SNT-TC-1A Certification Programme for NDT Companies

Atlantis NDT runs complete ASNT SNT-TC-1A certification programmes for NDT service companies, fabricators, owner-operators and EPC contractors in the USA and Canada. One engagement covers the whole chain an auditor will check: a written practice that fits your work, the method training, the general, specific and practical examinations administered by an ASNT Level III, the on-the-job experience log, and a certification record for every technician. Training runs onsite at your facility or as live online theory with practicals on your own equipment, led by Anoop Rayavarapu, ASNT NDT Level III. There are no published prices: send your methods, levels and head-count and you get a scoped quote within one business day.

Request a programme quote · Talk to an ASNT Level III — quote within one business day.

Who this programme is for

Under SNT-TC-1A, certification belongs to the employer. ASNT publishes the recommended practice, but it is your company that adopts a written practice, qualifies each technician against it and signs the certificate. That puts the whole burden on the employer, and it is where most small and mid-sized NDT companies get stuck: the technicians can do the work, but the file behind them does not survive a client audit.

This programme is built for four kinds of employer. NDT service companies that need to certify new hires quickly and keep a growing roster audit-ready across several client sites. Fabrication shops working to ASME, AWS D1.1 or API 1104 whose customers now ask to see the NDT personnel file, not just the report. Owner-operators (refineries, chemical plants, power stations, pipelines) that run an in-house inspection group and want it qualified to the same standard as their contractors. EPC contractors and field-service teams that must mobilise a certified crew for a project and cannot wait for individual technicians to find courses on their own.

If you are an individual technician rather than an employer, the route is different: see NDT training online and the NDT training hub, then talk to your employer about the written practice that will certify you.

The programme checklist: from written practice to certificates

Every engagement follows the same sequence, because each step depends on the one before it. You can start at any point if part of the chain already exists; the Level III reviews what you have and picks up from there.

1. Written practice. Your written practice is the document that governs everything else: which methods and levels you certify, the training and experience hours you require, how examinations are set and graded, vision requirements, and how certification is issued, suspended and renewed. Atlantis reviews an existing written practice against the current edition of SNT-TC-1A or writes one for you. See written practice development.
2. Method training. Formal classroom training for each method and level, to the hours your written practice sets. SNT-TC-1A recommended minimums by method and level are in our training requirements matrix. Theory runs live online or onsite; practical sessions run on your instruments and specimens so the training matches the work.
3. Examinations. General, specific and practical examinations for each technician, set and graded by an ASNT Level III to your written practice, including the annual near-vision and colour-contrast checks. Practical examinations run on real specimens with known discontinuities.
4. On-the-job experience log. A structured log that records each technician's method hours under supervision, signed off so the experience requirement in your written practice can be shown, not just asserted.
5. Certification records. A certification record per technician per method and level, with the training hours, examination results, vision checks and experience behind it, plus a recertification calendar so nothing lapses quietly.

The output is a personnel file that answers the questions an auditor or client quality manager actually asks: who trained this person, for how long, who examined them, on what, and who signed the certificate.

Methods and levels covered

The programme covers Level I and Level II in ultrasonic testing (UT, including thickness and shear-wave weld examination), phased array UT (PAUT), time-of-flight diffraction (TOFD), radiographic testing and film or digital interpretation (RT), magnetic particle testing (MT), liquid penetrant testing (PT), visual testing (VT) and eddy current testing (ET). Level III candidates are supported through ASNT Level III training and exam preparation.

Training is to ASNT SNT-TC-1A only. If a client also asks for API inspector certifications, AWS CWI, ISO 9712, PCN or CSWIP, those are separate schemes sat through their own bodies; Atlantis does not train or examine for them, but the personnel file can record them alongside the SNT-TC-1A certifications it produces.

Level III of record: an option for companies without one on staff

SNT-TC-1A expects a Level III to stand behind the programme: approving procedures, administering or overseeing examinations and answering for the technique when a finding is challenged. Many NDT companies do not have a full-time Level III, and hiring one to support a small roster is rarely economic.

As part of the programme you can engage Atlantis as your outsourced Level III of record. That covers written-practice ownership, procedure review and approval, examination administration, and audit support when a client or certifying body visits. It can be scoped for a single project or as an ongoing retainer. See ASNT Level III consulting and SNT-TC-1A training and certification for the detail.

Crew sizes and delivery

The programme scales from a single new hire to a full crew. Onsite cohorts typically run from 4 to 25 technicians; smaller groups usually take the theory live online and complete the practical and examinations in a concentrated onsite block. Multi-site employers can combine technicians from several locations into one live online cohort and run the practicals site by site.

• Onsite at your facility. Instructors bring calibration blocks, reference specimens and examination materials; practicals run on your own equipment and procedures, around your shift pattern and turnaround calendar.
• Live online theory. Instructor-led sessions your technicians join from the shop, the site office or home, recorded against the training hours in your written practice.
• Blended. Theory online, then a concentrated onsite practical and examination block.

Atlantis does not operate a walk-in training centre. Delivery is always live online or at the employer's facility, which is also where the practical examination belongs: on the equipment and specimens your technicians will actually use.

Between sessions, technicians can practise on the Practical NDT simulator, the first-ever online practical NDT simulation portal, with 12 methods in five environments. It is practice only and does not replace the practical examination on real specimens.

What you receive at the end

• A written practice reviewed or authored to the current SNT-TC-1A edition, fitted to the methods, levels and codes you actually work to.
• Training records showing the hours delivered per technician, per method and level.
• Examination papers, graded practicals and the specimens used, retained for audit.
• Signed on-the-job experience logs.
• A certification record per technician per method, and a recertification calendar.

If you manage personnel records in software, the file can be kept in the Atlantis NDT ERP technician-certification module so expiries and vision checks are tracked automatically.

How to start: quote within one business day

Send three things: the methods and levels you need certified, how many technicians, and whether you already have a written practice. An ASNT Level III will map the training hours and examinations required and return a scoped proposal within one business day. There are no published prices; every programme is quoted to its scope, and the quote is affordable, accessible and fully customizable.

Request a programme quote · Request a company team training quote · Corporate NDT training

Frequently asked questions

Who issues SNT-TC-1A certification — Atlantis or my company?

Your company. Under SNT-TC-1A the employer certifies its own personnel against its written practice. Atlantis delivers the training, administers the examinations through an ASNT Level III, builds the records and can act as your Level III of record, but the certificate is issued by the employer.

Do we need a written practice before training starts?

You need one before anyone can be certified. If you do not have one, writing it is the first step of the programme; if you have one, the Level III reviews it against the current SNT-TC-1A edition and the work you actually do.

How many training hours will our technicians need?

The hours are set by your written practice. SNT-TC-1A publishes recommended minimum classroom and experience hours by method and level, listed in our training requirements matrix.

Can the training be done online?

The classroom theory can run live online. Practical training and the practical examination run on real specimens, onsite at your facility, under an ASNT Level III.

Can you certify a crew spread across several sites?

Yes. Technicians from different sites can share one live online theory cohort, with practicals and examinations scheduled site by site under the same written practice.

What does the programme cost?

There are no published prices. The quote depends on methods, levels, head-count, delivery model and whether a written practice or Level III of record is needed. You get a scoped quote within one business day.

Do you train for API 510, 570 or 653, CWI, ISO 9712 or CSWIP?

No. Atlantis training is ASNT SNT-TC-1A only. Those schemes are sat through their own bodies; your personnel file can record them alongside the SNT-TC-1A certifications.

Who leads the programme?

Anoop Rayavarapu, ASNT NDT Level III and founder of Atlantis NDT, leads the training and examinations.