NDT Procedure Management Software in the Middle East

Controlled NDT procedures and techniques with revisions and approvals. Request a demo. Affordable. Accessible. Fully customizable. Quote on request.

Procedure control for NDT companies in the Gulf

NDT companies in the Gulf work for some of the most document-heavy clients in the industry. A contractor based in Dammam or Al Khobar may have crews in Jubail and Ras Tanura for Saudi Aramco-related work, a team on a turnaround in Ruwais, and another mobilising to Ras Laffan or Mesaieed in Qatar or to the Ahmadi refineries in Kuwait. Every one of those owners has its own engineering standards, its own contractor approval process and its own view of what a good NDT procedure looks like.

That makes the procedure library the hardest-working document set in the company. The same RT procedure may exist in three client versions. A PAUT procedure may be approved for one project and still under comment on another. The Level III who approves them may be on site, in another country or covering several companies’ work. And turnaround season compresses all of it into a few frantic weeks.

The Procedures app in the Atlantis NDT ERP gives you one controlled register for all of it. Each procedure carries its document number, revision, method, scope, material, applicable standard and acceptance criteria. It moves through draft, submitted, reviewed, approved and published, with rejected and archived states. Preparer, reviewer and approver names and dates are recorded, approved revisions are locked, a snapshot of every revision is kept, and approvers get email notifications and reminders.

This page looks at what drives procedure work in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Kuwait: client standards and contractor approval, the mix of ASME, API and EN ISO codes, radiation regulators, turnaround pressure and multinational crews. The owners and regulators named here are context for your work, not Atlantis customers.

Saudi Aramco work: SAES standards and procedure review

Work in the Saudi Aramco sphere runs on its engineering standards. The SAES-W welding standards define the NDT required for on-plot piping, pipelines, pressure vessels and other equipment, and they sit on top of the international codes rather than replacing them. Contractors and their NDT subcontractors typically submit NDT procedures for review by the client’s inspection organisation before use on a project, and the inspection checklists and report forms used on projects expect the procedure to be referenced.

In practice this means your Aramco-bound procedures look different from your general procedures. They cite the relevant SAES alongside ASME Section V, they carry the client’s acceptance criteria where these differ from the construction code, and they are revised whenever the client revises the standard they rely on. A procedure that was accepted two years ago may no longer match the current standard, and the reviewer will notice.

The Procedures app keeps those versions apart and under control. Each client-specific procedure is its own record, with the applicable standard and acceptance criteria stated in their own fields, so you can filter the register and see every procedure that cites a given SAES. When the standard changes, each affected procedure goes through a new revision, and the snapshot of the earlier revision shows exactly what the client accepted before.

Tracking the client’s own review status and transmittal reference for each submission is not built in, but it can be added as part of the customization scope agreed with you, so your document controller sees in one place what has been submitted, what came back with comments and what was accepted.

ADNOC, QatarEnergy and KNPC projects

Across the rest of the Gulf the pattern is similar with different details. ADNOC group companies in Abu Dhabi, QatarEnergy and its operating affiliates in Qatar, and KNPC in Kuwait each work to their own engineering specifications, maintain approved vendor or contractor lists and expect procedures to be submitted and accepted before work starts. Much of the capital project work is executed by international EPC contractors, so your procedures often travel through the EPC’s document control first, come back with comment codes, and are resubmitted before they ever reach the owner.

A typical NDT company in the region ends up with a base procedure per method plus a set of client and project variants. The variants differ in small but important ways: a specific IQI placement, a different acceptance table, a required extent of examination, an extra reporting requirement. Small differences are exactly what goes wrong when variants are managed as copies of a Word file.

In the Procedures app, each variant is its own record, numbered so its client or project is clear. Internal review comments become rejection reasons on the record, so the author knows exactly what to fix before the EPC sees it. Each resubmission is a new revision with a snapshot, so you can show the owner what changed in response to its comments. Email reminders keep internal approvals moving so your submission does not become the item holding up a project schedule.

The codes underneath: ASME, API and EN ISO

Under the client standards, Gulf procedures mostly rest on American codes. ASME Section V sets the procedure requirements for each method. ASME Section VIII and B31.3 provide acceptance criteria for pressure vessels and process piping. API 1104 governs pipeline welding and NDT. API 650 and API 653 cover storage tanks, and API 510 and 570 frame in-service inspection of vessels and piping. On projects designed by European EPCs, EN ISO technique and acceptance standards appear as well, sometimes on the same site.

That mix is why the applicable standard and acceptance criteria fields matter. A reviewer looking at a UT procedure needs to know immediately whether it is written to ASME Section V with B31.3 acceptance, to a client SAES with its own table, or to EN ISO 17640 with EN ISO 11666 acceptance. The register shows it on the record rather than on page six of the document.

Certification is mixed too. Gulf crews commonly hold ASNT-based certifications under an employer’s SNT-TC-1A written practice, ASNT central certifications, or ISO 9712 certifications from schemes in their home countries, and clients may have their own qualification or testing requirements for NDT personnel. The Certificates app records all of these by scheme, level, method, certifying body and expiry, so you can confirm that the Level III approving a procedure holds a current certificate in that method before you route it.

Radiography regulators and radiation procedures

Industrial radiography in the Gulf is licensed nationally. In Saudi Arabia the Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Commission licenses radiation practices; in the UAE it is the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation; Qatar and Kuwait have their own national radiation protection authorities. Each expects licensees to operate under a radiation protection programme with written procedures for source use, storage, transport and emergencies, and each can inspect.

On Gulf sites radiography is often done at night or in restricted windows to keep congested plants working during the day, which raises the stakes on barrier, signage and emergency procedures being current and understood. Owners and EPCs frequently ask to see radiation procedures as part of the contractor’s submission as well.

In the Procedures app, radiation protection procedures sit in the same register as RT, CR and DR technique procedures, with their own numbering and approval chain — the radiation protection officer plus management — and the same locked revisions and revision history. When the regulator or a client audit leads to a change, the revision goes through the workflow and the previous version is preserved.

Supporting records live elsewhere in the ERP. The employee NDT profile records radiation safety training, radiation badge number and medical fitness expiry. The Fleet app records whether a vehicle can carry radioactive sources and its transport licence number and expiry, which helps when sources move between Eastern Province sites or across borders.

Turnaround and shutdown season

Shutdown and turnaround seasons in the Gulf concentrate a year’s worth of procedure activity into a few weeks. Owners publish scopes late, EPCs and maintenance contractors ask for procedures for methods and components you did not quote for, and your Level III is suddenly the bottleneck for half the company.

The Procedures app cannot make the season quieter, but it removes the avoidable delays:

Link that with the Team Assignments app, which blocks double-booking of technicians and equipment and warns when assigned equipment is out of calibration, and the crew that mobilises has the right people, the right kit and the right procedure revision.

Multinational crews and bilingual documents

Gulf NDT crews are multinational. A single team may include technicians from India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Egypt and elsewhere, with a Level III from yet another country. English is the working language of procedures, but clarity matters more than it does with a crew that shares a first language. Some clients and authorities also ask for Arabic versions of particular documents, especially radiation safety and emergency material.

Two things help. First, procedures that are clear and consistent across clients: the register makes it easy to compare variants and keep the base procedure clean. Second, controlled language versions: an Arabic version can be held as its own record, numbered to show the pairing, or as a controlled attachment, and it passes through review and approval like the English original. Whether you also want a step where technicians confirm they have read a procedure before mobilising is part of the customization scope agreed with you.

Personnel paperwork tied to residence permits and visas is handled in the employee records, not the procedure register, keeping the procedure library focused on technical content.

Connected to the rest of the ERP

The Procedures app is part of the Atlantis NDT ERP. Project tasks carry procedure and WPS references. The NDT Reports app captures procedure and standard references on each report type, with inspector, reviewer and approver signatures and the third-party inspector’s name and signature, so the report the client receives quotes the exact procedure revision used. The Certificates app flags expiring and expired certificates and timesheets warn when a technician’s certificate is not valid.

For owners who want inspection results on the asset itself, Atlantis offers Digital Twin Reporting Software, a separate companion product that places inspection results on a 3D model of the asset and works alongside the ERP’s NDT Reports app.

Implementation and Level III support

We start from your existing library and client list: base procedures, client and project variants, radiation procedures, the standards each cites and who approved them. We agree numbering that makes the client pairing obvious, set approval routes by method, load the register, configure reminders, and run a live revision with your team. VAT and other local invoicing settings in the wider ERP are configured for your country during implementation. The ERP is affordable, accessible and fully customizable, with pricing on request.

If your procedures need rewriting for a client standard, or you need a new PAUT or TOFD procedure ahead of a shutdown, Atlantis NDT offers procedure writing and review by ASNT Level III personnel through its NDT consulting services. Atlantis also offers SNT-TC-1A-based NDT training for companies building Level I and Level II capability. Book a Procedures demo for your Gulf team.

Frequently asked questions

Can we keep separate procedures for Aramco, ADNOC and other clients?

Yes. Each client or project variant is its own record with its own number, applicable standard, acceptance criteria and revision history.

Can we track client comments and resubmissions?

Each resubmission is a new revision with a snapshot, and internal rejections carry their reason. Tracking the client’s review status and transmittal reference can be added in the agreed customization scope.

Does the app record both ASNT and ISO 9712 certificates?

Yes. The Certificates app records SNT-TC-1A, CP-189, ISO 9712, PCN, CSWIP and other schemes, with level, method and expiry.

Where do radiation protection procedures go?

In the same register, with their own numbering and approval chain, locked approved revisions and revision history.

Can we hold Arabic versions?

Yes, as paired records or controlled attachments, reviewed and approved like the English original.

Does the AI draft replace our Level III?

No. It is a starting point only. A Level III reviews and approves every procedure before publication.

Talk to us

Tell us which clients you work for, which methods you run and how many procedures and variants you control. We will show you the register and workflow using examples that look like your own library. Request a quote for the Procedures app.

Procedures by region

Works with

Send an enquiry about Procedures · All ERP apps · Atlantis NDT ERP

Built for any business that runs on operations

Most companies do not fail at their craft. They lose time, margin and goodwill in the gaps between the tools they use to run the place — a quoting spreadsheet that does not talk to the job sheet, a job sheet that does not reach accounts, and a compliance folder nobody can search when a client asks. Atlantis closes those gaps by putting the whole operation on one platform, so information is entered once and everything downstream stays in step.

What you can run on it

  • Sales and CRM — leads, quotes, follow-ups and the pipeline that tells you what next month looks like.
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  • Inventory and purchasing — stock, suppliers, reorder points and goods receipt, joined to the jobs that consume them.
  • People — records, qualifications and licences with renewal reminders, timesheets, leave and payroll.
  • Quality and documents — procedures and forms under revision control, with the audit trail an inspection or accreditation body actually asks for.
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Affordable, accessible, fully customizable — and we mean each word

Affordable because the whole suite is included rather than sold to you a module at a time, and because implementation is done by people who have run operations rather than by a chain of subcontractors. Accessible because it runs in a browser and on a phone, works for a small team on day one, and does not need a specialist on staff to keep it alive. Fully customizable because your process is the thing that makes you competitive — the software should bend to it, not the other way round.

Industries we configure for

Service businesses and contractors, manufacturing and fabrication, trading and distribution, laboratories and testing houses, engineering consultancies, construction and facilities, and asset owners across energy, marine, aerospace and infrastructure. Inspection and testing is where we started, and it remains the sector we go deepest in — but the platform underneath is general-purpose, and most of what it does has nothing to do with inspection at all.

What happens when you get in touch

A short conversation, not a sales sequence. We ask how the business runs today and where it hurts, show you the platform doing that work, and send a written quote shaped to your region, your team size and the scope you actually need. No obligation, nothing to install first, and no pressure to decide on the call. Reach out and tell us what you are trying to fix.

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Atlantis NDT provides ASNT Level III consulting, NDT training to ASNT SNT-TC-1A, inspection management software and independent report validation. Request a free consultation and we will return a tailored quote — affordable, accessible and fully customizable to your programme.