NDT Inspection Services in Florida

In brief: Atlantis NDT performs non-destructive testing for power plants, fuel terminals, shipyards, phosphate and chemical plants, launch-site contractors, pipelines and fabricators across Florida, from Pensacola and Panama City to Jacksonville, Tampa Bay, the Space Coast and South Florida. Services cover weld inspection by VT, MT, PT, UT, PAUT, TOFD and RT, UT thickness and corrosion mapping, MFL tank floor scanning, pulsed eddy current, ACFM, eddy current and IRIS tube inspection, PMI and holiday testing, and the NDE behind API 510, API 570 and API 653 inspections. Procedures are approved by an ASNT NDT Level III, technicians are certified under an SNT-TC-1A written practice, crews are mobilized to your site, and every job ends with a code-referenced digital report.

Florida's inspection market is shaped as much by what the state lacks as by what it has. There are no oil refineries, so gasoline, diesel and jet fuel arrive by ship and barge at port terminals and move inland by pipeline and truck. Electricity comes largely from big gas-fired plants and two nuclear stations, supplied by interstate gas pipelines. Phosphate fertilizer plants around Tampa Bay and in North Florida run sulfuric and phosphoric acid units, Navy ships are repaired in Jacksonville, and launch infrastructure on the Space Coast keeps expanding. Weld inspection is a large share of Florida requests, and many buyers search for AWS CWI services; the weld inspection section below explains how that requirement is handled. To start now, send your Florida inspection request.

Where inspection work is in Florida

Direct answer: Florida inspection demand concentrates in six areas: Tampa Bay's port, fuel terminals, power plants and phosphate plants; Northeast Florida's Navy ship repair, LNG plants, paper mills and utilities; the Space Coast launch sites and factories; South Florida's nuclear and gas-fired power plants and engine makers; the gas and products pipelines through Central Florida; and the Panhandle's shipyards and chemical plants.

Tampa Bay: port, fuel terminals, power and phosphate

Port Tampa Bay describes itself as the largest and most diversified port in Florida. Petroleum products and steel come in, phosphate and fertilizer go out, and the port also operates ship repair facilities. Kinder Morgan runs several refined-products terminals on the bay and the Central Florida Pipeline to Orlando: a 16-inch line for gasoline and batched ethanol and a 10-inch line for diesel and jet fuel. Tampa Electric's Big Bend Power Station in Hillsborough County, now gas-fired with one remaining coal unit, and its Polk Power Station bring boiler, HRSG and high-energy piping outages. Mosaic's Riverview plant makes sulfuric, phosphoric and fluorosilicic acid and ammoniated phosphate fertilizer and stores phosphogypsum in engineered stacks; Mosaic also runs a plant at Bartow, and in 2026 it curtailed Florida output and idled its South Fort Meade site because of constrained sulfur supply. Acid plants are corrosion-heavy work: thickness surveys on acid tanks, towers and piping, weld examination after repairs, and alloy verification on replacement parts.

Jacksonville and Northeast Florida

Navy ship repair is a large part of Jacksonville's inspection work. BAE Systems' Jacksonville yard serves ships based at Naval Station Mayport and has added a shiplift with a 492-by-110-foot platform, sized for a Flight III guided missile destroyer. Navy weld inspection follows NAVSEA requirements such as Technical Publication T9074-AS-GIB-010/271 for NDT methods and MIL-STD-2035 for acceptance criteria, not commercial codes. JAXPORT hosts two LNG plants: JAX LNG at Dames Point, which liquefies and stores LNG to fuel TOTE Maritime ships and supply bunker barges, and Eagle LNG in west Jacksonville, which serves Crowley's LNG-fueled ships from a holding facility at Talleyrand. North of the city, Smurfit Westrock makes linerboard and Rayonier Advanced Materials makes high-purity cellulose in Fernandina Beach, and Nutrien's White Springs operation mines phosphate and converts it to fertilizer using sulfuric acid. JEA's Northside Generating Station and Seminole Electric Cooperative's Seminole Generating Station in Putnam County add utility work.

The Space Coast

Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station host a growing set of launch operators. SpaceX flies Falcon rockets from LC-39A and SLC-40, has been building Starship launch infrastructure at LC-39A, and has been building a large vehicle processing building known as the Gigabay near Roberts Road. Blue Origin's Exploration Park campus next to Kennedy builds New Glenn and includes test, chemical processing and lunar lander production buildings, with launches from LC-36. ULA launches from SLC-41, where a second Vertical Integration Facility has been under construction, and newer operators including Stoke Space and Relativity are building pads at LC-14 and LC-16. For an NDT contractor the steady work is on the ground: pad and tower structural steel, cryogenic and high-pressure gas piping, propellant and water tanks, cranes, and fabrication of new facilities. Flight hardware is inspected to each operator's own specifications and personnel requirements, often NAS 410-based; Atlantis technicians are certified under SNT-TC-1A, and NAS 410 Level 3 services are available only through an associate.

South Florida: nuclear, gas-fired power and engines

Florida Power & Light operates the Turkey Point nuclear plant in Miami-Dade County and the St. Lucie nuclear plant in St. Lucie County, plus large gas-fired plants including West County Energy Center in Palm Beach County, Martin, Riviera Beach and Port Everglades in Broward County. Combined-cycle units bring HRSG, high-energy piping and condenser tube work during outages. Nuclear NDE runs under the owner's ASME Section XI program and qualification rules, so contractors support only the scopes the owner qualifies them for. Pratt & Whitney's site west of West Palm Beach, founded in 1958 on about 7,000 acres, overhauls GTF airline engines, produces some F135 engines and tests military engines, and L3Harris builds RL10 rocket engines and RS-25 turbopumps in West Palm Beach. The engine hardware itself is customer-controlled aerospace NDT; test cells, fuel systems, air receivers and structures on those sites are conventional work.

Central Florida and the pipeline network

Florida's gas arrives through interstate pipelines: Florida Gas Transmission, in service since 1959; the Gulfstream Natural Gas System, in service since 2002; and Sabal Trail, a 515-mile line from the Transco system in Alabama to the Central Florida Hub in Osceola County, in full operation since 2017, which feeds the Florida Southeast Connection south to Indiantown. Refined products reach Orlando through the Central Florida Pipeline. Compressor and meter stations, tie-ins, relocations and integrity digs call for API 1104 weld inspection, radiography, UT and coating holiday testing.

The Panhandle

Eastern Shipbuilding Group builds tugs, offshore supply vessels, ferries, fireboats and Coast Guard cutters at yards in Panama City, Allanton and Port St. Joe, and in 2025 it was selected to build hybrid-electric ferries for Washington State Ferries. Ascend Performance Materials runs a nylon chemical complex near Pensacola. Shipyard work is weld-intensive, with hull, structural and piping welds inspected by VT, MT, UT and RT to the classification society, owner or government specification; chemical work follows the same mechanical-integrity pattern as plants elsewhere in the state.

Weld inspection and AWS CWI requirements in Florida

Direct answer: Atlantis performs weld inspection across Florida by VT, MT, PT, UT, PAUT, TOFD and RT, with procedures approved by an ASNT NDT Level III. Whether an AWS Certified Welding Inspector must perform or sign the visual welding inspection is set by your specification and the governing code: the client specifies it, and it is confirmed at quotation. Atlantis does not train CWIs and does not claim to supply them.

Many Florida searches ask for "CWI services" or "AWS QC1 inspection services". AWS QC1 is the standard under which the American Welding Society certifies welding inspectors; it certifies people, not companies or services. A CWI verifies that welding meets the approved procedure and the code's visual acceptance criteria. An NDT technician certified under SNT-TC-1A performs and interprets a specific method such as UT or RT. The two credentials are separate, a project may need both, and neither substitutes for the other. When you send a weld inspection request, tell us which code applies and whether your contract names a CWI for the visual inspection or sign-off, and we will confirm at quotation how the NDT scope fits around that requirement.

Florida specifications usually name one of a handful of welding codes. AWS D1.1 governs structural steel in buildings and industrial structures; AWS D1.5, the AASHTO/AWS Bridge Welding Code, governs steel highway bridges; ASME B31.1 and B31.3 govern power and process piping; ASME Section VIII governs new pressure vessels and the National Board Inspection Code governs their repairs; API 1104 governs pipeline girth welds; and Navy ship repair follows NAVSEA publications. The Florida Department of Transportation's Materials Manual sets out fabricator quality control programs for structural metal and has separate sections on advanced ultrasonic testing and computed radiography, so bridge work should be scoped against current FDOT requirements as well as D1.5. On building projects, AISC 360 Chapter N assigns quality control and quality assurance inspection tasks for structural steel and expects NDT personnel to be qualified to their employer's written practice meeting SNT-TC-1A or ASNT CP-189. Florida's threshold-building law adds a layer: a special inspector, who must be a licensed engineer or architect, carries out structural inspections under a plan approved by the building department and seals the reports, and NDT firms work within that plan. Atlantis supplies the NDT data; the special inspector, the engineer of record and any specified CWI keep their own responsibilities. See weld inspection in Tampa, weld inspection in Jacksonville, weld inspection in Miami and US weld inspection services, or send a Florida weld inspection request.

NDT methods we deliver in Florida

Direct answer: Atlantis delivers UT thickness and corrosion mapping, PAUT, TOFD, radiography, MFL tank floor scanning, MT, PT, VT, eddy current and IRIS, pulsed eddy current, ACFM, PMI and holiday testing in Florida. The table links each method to typical Florida assets and the code most often cited; the final technique is agreed with your inspector of record or engineer.

Every technique runs to a written procedure approved by an ASNT NDT Level III and is performed by technicians certified under an SNT-TC-1A written practice. City method pages cover ultrasonic testing in Tampa, radiographic testing in Jacksonville, magnetic particle testing in Tampa, penetrant testing in Miami, visual testing in Jacksonville and eddy current testing in Tampa, and advanced methods have their own pages for PAUT in Tampa, TOFD in Jacksonville, MFL in Tampa, pulsed eddy current, ACFM and IRIS tube inspection.

API 510, 570 and 653 NDE support in Florida

Direct answer: For Florida owners running API 510, API 570 or API 653 programs, Atlantis performs the nondestructive examination those inspections rely on and hands the documented results to the owner's API-certified Authorized Inspector. Atlantis is not an API Authorized Inspector or Authorized Inspection Agency, does not supply API-certified inspectors, and never signs as inspector of record.

Storage tanks (API 653). Florida's large tanks sit mostly at marine fuel terminals, power plants, phosphate and chemical plants and pipeline stations. Chapter 62-762 of the Florida Administrative Code, the state's aboveground storage tank rule, ties field-erected tanks to API 653; for example, a field-erected tank out of service for more than a year is evaluated to API 653 before it returns to service. For out-of-service work we scan floors with MFL and prove up indications with UT, measure shell thickness, examine shell-to-bottom and repair welds, and collect settlement data for your inspector. See tank inspection in Tampa, tank inspection in Jacksonville and API 653 tank inspection support.

Pressure vessels (API 510) and piping (API 570). Phosphate plant vessels, chemical reactors and columns, LNG plant vessels and power-plant deaerators and heaters follow the same pattern: UT thickness at each CML, MT or PT on nozzle and attachment welds during entries, and PAUT or TOFD where cracking or repairs justify it. In piping, corrosion under insulation is the persistent Florida problem, because insulated lines near the coast stay warm and wet for much of the year. We screen with pulsed eddy current where your program allows it, take UT once insulation is stripped, and add soil-to-air interfaces and supports at terminals. See pressure vessel inspection in Tampa, piping inspection in Jacksonville, corrosion inspection in Miami and corrosion under insulation inspection.

Atlantis does not offer risk-based inspection (API 580/581) studies or fitness-for-service (API 579) assessments. Those decisions belong to the owner and the owner's engineers; we provide the traceable data they use.

Hurricane season, outages and the Florida calendar

Direct answer: The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, and Florida's power demand peaks in the hot months, so planned outages and large inspection campaigns usually sit in the cooler part of the year. After a storm, terminals, plants and pipelines often need fast condition inspections before restart.

The 2024 season showed how storms drive inspection. Ahead of Hurricane Milton in October 2024, Kinder Morgan shut its Tampa Bay terminals and both Central Florida Pipeline lines, days after the diesel and jet line had restarted following Hurricane Helene. Restarting after high winds or storm surge typically calls for external inspection of tanks, roofs, seals, foundations and piping supports, with thickness or crack checks wherever damage is found. We mobilize post-storm condition surveys once a site is safe to enter, with dates agreed during scoping.

Heat and humidity shape everyday work too. Sun-exposed tank shells and piping in summer can exceed 125°F, the upper limit of the standard temperature range for penetrant procedures under ASME Section V Article 6, so PT may need early-morning work or a procedure qualified for higher temperatures. Afternoon thunderstorms bring lightning holds for elevated outdoor work, and humidity matters for coating and holiday testing. Generating units and phosphate plants plan outages months ahead, and Navy ship availabilities follow the Navy's maintenance schedule, so involve us while the scope is being written. See turnaround and shutdown inspection, or plan a Florida outage or post-storm inspection.

Florida regulations that shape inspection

Direct answer: Florida's Boiler Safety Act covers boilers in public assembly locations and is administered by the Department of Financial Services through the State Fire Marshal's boiler safety program. Florida is an NRC Agreement State, with radioactive materials licensed by the Department of Health. The Florida Public Service Commission oversees intrastate gas pipeline safety, PHMSA regulates interstate pipelines, federal OSHA enforces process safety and FDEP regulates storage tanks.

Boilers: the Florida Boiler Safety Act

Part II of Chapter 554 of the Florida Statutes applies its inspection requirements to boilers in public assembly locations, a term that covers schools, day care centers, churches, hospitals, stadiums, amusement parks and other places open to the public. Power boilers and high-pressure, high-temperature water boilers get annual certificate inspections; heating and hot-water supply boilers are inspected every two years, with an internal inspection every four years where construction allows. Insurers inspect the boilers they insure, and some local governments inspect through licensed special inspectors. The State Boiler Code, Rule 69A-51.010 of the Florida Administrative Code, adopts ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Sections I, IV, V and IX, ASME CSD-1, the National Board Inspection Code and ASME B31.1. The Act deals with boilers; for unfired pressure vessels in industrial plants, inspection is normally driven by the owner's API 510 program, insurers and process safety rules.

Radiography and radioactive materials

Industrial radiography with gamma sources needs a radioactive-materials license from the state or the NRC. Florida is an NRC Agreement State, and the Florida Department of Health's Bureau of Radiation Control licenses radioactive materials under Chapter 64E-5 of the Florida Administrative Code. Work in areas under exclusive federal jurisdiction can fall to the NRC instead, which matters on some federal installations. Atlantis does not claim to hold any particular license, and the radiography arrangements for each job are confirmed per job. At busy terminals, yards and launch sites the exclusion zone often decides between RT and PAUT where the code allows either.

Pipelines

The Florida Public Service Commission regulates the safety of natural gas transmission and distribution under the state's Gas Safety Law of 1967 and is the agency certified by PHMSA to inspect and enforce intrastate gas pipelines. PHMSA regulates interstate gas transmission, such as Florida Gas Transmission, Gulfstream and Sabal Trail, under 49 CFR Part 192, and hazardous liquid pipelines under Part 195. New girth welds normally follow API 1104. See pipeline inspection services, pipeline inspection in Tampa and pipeline inspection in Jacksonville.

Process safety, tanks and the environment

Florida has no OSHA-approved state plan, so federal OSHA covers private employers and enforces process safety management (29 CFR 1910.119) at covered processes, including those handling anhydrous ammonia above the threshold quantity, which is common at fertilizer plants. FDEP regulates aboveground storage tank systems under Chapter 62-762 and underground systems under Chapter 62-761, and EPA's SPCC rule (40 CFR Part 112) expects oil tank integrity testing to an industry standard such as API 653 or STI SP001.

Personnel certification and who signs what

Direct answer: Atlantis technicians are certified under an SNT-TC-1A written practice and work to procedures approved by an ASNT NDT Level III. That certification covers performing and interpreting NDT methods. It is not an AWS CWI, an API inspector certification, a threshold special inspector license or NAS 410 aerospace certification, and each of those roles stays with the person your project names.

A single Florida job can carry several signatures: an NDT Level II for each method result, the Level III who approved the procedure, a CWI where the client's specification requires one (confirmed at quotation), the owner's API Authorized Inspector on in-service equipment, the special inspector on a threshold building, and a classification surveyor or Navy representative on ship work. Employers running their own NDT departments can use NDT training in Florida for SNT-TC-1A Level I and II courses, the Practical NDT simulator in Florida for 3D method practice, and Level III consulting in Florida for written practices, procedures, audits and subcontractor approval.

What the inspection report includes

Direct answer: Each Florida job ends with a digital report that ties every reading, indication and photograph to the asset and location, the procedure, the acceptance criterion applied, the technician's certification and the instrument's calibration, reviewed under ASNT Level III oversight before release.

Thickness readings are tied to named CMLs and exported per asset so they can go straight into your inspection data system. The same records can feed scheduling, certification tracking and reporting in Atlantis ERP for Florida inspection companies or a 3D model through digital twins in Florida; marine inspection firms can read ERP for Tampa Bay NDT and marine inspection companies.

Florida cities and Atlantis pages

Direct answer: Atlantis has no office or laboratory in Florida; it is Houston-based, and crews are mobilized to your terminal, plant, yard, pad or right-of-way anywhere in the state. These pages cover Florida cities in more depth.

• Tampa Bay: weld, piping, pressure vessel, tank, pipeline and corrosion inspection in Tampa, power generation NDT, maritime NDT consulting, NDT consulting in Tampa, NDT training in Tampa and NDT ERP in Tampa.
• Jacksonville: third-party inspection, weld, pressure vessel, tank and corrosion inspection in Jacksonville, marine NDT, maritime NDT consulting, NDT training in Jacksonville and Practical NDT in Jacksonville.
• Miami and South Florida: third-party inspection, weld, piping, tank and pipeline inspection in Miami, power generation NDT in Miami, NDT training in Miami and Practical NDT in Miami.
• Orlando and Central Florida: NDT consulting in Orlando, NDT training in Orlando, Practical NDT in Orlando and NDT ERP in Orlando.
• Space Coast and the Panhandle: Brevard County launch sites, Palm Beach County engine sites, Panama City and Pensacola by arrangement, often planned as multi-site campaigns.

How to request NDT inspection in Florida

Direct answer: Send the asset, location, method, governing code, dates and deliverable, and say whether your specification requires an AWS CWI. We reply with questions or a scope and quote, share procedures and certifications for approval, mobilize on the agreed date and deliver a Level III-reviewed report.

1. Send the request. Include the asset type, the site, the method if known, the governing code (API 510/570/653, ASME, API 1104, AWS D1.1 or D1.5, NAVSEA), quantities, dates and report format. Submit your Florida RFQ.
2. State who must sign. Tell us whether a CWI, a special inspector, an API Authorized Inspector or a classification surveyor is involved, so the NDT scope fits around those roles.
3. Scoping. We confirm technique, access, site safety and contractor prequalification, hurricane-season contingencies, and whether radiography or an ultrasonic alternative suits the site.
4. Scope, quote and documents. A written scope and quote with procedures and technician certifications for review.
5. Inspection and report. Significant findings are reported during the shift, and the Level III-reviewed digital report follows.

Frequently asked questions about NDT inspection in Florida

Can Atlantis supply an AWS CWI for my Florida project?

Whether an AWS CWI must perform or sign the visual weld inspection is set by your specification: you specify it, and it is confirmed at quotation. Atlantis does not train CWIs and does not claim to supply them. Our weld NDT technicians are certified under SNT-TC-1A, which is a different credential.

What does AWS QC1 mean on a Florida specification?

AWS QC1 is the American Welding Society standard for certifying welding inspectors, so a reference to it usually means the specification wants a CWI for visual welding inspection. It does not cover UT, RT, MT or PT, which are performed by NDT personnel certified to their employer's written practice.

Does Atlantis have an office in Tampa, Jacksonville or Miami?

No. Atlantis NDT is Houston-based and has no office or laboratory in Florida. Crews are mobilized to your site anywhere in the state on dates agreed during scoping.

Is Florida an NRC Agreement State for radiography?

Yes. The Florida Department of Health's Bureau of Radiation Control licenses radioactive materials. Areas under exclusive federal jurisdiction can fall to the NRC, and radiography arrangements are confirmed per job.

Who inspects boilers in Florida?

The Department of Financial Services runs the boiler safety program through the State Fire Marshal. The Boiler Safety Act applies to boilers in public assembly locations; insurers inspect the boilers they insure. Industrial unfired pressure vessels are normally inspected under owner and insurer programs.

Can you perform API 653 tank inspections at Florida terminals?

We perform the NDE an API 653 inspection relies on, including MFL floor scanning with UT prove-up, shell thickness, weld examination and settlement data. Your API 653-certified Authorized Inspector remains the inspector of record and signs the report.

Do you inspect for corrosion under insulation on coastal plants?

Yes. We support CUI programs with pulsed eddy current screening where your program allows it, visual inspection, and UT thickness and corrosion mapping once insulation is removed.

How much does NDT inspection cost in Florida?

Atlantis quotes each job on request. Cost depends on method, number of welds or locations, access, travel, crew size, schedule, weather contingency and report format. Send the scope for a written quote.

Do you offer RBI or fitness-for-service studies?

No. Atlantis does not offer API 580/581 risk-based inspection or API 579 fitness-for-service assessments. We provide the inspection data those programs rely on.

Get a Florida inspection scope

A terminal tank due for its out-of-service inspection on Tampa Bay, an acid plant shutdown, HRSG welds at a gas-fired plant, ship repair welds in Jacksonville, pad steel on the Space Coast or a pipeline tie-in in Central Florida all start the same way: send the asset, code, method and dates. Request a Florida NDT inspection quote, or talk to our ASNT NDT Level III about method selection first. Affordable. Accessible. Fully customizable. Browse all inspection services for the full list.

More Atlantis NDT services in Florida

• NDT training and certification in Florida
• Level III consulting in Florida
• NDT ERP software in Florida
• Practical NDT simulator in Florida

Part of the full range of NDT inspection services from Atlantis NDT.