Vessel Repair with no U1 form
Vessel Repair with no U1 form
(OP)
I've been asked to build a new shell section for a "BEM" type exchanger & reuse the existing channels. Problem is he has no U1 data report form....is this legal ?
Can I build this as the original or is it deemed new conctruction ?
Thanks
Can I build this as the original or is it deemed new conctruction ?
Thanks





RE: Vessel Repair with no U1 form
You might be able to make the repair but you can only certfy your repair not the whole assembly, however your AI and the Chief Inspector for the State or your jurisdiction must approve. Understand that this task is arduous... the paperwork, time and effort. In most cases it is easier and more economical to build a new Heat Exchanger. You clients Insurance carrier may not approve.
What happend to the U-1? never signed, or issued etc? Was it registered with the National Board?
RE: Vessel Repair with no U1 form
RE: Vessel Repair with no U1 form
RE: Vessel Repair with no U1 form
RE: Vessel Repair with no U1 form
RE: Vessel Repair with no U1 form
It is not unusual for a manufacturer not to provide a copy of the U1 Data report to a repair contractor. They normally only give them to the owner, if it is the orginal client. Therefore, I suggest that you have the vessel owner formally request a copy directly from the manufacturer. It's harder for them to say NO to the owner / client.
Steve Braune
Tank Industry Consultants
www.tankindustry.com
RE: Vessel Repair with no U1 form
RE: Vessel Repair with no U1 form
RE: Vessel Repair with no U1 form
1.Define your repair and write a proposal.
2.Obtain a Code book from the year of constuction and redo calcs.
3.Cut sample coupon for material analysis. Mechs. and chems.
4.Run it past your AIA,Local Jurisdiction,Vessel Insurance carrier,and of course the owner.
5.See Part RC of the NBIC. RC-1020
RE: Vessel Repair with no U1 form
Add enough into your proposal to cover your cost when you have to be disposed.
You might think it far fetched, but here is a true story:
Approximately twenty (20) years ago I was in a similar situation. The client, a small specialty chemical facility, had a reactor that due to corrosion required repairs to be preformed. Though the vessel had a national board number the U-1 data report from the fabricator was unsigned . The original fabricator never signed the report, the fabrication was never witnessed by an AI and never submitted it to the National Board, (BTW the fabricator is no longer in business.) Several years latter the client had a run away exothermic reaction that resulted in an explosion that rained a cocktail of halogenated hydrocarbons over a residential development several miles away. Investigators swarmed all over, examining every piece of evidence, looking for mismanagement, improper repair, lack of inspections, lack of training et cetera. After all these years, there is still an ongoing legal battle with the EPA.
I did something right by resigning prior to my employer repairing this vessel and its’ transmogrification into a _________state special, though I had no pay check for several weeks until I started with another firm, at the time I wasn’t sure if I did the correct thing. Incidentally, my old employer is no longer in business, one of the field crews failed to properly install a thermowell causing flammable gas to leak through the instrumentation lines into a control room causing multi-millions dollars of damage.
RE: Vessel Repair with no U1 form
Quite an experience indeed. Did the explosion take place after the vessel was repaired?
RE: Vessel Repair with no U1 form
If the Mfr did not registered it is it problem, you contact the Ntl Bd and they can enforce the Mfr or start an investigation of why it was not registered.
If you do not have a Ntl Bd # your Jurisdiction can authorize nthe work at their discretion with or w/o an R Stamp, or even with a U stamp.
GB
RE: Vessel Repair with no U1 form