Petrobras cadastro / RQT Compliance for Inspection Service Providers

Companies wanting to supply goods or services to Petrobras — fabrication shops, inspection contractors and NDT service providers among them. Personnel certification is central or third-party here, so the firm cannot certify its own technicians internally.

It also reaches down the chain: the general fabrication inspection specification applies to direct and indirect purchases whose final client is Petrobras, so a subcontractor two tiers down still inherits the personnel certification rules, and it applies to goods families carrying a Requisito de Qualificação Técnica in the Petrobras register. Petrobras publishes far more than most national oil companies, which makes this regime unusually researchable. Supplier registration is documented publicly on the Canal Fornecedor, and Petrobras technical specifications and N-series standards are downloadable from the public Petronect content area without a contract. The commercially decisive document for inspection providers is ET-0000.00-0000-972-P8L-001, 'Requisito Geral de Inspeção de Fabricação', which sets minimum fabrication inspection requirements for direct and indirect purchases destined for Petrobras. What Petrobras does not publish is the internal scoring, weighting and thresholds behind supplier evaluation, so nothing should be claimed about how a bid is actually ranked — a distinction worth making explicitly to any client who asks.

Source: Petrobras specification ET-0000.00-0000-972-P8L-001, 'Requisito Geral de Inspeção de Fabricação', Rev. B, dated 20 October 2016 (Rev. A 19 September 2016, Rev. 0 10 November 2015), downloaded from the public Petronect content area and extracted; sections 1 (Objetivo), 2 (Referências), 6 and 7 (Qualificação e Certificação de Pessoal) and 8 (Planejamento da Inspeção de Fabricação) read directly. Supplier registration process, the named evaluation dimensions (legal, economic-financial, technical, SMS, Due Diligence de Integridade), the certificado de registro cadastral, pre-qualification, the Regulamento de Licitações e Contratos and the Catálogo de Padronização from Petrobras's public Canal Fornecedor at canalfornecedor.petrobras.com.br. Petrobras N-1594, N-1595, N-1596, N-1597 and N-1598 titles taken from the specification's own reference list, not from those standards themselves — note in particular that N-1595 is the radiography standard, not a personnel standard. Limitation: I-ET-0000.00-0000-970-PSQ-001 is named in clause 7 but was not retrievable (404 on Petronect), so the alternative qualification route it defines is not characterised here. Verified 21 August 2026.

Who does Petrobras cadastro / RQT apply to?

Companies wanting to supply goods or services to Petrobras — fabrication shops, inspection contractors and NDT service providers among them. It also reaches down the chain: the general fabrication inspection specification applies to direct and indirect purchases whose final client is Petrobras, so a subcontractor two tiers down still inherits the personnel certification rules, and it applies to goods families carrying a Requisito de Qualificação Técnica in the Petrobras register.

Can an outsourced Level III sign for Petrobras cadastro / RQT compliance?

Not for the certification itself. Petrobras cadastro / RQT 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 Petrobras cadastro / RQT audit ask for?

Cadastro submission on Petronect, with the questionnaire of general and commercial company information and the products and services offered, Certificado de registro cadastral, issued on successful registration and documented as a distinct component of the supplier programme, Requisito de Qualificação Técnica (RQT) evidence for each goods family being registered, Plano de Inspeção e Testes (PIT), prepared by the supplier to cover all production, installation and associated service processes of the supply, Termo de adequação do procedimento de inspeção por ensaios não destrutivos. 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 Petrobras cadastro / RQT renewed?

Petrobras documents the certificado de registro cadastral as a component of the supplier programme and treats registration as something the supplier must keep current. Petrobras does not publish a single fixed validity for technical qualification applicable across all goods families, so no interval should be quoted to a client without checking the specific Requisito de Qualificação Técnica for that family. On the technical side the operative rule is edition control rather than renewal: the specification states that the edition or revision of applicable documents is the one in force at the date of contract signature. Personnel certificates renew on their own scheme's cycle — sixty months for SNQC. 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 Petrobras cadastro / RQT findings?

NDT technicians presented with ASNT or other employer-based certificates where clause 7 requires SNQC certification, with no evidence of meeting the I-ET-0000.00-0000-970-PSQ-001 alternative, PIT that does not cover all production, installation and associated service processes of the supply, or that omits the additional inspection requirements defined for the goods family, NDT procedures used without the termo de adequação that the specification requires, Standard editions applied that are not those in force at the date of contract signature. 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 Petrobras cadastro / RQT cover?

UT — Petrobras N-1594 covers ultrasonic testing of welds, RT — Petrobras N-1595, PT — Petrobras N-1596, VT — Petrobras N-1597, MT — Petrobras N-1598, Dimensional control inspection (ABNT NBR 15523), Welding inspection (ABNT NBR 14842), Painting inspection (ABNT NBR 15218). 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.

Related: the Petrobras cadastro / RQT overview, outsourced ASNT Level III cover, written practice development, NDT procedure development, a programme gap assessment, interim Level III cover.