The API 570 Credential and This Independent Course

What the credential is

API 570 is the Piping Inspection Code: In-service Inspection, Rating, Repair, and Alteration of Piping Systems, published by the American Petroleum Institute (API). It sets out how an owner-user keeps metallic process piping safe after it has been built and put into service. The code gives a specific role to the authorized piping inspector: a person who is qualified and certified to perform the inspections the code requires.

API runs an Individual Certification Program (ICP) for this role. A candidate who meets API's education and experience rules and passes the examination becomes an API 570 certified piping inspector. API sets the eligibility rules, the fees, the examination, the passing standard and the recertification cycle. These details change from time to time, so always check the current requirements with API before you apply.

What a piping inspector actually does

The examination tests whether you can do the job, so it helps to picture the job first. On a typical day an authorized piping inspector at a refinery or chemical plant might:

• review thickness readings taken by an examiner and work out corrosion rates and remaining life for a piping circuit;
• set the date of the next inspection from those numbers and from the piping class;
• walk a pipe rack looking for corrosion under insulation, damaged supports, vibration and leaks;
• review a welding procedure before a repair, and decide whether a pressure test is needed after it;
• check that a replacement flange has the right pressure–temperature rating and that alloy components were verified by positive material identification (PMI).

Every one of those tasks is tested. The examination is less about memorising definitions and more about applying the codes to situations like these.

Who this course is for

The course is written at advanced level for people who already work around process piping: inspectors, NDE (non-destructive examination) technicians moving into inspection, mechanical and integrity engineers, and maintenance supervisors. It assumes you can read an isometric drawing and know what a flange and a weld are. It does not assume you have read API 570 before.

Two related courses in the catalogue are worth knowing. The Corrosion Management and Inspection course covers corrosion science and monitoring in depth; this course recaps only what the examination needs. The API 510 Pressure Vessel Inspector Exam Preparation course covers the vessel code, which shares several reference documents with API 570.