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Interpretation of the qualifications for design approval personnel – Example from the regulations: TSG07-2019 E1.2.1.3 Reviewer: (1) Possess comprehensive professional knowledge in pressure pipeline design to ensure design quality； (2) Able to guide designers and inspectors in properly complying with relevant regulations, safety technical specifications, and related standards, as well as to resolve technical issues in design, installation, and production ； (3) Having more than 5 years of experience in the design and verification of pressure pipelines ； (4) Hold an engineer title ； Example of provision: TSG07-2019 E1.2.1.2 Approver (1) Possessing comprehensive professional knowledge in pressure pipeline design ； (2) Be able to properly apply relevant regulations, safety technical specifications, and related standards, and be capable of organizing and guiding designers at all levels to implement them ； (3) Be well-versed in relevant design work and the development of pressure pipeline technology at home and abroad, possess comprehensive analysis and judgment capabilities, and be able to make correct decisions on key technical issues ； (4) Having more than 8 years of experience in the review of pressure pipeline design work ； (5) Hold a senior engineer title. One of the questions: Can those who study computer science be recognized as pressure pipeline auditors? Of course. Section 2.2.1 of TSG07-2019 stipulates that technicians should have an educational background in science or engineering. A background in computer science definitely falls under the field of science and engineering. In our experience with certificate renewal, it is common to see that it is not only those with backgrounds in fields such as chemistry and machinery who are capable of designing pressure pipelines effectively; colleagues from other science and engineering disciplines can also handle such tasks independently, as long as they are good at learning and accumulating knowledge through their work. When applying for a certificate replacement, experts have never questioned the fact that the major studied was not related to the field in question. Question 2: What if the reviewer does not have a senior professional title? No problem. As specified in the table in Image TSG07-2019, those with a certain level of educational qualification and who meet the required length of service can be recognized as holding the corresponding professional title, even without undergoing an official evaluation for such a title. Question 3: Can those who have graduated from secondary vocational schools serve as pressure pipeline auditors? Of course. In the past ten to twenty years, there were many secondary vocational school graduates among the design firms specializing in pressure pipelines; they loved their work and achieved high levels of professionalism, with many of them serving as personnel responsible for design approval. When determining the qualifications of design approvers, the technical work experience of secondary vocational school graduates can be considered on a par with that of junior college graduates. Interpretation of the Qualifications for Design Approval Officers II: Question: Do personnel responsible for the design approval of pressure vessels and pressure pipelines also need to hold a qualification certificate? Is an on-site exam still required? The regulatory basis requiring pressure pipeline design approvers to undergo training and obtain certification is TSG R1001-2008, issued in 2018. Article 6 stipulates that those engaged in the design review and approval of pressure pipelines must pass assessments conducted by qualified evaluation agencies, and must hold qualification certificates for designing pressure pipelines within the scope permitted by the **General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. The assessment schedule for such approvers is published annually by the **General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. The validity period for the qualifications of design personnel and approvers involved in pressure pipelines is 4 years. Based on this, under the leadership of the General Administration and with the commission of several organizations including Sinopec’s Engineering Department and the China Petroleum and Chemical Exploration and Design Association, training programs for qualified personnel responsible for the design approval of pressure pipelines were carried out, and certification certificates for such personnel were issued. With the advancement of **functional transformations and reforms aimed at streamlining procedures, in 2017 the General Office of the Quality Inspection Administration issued Document No. -1336, titled \"Notice from the General Office of the Quality Inspection Administration on Issues Related to the Safety Supervision of Pressure Special Equipment.\" Under the second main item, point 3, it was stipulated that those responsible for approving the design of pressure pipelines no longer need to obtain the corresponding qualifications in accordance with Article 6 of TSG R1001-2008. The pressure pipeline design unit may conduct training and assessments for the design approval personnel either on its own or by entrusting a third-party professional agency, to ensure that they possess the necessary capabilities. During the assessment and evaluation, the appraisal body shall conduct a closed-book examination on-site lasting no less than 3 hours (with test papers generated from a question bank) to assess the design approval personnel of the design unit’s understanding of standards and specifications as well as their professional knowledge, along with a drawing analysis defense session lasting no less than 1 hour for each person. The appraisal and evaluation agency shall include in the submitted appraisal and evaluation materials the results of on-site examinations conducted by the design approval officers, as well as documentation demonstrating their appropriate qualifications (the examination papers and defense records are to be archived by the evaluation agency). If the design unit submits, during the appraisal review, proof that the aforementioned personnel have passed the training and assessment conducted by a third-party training institution, the appraisal review body shall verify those assessment results; if they meet the requirements, such results may be accepted and included in the explanatory materials of the appraisal review report. In Appendix E1 of TSG07-2019, which was issued in 2019 and governs the requirements for designing pressure pipelines, there is no longer any requirement for those responsible for designing pressure pipelines to undergo training and obtain relevant certifications before taking up their duties. At the end of the main text, it is stated that TSG R1001 has been repealed and replaced by TSG 07-2019. Over the past two years, as many organizations have gone through a new round of certification or renewal processes, from what we understand, assessment and evaluation agencies no longer check whether the personnel responsible for design approval hold the appropriate qualification certificates during such assessments. However, some certification and evaluation agencies will accept the training completion certificates issued by third-party training institutions during the certification process, thereby exempting design approvers from taking written exams. Another group of assessment and evaluation agencies will not accept such scores, still requiring design approvers to take a unified closed-book exam. However, due to significant disputes among industry professionals over certain issues, the unified question bank for the renewal of pressure pipeline and pressure vessel certificates developed by the General Administration has not yet been put into use. During the actual appraisal and evaluation, it is still the evaluation panel that forms the questions and conducts corresponding examinations for the designers and those responsible for design approval. Then, in that case, is it still necessary to attend training organized by third-party agencies? We believe that no organization should remain complacent; participating in a certain amount of external training, combined with an appropriate amount of internal training, can greatly contribute to improving technical skills. After all, during the assessment and evaluation process for renewing the certification of pressure pipelines, the expert panel will examine, in accordance with TSG 07-2019, the management procedures for the training and assessment of designers at the design agencies, as well as the relevant training and assessment records. Number of personnel – Example from the regulations: TSG07-2019 E1.2.2 Number of personnel. (1) For categories GA and GB1, GC1, and GCD, the total number of personnel engaged in the design of pressure pipelines must be at least 20; among them, there must be at least 5 approval officers and at least 2 review officers. (2) For pressure pipeline designers of GB2 and GC2 grades, the total number of personnel engaged in pressure pipeline design shall be no less than 10, of whom at least 2 shall be approval officers. (3) The number of approvers shall not exceed 30% of the total number of designers. (4) Employ professionally trained personnel for the selection of materials and stress analysis of pressure pipelines. Analysis: The focus here should be on professionally trained personnel for the selection of materials and stress analysis of pressure pipelines. We emphasize this point whenever we communicate with each pressure pipeline design firm that provides certification services. After all, the core technologies of pressure pipelines lie in layout, material selection, and stress analysis, with the latter two being of great importance. Having dedicated personnel for pressure pipeline materials and stress analysis is an important indicator of professional technical competence.