{"slug":"/consulting/ndt-training-records-and-certificates","title":"NDT Training Records and Certificates That Pass Audit","description":"Formal NDT training hour records, course outlines, certificates and instructor evidence, mapped to the method and level hours your written practice specifies.","h1":"Training records that show what was taught, by whom, for which level","answer":"An NDT training record proves a candidate completed organized training in a specific method and level: the hours, the outline covered, the dates, the provider, the instructor and any course assessment. A certificate on its own rarely shows all of that. The hours must meet what your written practice specifies, which SNT-TC-1A gives as recommendations.","expansion":"Under ASNT SNT-TC-1A, training hours by method and level are recommendations; the employer converts them into requirements in its written practice and can add to them. ANSI/ASNT CP-189 sets its training requirements in mandatory language, and ANSI/ASNT CP-105 (2024) defines the topical outlines that describe what a course should cover. The training record is the evidence that each candidate met the written practice before sitting examinations. It fails when it shows a course title but no hours, hours but no method or level, an outline nobody can match to the body of knowledge, online modules with no evidence of completion, or an instructor whose competence is undocumented. Atlantis builds the record set around your written practice: an hours ledger per candidate, method and level; outlines mapped to CP-105 topics; certificate and instructor-file templates; and an ASNT NDT Level III review of the records you already hold.","source":"ASNT SNT-TC-1A (2024, with Addendum), training requirements and recommended training tables; ANSI/ASNT CP-105 (2024) topical outlines; ANSI/ASNT CP-189 (2024); ASME BPVC Section V, Article 1; the employer's written practice.","table":{"caption":"What a training certificate usually shows, against what the training record must show","columns":["Element","On a typical certificate","What the training record adds","Why an auditor asks"],"rows":[["Course","Course title and date","Method, level and the outline revision actually taught","A title does not prove the content suited the level sought"],["Hours","A total, sometimes","Hours by method and level, net of breaks and non-method sessions, tallied against the written practice","Hours decide eligibility for examination"],["Content","Rarely anything","Topics covered, mapped to CP-105 or to the outline the written practice adopts","Shows the body of knowledge was addressed"],["Instructor","A signature, if any","Name and the qualification basis the written practice requires","Training by an unqualified instructor is open to challenge"],["Assessment","A pass statement","Course test results, filed apart from certification examinations","A course quiz is not a certification examination"],["Provider","Logo and address","Internal or outside provider, and the employer's documented acceptance of it","The employer stays responsible for training it accepts"],["Delivery","Seldom stated","Classroom, on-site or self-paced online, and how completion was verified","Self-paced hours need evidence they were spent"],["Acceptance","Nothing","Level III or designee review confirming the hours count toward this certification","Ties the training to a certification decision"]],"note":"Keep every certificate. File it behind the training record as supporting evidence, never in place of it."},"facets":[{"q":"How many training hours does an NDT Level I or Level II need?","a":"The hours your written practice specifies. SNT-TC-1A gives recommended hours by method and level, CP-189 states requirements, and a client specification or code can add more for particular techniques. Because the figures differ by method, level and edition, we build each candidate's ledger directly from the table in your written practice rather than from a generic chart."},{"q":"Is a training certificate enough evidence for an audit?","a":"Rarely. A certificate shows that a course happened. The training record must show it was the right course for the method and level, that the candidate completed the required hours, what content was covered, who taught it and that the employer accepted it. File the certificate as support and let the record carry the argument."},{"q":"Do training hours count toward experience?","a":"No. SNT-TC-1A defines experience as work in the method under qualified supervision and excludes time spent in organized training programmes. Practical exercises inside a course are training, even when they involve real equipment and real parts. Keep the two ledgers separate; see our page on [experience logs](/consulting/ndt-experience-logs)."},{"q":"Who may deliver NDT training under SNT-TC-1A?","a":"The employer's own staff or an outside provider, so long as the written practice describes how training is given and the employer accepts the provider. Auditors ask who taught the course and why that person was competent to. Record the answer in an instructor file: certifications held by method and level, and any teaching qualification the written practice requires."},{"q":"Does self-paced online training count toward the hours?","a":"It can, if the written practice accepts it and the record proves completion. That means module-level completion data, time spent, assessments passed and a link to the candidate's identity, not just a final certificate. Hands-on skill still comes from practical training and experience, which online hours do not replace."},{"q":"What is CP-105 and why does it matter to training records?","a":"ANSI/ASNT CP-105 (2024) sets out the topical outlines for NDT personnel qualification: the body of knowledge by method and level. Mapping each course outline to those topics lets an auditor see at a glance that the training covered what the level requires, and shows where a course leaves gaps the candidate must fill elsewhere."}],"sections":[{"heading":"Hours are the eligibility gate, so count them carefully","paragraphs":["Training hours decide when a candidate may sit examinations, which makes them the first number an auditor checks. The written practice should state the hours for each method and level, drawn from SNT-TC-1A's recommendations, CP-189's requirements or a client specification, and say whether hours earned for one level carry toward the next. The training record then tallies each candidate against that table. Without a tally, the auditor does the arithmetic from certificates, and the arithmetic rarely comes out the way the file assumed.","Count net hours in the method. A course that spends a morning on safety induction, site rules or company procedures does not deliver method hours for that morning, and a combined MT and PT course needs its hours split between the two by a rule the written practice states. When a candidate trains in a technique within a method, such as phased array within ultrasonics, the record should show those hours separately, because ASME Section V adds supplemental requirements for computerized imaging techniques and client specifications can add their own."]},{"heading":"Course outlines mapped to the body of knowledge","paragraphs":["A course outline is the evidence that training covered the right material. For a programme built on SNT-TC-1A or CP-189, the reference point is ANSI/ASNT CP-105, which sets out the topics expected by method and level. Mapping each outline to those topics, one topic at a time, turns a page of course headings into something an auditor can check quickly and shows exactly where a course falls short of the level being sought.","The mapping also protects the employer when a provider changes its course. Outlines should carry a revision and date, and the training record should cite the revision the candidate actually attended. If a provider drops a topic in a later revision, candidates trained on it need the gap closed elsewhere, and only a revision-controlled outline makes that visible. We prepare outline maps for internal courses and for the outside courses you accept."]},{"heading":"What a training certificate should carry","paragraphs":["A certificate is the document technicians keep, so it travels between employers and ends up in other companies' files. It should name the candidate, the method, the level, the hours, the dates, the provider, the instructor and the outline revision, and it should be signed. None of those fields is hard to print, and together they save a future employer from treating the certificate as unverifiable. We draft certificate templates for in-house training to that standard.","Receiving employers should still verify. A certificate from an unfamiliar provider, missing hours or naming no level, needs a call to the provider and a note in the file of what was confirmed. The written practice should say whether training from previous employers or schools is accepted and what evidence is needed, because an auditor will test the most recent hires first."]},{"heading":"Instructor qualification evidence","paragraphs":["Auditors ask who taught the course, and the answer belongs in an instructor file: the instructor's certifications by method and level, their experience in the method, any teaching qualification the written practice or client requires, and the courses they are approved to teach. For courses taught by an outside provider, the employer's file should hold the provider's confirmation of the instructor and the employer's own acceptance of the provider.","The written practice is where instructor requirements are set, and it should be specific. A clause saying training is given by qualified personnel tells an auditor nothing. A clause saying method training is given by a Level III in that method, or by a Level II approved by the Level III for a named course, gives the auditor a rule to check the instructor file against and gives your team a rule to follow when scheduling courses."]},{"heading":"Training spread across providers, years and techniques","paragraphs":["Real careers are untidy. One technician's Level I theory came from a school, their practical training from a former employer and a technique course from an equipment supplier. The record should consolidate all of it into one ledger per method, with each entry traced to its evidence and each accepted or rejected by the Level III with a reason. A pile of certificates in date order is not a ledger.","Equipment manufacturer training deserves its own line. Instruction on a specific flaw detector or software package is valuable, but it is product training, not method training, unless its content maps to the outline. Record it, note whether the written practice credits it toward any requirement, and keep it from inflating method hours that an auditor will later strip back out."]},{"heading":"Refresher and recertification training","paragraphs":["Recertification brings training records back into play. Whether a technician retrains at recertification, how much and in what form are written practice decisions informed by the governing document. The record should show what was done at recertification with the same rigour as initial training: hours, content, instructor, date and acceptance. Refresher training that leaves no record is, for audit purposes, training that did not happen.","Refresher records are also where changes to codes and procedures are best evidenced. When a procedure revision changes acceptance criteria, or a client introduces a new reporting requirement, a short documented briefing with attendance and content shows the change reached the people signing reports. That record is small, and it closes a question auditors ask about every revised procedure: how do you know the technicians know?"]},{"heading":"What Atlantis delivers on training records","paragraphs":["We build the training record set around your written practice: an hours ledger for each candidate by method and level, outline maps against CP-105, certificate and instructor-file templates, a provider acceptance form, and wording for the training clauses of the written practice where it is vague. Existing files are reviewed by an ASNT NDT Level III, and each candidate's status is reported as eligible, eligible with conditions or not yet eligible. Records from any provider, including [our own SNT-TC-1A-based courses](/training), go through the same acceptance review.","If a client audit, a recertification cycle or a new contract has put your training files under scrutiny, start with the candidates nearest to examination or audit. [Ask us to quote a training record review](/contact?service=consulting&subject=Training%20records) and tell us which methods and how many technicians are involved."]}],"faq":[{"q":"Can we accept training a new hire completed elsewhere?","a":"Yes, if your written practice allows it and the evidence holds up: method, level, hours, content and provider confirmed. Verify unfamiliar providers directly, record what you confirmed, and have the Level III accept or reject each item with a reason. Unverified certificates should not count toward hours."},{"q":"Should course quizzes be filed with certification examinations?","a":"No. Course assessments show learning during training; general, specific and practical examinations are the certification examinations your written practice defines. Filing them together invites an auditor to question which result supported certification. Keep course results with the training record and examination papers with the certification file."},{"q":"Can you write our course outlines?","a":"Yes. We draft outlines for internal courses against the CP-105 topics for each method and level, with revision control and an hours allocation per topic. Outlines in UT, RT, MT, PT and VT are reviewed by our ASNT NDT Level III; others are drafted for approval by a Level III in that method."},{"q":"Does product training from an equipment supplier count?","a":"Only as far as your written practice credits it. Product training teaches an instrument; method training teaches the physics, technique and interpretation the level requires. Record supplier courses separately and map them to the outline before counting any hours toward method requirements."}]}