company actually needs. The document usually spoken of as "NAVSEA T9074" is not a single publication — T9074 is a series prefix. The NDT requirement is NAVSEA Technical Publication T9074-AS-GIB-010/271, Revision 1, dated 11 September 2014, Requirements for Nondestructive Testing Methods, which supersedes the 30 April 1997 original and its Advanced Change Notice 1 of 16 February 1999. It sets the minimum requirements to qualify NDT personnel, procedures and equipment, and covers radiographic, magnetic particle, liquid penetrant, ultrasonic, eddy current and visual testing in separate chapters. Its distinguishing feature for a service provider is that it converts ASNT SNT-TC-1A from a recommended practice into mandatory minimums, then layers Navy-specific controls on top.
Source: NAVSEA Technical Publication T9074-AS-GIB-010/271, Revision 1, 11 September 2014, 116 pages, Distribution Statement A (approved for public release, distribution unlimited) — Chapter 1 (Scope; 1.5 definitions; 1.6 nondestructive test personnel certification; 1.7 procedure qualification and approval) and Chapter 2 (Applicable Documents) read in full. Related documents cited within it include MIL-STD-2132, NAVSEA S9074-AR-GIB-010/278 and NAVSEA S9086-CH-STM-020 Chapter 074 Volume 2. Revision 1 is the revision attached to current Navy solicitations; no Revision 2 was found. Verified August 2026.
| Item | What applies | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Authority | Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA); enforced in the field by the cognizant Government inspector — the Supervisor of Shipbuilding at a commercial shipyard, the Shipyard Commander at a government yard | The body that issues, audits and can withdraw |
| Applies to | Any activity performing NDT under a NAVSEA contract or on Navy ships and systems — government and commercial shipyards, regional maintenance centres,. | Whether this binds your firm at all |
| Personnel certification | Employer-based — the firm certifies its own, under a qualified Level III | Decides whether an outsourced Level III can sign for you |
| Renewal | NDT Operators and Inspectors are recertified by examination at intervals not greater than three years; Examiners at intervals not greater than five years. A certification is considered expired on the last day of the month in which recertification is due. Recertification by evidence of continuing satisfactory technical performance, or on the basis of ASNT certifications granted without examination, is not permitted. Operators and Inspectors who have not satisfied the annual oversight requirement must be re-examined by an approved practical examination administered by the activity's Examiner. Vision tests are annual, or sooner after eye surgery or other conditions affecting vision. | Diarise from the certificate date, not from memory |
| Methods in scope | RT, MT, PT, UT, ET, VT | Each method needs its own procedure and qualified personnel |
| Industries | US Navy shipbuilding and repair, Commercial shipyards under Supervisor of Shipbuilding oversight, Regional maintenance centres and intermediate maintenance activities, Naval machinery, piping and pressure vessel fabrication, Defense NDT subcontracting | Where this regime shows up in contracts |
Who does T9074-AS-GIB-010/271 apply to?
Any activity performing NDT under a NAVSEA contract or on Navy ships and systems — government and commercial shipyards, regional maintenance centres, trident refit facilities, intermediate maintenance activities and their NDT subcontractors. "Activity" is defined as all sites of an organisation under the same quality assurance management using the same quality assurance plan, which is what determines how many written practices and Examiner appointments a multi-site inspection company actually needs.
Can an outsourced Level III sign for T9074-AS-GIB-010/271 compliance?
Yes. T9074-AS-GIB-010/271 accepts employer-based certification, which places the obligation on the employer and allows a contracted Level III to write and sign the written practice, approve procedures and administer examinations. The Level III must be qualified in each method they sign for, and the employer still owns the records.
What documents does a T9074-AS-GIB-010/271 audit ask for?
The activity's written practice for NDT personnel training, examination and certification, provided to the Government inspector on request, A written NDT procedure for each method performed, carrying a certification statement signed by the cognizant Examiner, Procedure qualification data showing that known natural or artificial discontinuities near the accept/reject threshold can be reliably detected and evaluated, Records of qualification training and experience obtained before initial certification, retained as long as personnel remain certified, Results of all current examinations, correlatable to the examination administered, plus a master copy of each examination. 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 T9074-AS-GIB-010/271 renewed?
NDT Operators and Inspectors are recertified by examination at intervals not greater than three years; Examiners at intervals not greater than five years. A certification is considered expired on the last day of the month in which recertification is due. Recertification by evidence of continuing satisfactory technical performance, or on the basis of ASNT certifications granted without examination, is not permitted. Operators and Inspectors who have not satisfied the annual oversight requirement must be re-examined by an approved practical examination administered by the activity's Examiner. Vision tests are annual, or sooner after eye surgery or other conditions affecting vision. 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 T9074-AS-GIB-010/271 findings?
Written practice reproduces SNT-TC-1A verbatim without adopting the modifications the publication imposes, so training hours or examination content fall short of the mandatory minimums, The Examiner's specific examination was prepared or administered by the Examiner himself rather than independently by the employing activity, Recertification granted on continuing satisfactory performance, or on an ASNT certification issued without examination — both expressly prohibited, No documented annual oversight, or no technical performance evaluation before the end of the second year of the certification cycle. 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 T9074-AS-GIB-010/271 cover?
RT, MT, PT, UT, ET, VT, Computed radiography. 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 T9074-AS-GIB-010/271
Employer-based and deliberately non-portable. Personnel are certified under the activity's own written practice, developed as required by ASNT SNT-TC-1A, which the publication invokes as mandatory minimum requirements and states shall not be considered recommendations or guidelines. The Level III is called the NDT Examiner: the activity delegates to that individual the responsibility and authority to examine and certify its NDT personnel and to approve NDT procedures and workmanship standards, so an outsourced Level III can hold the role. The catch sits in 1.6.2.1 — the Examiner's specific examination must be prepared, approved and administered by the employing activity, independent of the Examiner being tested. Transfer of NDT certifications between activities is prohibited except as authorised by NAVSEA.
The audit sequence
- Contract or NAVSEA Standard Item invokes T9074-AS-GIB-010/271 on the work package
- Activity writes or updates its written practice to SNT-TC-1A as modified by the publication, and delegates the Level III NDT Examiner role
- Examiner is examined — basic and method examinations administered by the employing activity, ASNT or another outside agency, plus a specific examination the activity prepares, approves and administers independently of him
- Examiner certifies Operators and Inspectors, writes and signs the NDT procedures, and qualifies each procedure by demonstration on known discontinuities
- Government inspector reviews the written practice, procedures and personnel records on request, and may require a demonstration of the procedure at any time
- Annual oversight by the Examiner, with a technical performance evaluation performed before the end of the second year of the certification cycle
Documents an auditor asks for
- The activity's written practice for NDT personnel training, examination and certification, provided to the Government inspector on request
- A written NDT procedure for each method performed, carrying a certification statement signed by the cognizant Examiner
- Procedure qualification data showing that known natural or artificial discontinuities near the accept/reject threshold can be reliably detected and evaluated
- Records of qualification training and experience obtained before initial certification, retained as long as personnel remain certified
- Results of all current examinations, correlatable to the examination administered, plus a master copy of each examination
- Vision test records noting corrective aids, retained for the current and preceding certification period
- Certification statements signed by the activity's NDT Examiner for Operators and Inspectors, and by an employer representative for Examiners
- Annual oversight records — witnessed in-process inspections, reinspections of previously inspected product, or technical performance evaluations
Findings firms get against T9074-AS-GIB-010/271
- Written practice reproduces SNT-TC-1A verbatim without adopting the modifications the publication imposes, so training hours or examination content fall short of the mandatory minimums
- The Examiner's specific examination was prepared or administered by the Examiner himself rather than independently by the employing activity
- Recertification granted on continuing satisfactory performance, or on an ASNT certification issued without examination — both expressly prohibited
- No documented annual oversight, or no technical performance evaluation before the end of the second year of the certification cycle
- Vision test lapsed; the requirement is annual and expires on the last day of the month in which retesting is due
- NDT procedure missing the Examiner's signed certification statement, or holding no procedure qualification demonstration data
- Certifications carried across from a previous employer, which the publication prohibits without NAVSEA authorisation
- Limited certifications used without the limitation being described in both the written practice and the certification records
Related: the T9074-AS-GIB-010/271 overview, outsourced ASNT Level III cover, written practice development, NDT procedure development, a programme gap assessment, interim Level III cover.