ASME U/PRT Certificate of Authorization Scopes : PART without design responsibility

[marty007]

We have received some guidance from our local Authorized Inspection agency regarding the PRT Certificate of Authorization that doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. I'm wondering what you all make of it.

Following is their email:
Please be advised that ASME has announced a new PRT certification program for those who want to fabricate parts without having design responsibilities. The part manufacturer can make Code items only for another certificate holder, who assume the design responsibility.

ASME is replacing the U-21 scope (Manufacture of pressure vessel parts without design responsibility at the above location only) with the PRT-3 scope (Fabrication of parts without design responsibility for ASME Section VIII, Div. 1 at the above location only), effective immediately. Please notify all applicable staff at your earliest convenience of the replacement.

The BPV Certificate Scopes list has been revised accordingly and has been uploaded onto the ASME BPV Product Certification web page. For new Applicants, this means that when applying for a Certificate of Authorization to fabricate parts without design responsibility under Section VIII, Div. 1 the applicant shall be notified of the PRT Certificate program and recommended the PRT-3 scope. For Certificate Holders that currently hold a ‘U’ Certificate with the U-21 scope, this replacement means that at the time of renewal, a ‘PRT’ Certificate will be issued in place of the ‘U’ Certificate. Please note that the ‘PRT’ Certificate will carry a new Certificate Number (the existing ‘U’ Certificate Number cannot be transferred).

For reference, the scope terms they are referencing can be found in the following document from ASME: Link

Our shop currently holds a U-stamp Certificate of Authorization. From the email above, it appears that we are being instructed that we must also obtain a PRT Certificate of Authorization if we want to build an ASME PART without design responsibility.

To build PARTs without design responsibility, are all U-stamp holders now forced to also obtain a PRT Certificate of Authorization? (~$3400 USD)

Or, does scope U-11 allow U-stamp holders to build PARTs irrespective of design responsibility?

From the literature on the PRT Certificate of Authorization Link, it appears that this new authorization is meant to make it easier for U-stamp holders to open up their supply chain. Instead, it appears to just add another cost to most U-stamp holder organizations, and add another layer of certification.

Cheers,
Marty

 

[metengr]

From a Section I perspective, this item was being driven by the higher ups in ASME to level the playing field for parts that were basically reverse-engineered. So, the original design of the part has remain unchanged and yet, prior to this, design responsibility was still required, which made no sense. By the way, it does provide more income for ASME, I view it as a two way benefit.

So, as a standards committee member, I believe this is a good thing, and no it does not force current stamp holders to spend the money for a PRT stamp unless you intend to reverse engineer parts for other U-Stamp holders. You can still supply your own parts under UG-11.