ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section V (Nondestructive Examination) sets out how NDE is performed: methods, equipment, calibration, techniques, written procedures, personnel and records. It applies only when another Code Section or a contract invokes it, and it does not set acceptance criteria; those come from the referencing construction code, such as Section I, Section VIII or B31.3. The current edition is the 2025 edition, published on 1 July 2025 and mandatory from 1 January 2026.
This guide maps the Section V articles to the examinations they govern, explains where phased array (PAUT) and time-of-flight diffraction (TOFD) actually sit, separates mandatory from nonmandatory appendices, and lists the audit findings that come up repeatedly.
Subsection A holds the method articles that ASME writes. Subsection B republishes ASTM standards as SE- and SA- documents, which apply when a method article or the referencing code calls them. The 2025 edition added a Subsection C for in-service techniques and moved several existing articles into it, so check the edition your contract names before citing an article number.
The core Subsection A articles are:
There has been no Article 3 for many years. Later articles cover further techniques, including continuous acoustic emission monitoring, examination system qualification, ACFM, magnetic flux leakage, remote field testing, acoustic pulse reflectometry, guided waves, computed tomography and pulsed eddy current; the 2025 edition relocated several of these to Subsection C.
Article 1 covers the scope of Section V, the responsibilities of the manufacturer, fabricator or installer, and personnel qualification. NDE personnel are qualified and certified under the employer's written practice, using the edition of ASNT SNT-TC-1A or ANSI/ASNT CP-189 that the Code adopts (the 2025 Code adopts the 2024 edition of SNT-TC-1A), and Section V lets a national or international central certification scheme, such as ASNT 9712 or ISO 9712, satisfy some written-practice requirements. The employer still issues the certification. Procedures must be written and, where the Code requires, demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Inspector.
Article 2 governs film and digital radiography: source and film or detector selection, image quality indicators, density or signal requirements, and records. Its mandatory appendices cover techniques such as computed radiography and digital detector arrays.
Article 4 covers ultrasonic examination of welds and Article 5 ultrasonic examination of materials, including thickness measurement. Every UT examination must follow a written procedure that addresses the essential variables Section V lists: equipment, search units, calibration, scanning, and recording. A Level III approves the procedure; the examination is performed and interpreted by personnel certified at the level the employer's written practice requires.
PAUT and TOFD are not standalone articles. Both sit inside Article 4, in its mandatory appendices, which set the additional requirements for those techniques: scan plans, calibration, encoded scanning and data recording. If you have seen a list that places phased array in Article 11 or TOFD in Article 12, it is wrong; those articles are acoustic emission. Citing the wrong article in a procedure is a straightforward audit finding.
Article 6 (liquid penetrant) and Article 7 (magnetic particle) cover surface examinations, Article 8 covers eddy current examination, Article 9 covers visual examination (direct, remote and translucent), and Article 10 covers leak testing techniques. Each sets the procedure, equipment and technique requirements; acceptance criteria again come from the referencing code.
Mandatory appendices are requirements and must be met when the article applies, for example the Article 4 appendices for PAUT and TOFD or the Article 2 appendices for digital radiography. Nonmandatory appendices are guidance, such as sample forms, examples and supplementary explanations.
Missing or expired certifications for NDT personnel are the most frequent finding, followed by written practices that still name an older SNT-TC-1A edition after the contract moved to the current Code. Written procedures that lack the essential variables, generic procedures used in non-standard applications, expired or incorrect reference standards, missing calibration records, and procedures that cite PAUT or TOFD by the wrong article are also common. Work is assessed under the edition in force when it was performed and accepted; applying a newer edition retrospectively does not strengthen an old acceptance.
Effective ASME Section V compliance requires systematic management: a written practice aligned with the adopted SNT-TC-1A or CP-189 edition, documented Level II and Level III certifications, application-specific procedures with the correct article references, calibrated equipment with records, an inventory of reference standards, internal audits, and controlled retention of examination reports. Track ASME errata and the next edition, due in 2027.
ASME Section V tells you how to perform an examination; the referencing code tells you whether the result is acceptable. Getting the article map, the edition and the personnel basis right is what keeps a Section V program out of audit findings.
Atlantis NDT is led by an ASNT NDT Level III. We develop application-specific procedures and conduct compliance audits against the current Code.
Contact us to develop or audit your ASME Section V compliance program and ensure your NDT operations meet the latest Code standards.
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