Phased Array Ultrasonics (PAUT) Requirements Under NR-13

Procedure qualification usually requires a demonstration on a representative flawed sample, and the scan plan forms part of the approved procedure rather than a field decision. NR-13, enforced by Ministério do Trabalho e Emprego (MTE), which publishes the Normas Regulamentadoras; enforced.: Two separate requirements, and confusing them is the classic and expensive mistake.

An auditor examining PAUT asks for the phased array unit, wedges, encoders, and the calibration blocks used for wedge delay, sensitivity and TCG. NR-13 places the legal duty on the employer, not the contractor, and that shapes how inspection service providers sell into Brazil. Every safety inspection must be executed under the technical responsibility of a Profissional Legalmente Habilitado (PLH) — item 13.3.3. Selection of examinations and tests, hydrostatic and pneumatic test procedures, interval extensions and the consolidated report all rest on that PLH's technical judgement, and the report must carry the PLH's legible name, signature and professional-council registration number. A provider supplying only NDT technicians cannot sign; it must employ a Brazil-registered engineer or work under the client's PLH. Metallic storage tanks entered scope on 4 July 2026, opening a substantial new inspection market.

Source: NR-13 consolidated text published by the Ministério do Trabalho e Emprego on gov.br (file nr-13-atualizada-2023-b.pdf), extracted and read directly. Current wording given by Portaria nº 1.846 of 1 July 2022 (DOU 4 July 2022) — cited within the norm's own publication table as Portaria MTP nº 1.846 and in the body text as Portaria MTb nº 1.846 — amended by Portaria MTP nº 4.219 of 20 December 2022 (DOU 22 December 2022), with rectifications dated 20 October 2022. Parent instrument Portaria MTb nº 3.214 of 8 June 1978 (DOU 6 July 1978). Storage-tank scope commencement of 4 July 2026 from the note to item 13.2.1 f citing art. 3 of Portaria MTP nº 1.846/22; piping scope commencement of 20 March 2018 from the note to item 13.6.2.1 citing art. 6. Verified 21 August 2026.

Phased Array Ultrasonics under NR-13 — procedure, personnel and evidence
Item	What applies	Why it matters
Regime	Norma Regulamentadora nº 13 — Caldeiras, Vasos de Pressão, Tubulações e Tanques Metálicos de Armazenamento	Enforced by Ministério do Trabalho e Emprego (MTE), which publishes the Normas Regulamentadoras; enforced on site by Auditores-Fiscais do Trabalho
Method	Phased Array Ultrasonics (PAUT)	Needs its own procedure and its own qualified personnel
Procedure approval	Per the certification scheme and the client specification	The signature an auditor traces
Other methods in scope	VT, UT, UT thickness measurement, TOFD, MT, PT	Each needs separate qualification
Renewal	Boilers, periodic internal and external examination (item 13.4.4.4): maximum 12 months for categories A and B; 18 months for alkali recovery boilers of any category; 24 months for category A provided safety valve opening pressures are tested at 12 months; 30 months for category B with a combustion management system meeting Annex IV. Establishments holding a certified SPIE may extend to 24 months (alkali recovery and category B), 30 months (category A) and 48 months (category A with a Safety Instrumented System meeting Annex IV). Pressure vessels follow Table 2 by category I to V — external examination at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 years and internal at 3, 4, 6, 8 and 10 years; with a certified SPIE, external at 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 years and internal at 6, 8, 10 and 12 years, with category V internal at technical criterion. A certified SPIE using a documented risk-based methodology may extend further, capped at 10 years for internal examination of category I vessels. Piping follows the internal interval of the most critical connected vessel or boiler and may be doubled on the PLH's technical justification, capped at 10 years. Boilers reaching 25 years of use undergo a broader integrity assessment at the following inspection. Postponement of up to six months is possible with a risk assessment coordinated by a PLH, and must be formally justified to the predominant workers' union.	Applies to the personnel certification behind this method

Does NR-13 require a separate procedure for PAUT?

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 PAUT procedure under NR-13?

Approval follows the certification scheme and the governing specification rather than the employer alone. The person approving must hold the scheme's qualification for PAUT at the appropriate level.

What PAUT records does a NR-13 audit sample?

The approved procedure, the technician's PAUT certification on the date of work, and the equipment evidence — the phased array unit, wedges, encoders, and the calibration blocks used for wedge delay, sensitivity and TCG. 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 PAUT finding at audit?

Data acquired outside the scan plan the procedure qualified, or encoder position 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 NR-13 is recorded the same way as not having done the work.

Can a technician certified elsewhere perform PAUT under NR-13?

Where the scheme's certification travels with the individual, yes — that is the point of central certification. Verify the certificate covers PAUT at the level required and is current, since scope and expiry are what get checked.

What equipment evidence does PAUT need under NR-13?

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 PAUT requirements differ from the other methods in NR-13?

Scope, qualification and evidence are method-specific, so the differences are real rather than administrative. NR-13 also covers VT, UT, UT thickness measurement, TOFD, MT, and each carries its own procedure, its own personnel qualification and its own equipment evidence.

Personnel certification for PAUT

Two separate requirements, and confusing them is the classic and expensive mistake. The PLH is not an NDT Level III: item 13.3.2 defines it as a person legally competent to practise engineering in Brazil under the prevailing professional regulation, so an ASNT Level III without Brazilian engineering registration cannot sign an NR-13 inspection report. Certification of the PLH's competences is voluntary, through an Organismo de Certificação de Pessoas accredited by Cgcre/Inmetro, with recertification every sixty months (Annex III). For NDT technicians, Annex II requires contracted NDT labour to be certified under prevailing regulation, and Inmetro's SPIE requirements make that ABNT NBR NM ISO 9712 — central third-party certification, not an employer written practice.