Magnetic Particle Testing (MT) Requirements Under Part 192

System performance is verified rather than assumed: lift tests on yokes and field indicator checks are dated records an auditor expects to see per shift or per job. Part 192, enforced by Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Office of Pipeline Safety, US.: Neither employer-based nor central certification is mandated by the rule. Section 192.

An auditor examining MT asks for yoke or bench unit, ammeter, field indicators, lift-test weights and the consumables in use. Part 192 writes your job description even though it regulates the operator. Section 192.243 requires nondestructive testing of welds to be performed in accordance with written procedures and by persons who have been trained and qualified in the established procedures and with the equipment employed in testing — that is the entire personnel requirement, and it names no certification scheme. Separate interpretation procedures must be established for each test. Weld acceptability is judged under 192.241(c) against section 9 or Appendix A of API Std 1104, and Appendix A may not be used to accept cracks. The percentage of each day's field butt welds you test is fixed by class location, a sample of each welder's work must be tested each day, and the operator must keep the resulting record for the life of the pipeline.

Source: 49 CFR Part 192 as published in the eCFR, text current to 1 August 2026, cross-checked against the 2024 annual CFR edition on govinfo.gov. Verified verbatim: §192.7, which incorporates API Standard 1104, Welding of Pipelines and Related Facilities, 21st edition, September 2013, including Errata 1 through 5 (April 2014 through September 2018), Addendum 1 (2014) and Addendum 2 (2016), IBR approved for §§192.225(a), 192.227(a), 192.229(b) and (c), 192.241(c) and Appendix B to Part 192 — and which incorporates ASME BPVC Section IX, 2007 edition, but NOT ASME Section V, so Section V is not a federal requirement for Part 192 pipeline NDT; §192.227(a) welder qualification routes and (c) five-year record retention for steel transmission pipe installed after 1 July 2021; §192.241(b) the 20 percent SMYS trigger and the visual-inspection exceptions, and (c) acceptability under section 9 or Appendix A of API Std 1104 with Appendix A barred from accepting cracks; §192.243(a) through (f) in full, including the Class 1 at least 10 percent, Class 2 at least 15 percent, Class 3 and 4 plus major or navigable river crossings, offshore and railroad or public highway rights-of-way including tunnels, bridges and overhead road crossings at 100 percent unless impracticable in which case at least 90 percent, and tie-ins at 100 percent; §192.245(a) removal of a weld with a crack more than 8 percent of the weld length; §192.801 the four-part covered-task test; §192.805(a) through (i); and §192.807(a) and (b). Accessed 21 August 2026.

Magnetic Particle Testing under Part 192 — procedure, personnel and evidence
Item	What applies	Why it matters
Regime	Transportation of Natural and Other Gas by Pipeline: Minimum Federal Safety Standards, 49 CFR Part 192	Enforced by Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Office of Pipeline Safety, US Department of Transportation; state agencies certified under 49 U.S.C. Chapter 601 inspect intrastate pipelines
Method	Magnetic Particle Testing (MT)	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	RT, AUT, PAUT, UT, PT, VT	Each needs separate qualification
Renewal	No certificate exists to renew; the obligations are continuous. Re-evaluation intervals for operator qualification are set by the operator in its own programme under §192.805(g), not by the rule, so they vary by operator and by task. Records supporting an individual's current qualification must be maintained while that individual performs the covered task; records of prior qualification and of individuals no longer performing covered tasks must be retained for five years under §192.807(b). Welder qualification records for steel transmission pipe installed after 1 July 2021 are retained a minimum of five years following construction. The nondestructive testing record itself is retained for the life of the pipeline.	Applies to the personnel certification behind this method

Does Part 192 require a separate procedure for MT?

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 MT procedure under Part 192?

A Level III qualified in MT. Because Part 192 accepts employer-based certification, that Level III may be contracted rather than employed — but their own qualification must cover MT, and an auditor will check that before accepting the signature.

What MT records does a Part 192 audit sample?

The approved procedure, the technician's MT certification on the date of work, and the equipment evidence — yoke or bench unit, ammeter, field indicators, lift-test weights and the consumables in use. 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 MT finding at audit?

Yoke lift test not recorded, or field adequacy not demonstrated for the geometry. 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 Part 192 is recorded the same way as not having done the work.

Can a technician certified elsewhere perform MT under Part 192?

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 MT need under Part 192?

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 MT requirements differ from the other methods in Part 192?

Scope, qualification and evidence are method-specific, so the differences are real rather than administrative. Part 192 also covers RT, AUT, PAUT, UT, PT, and each carries its own procedure, its own personnel qualification and its own equipment evidence.

Personnel certification for MT

Neither employer-based nor central certification is mandated by the rule. Section 192.243(b)(2) requires only persons who have been trained and qualified in the established procedures and with the equipment employed in testing. In practice operators specify ASNT SNT-TC-1A Level II as their contractual acceptance criterion, and an outsourced Level III writing the written practice and certifying technicians satisfies that specification — but what is federally enforceable is procedure-specific and equipment-specific training, evidenced per technician per procedure. Separately, Subpart N operator qualification applies to covered tasks, defined as activities performed on a pipeline facility that are operations or maintenance tasks, performed as a requirement of Part 192, and that affect the operation or integrity of the pipeline. The operator identifies them, so ask which of your scope items are on the operator's covered-task list rather than assuming.