Section III, P Standards Committee on Construction of Nuclear

Rules for the Construction of Nuclear Facility Components Facility Components (BPV III)
Section IV, P Standards Committee on Heating Boilers (BPV IV)
Heating Boilers
Section V, R Standard Committee on Nondestructive Examination
Nondestructive Examination (BPV V)
Section VI, R Subgroup on Care and Operation of Heating Boilers
Recommended Rules for the Care and Operation (of BPV IV)
of Heating Boilers
Section VII, R Subgroup General Requirements (of BPV I)
Recommended Guidelines for the Care of Power
Boilers
Section VIII, P Standards Committee on Pressure Vessels (BPV VIII)
Rules for the Construction of Pressure Vessels
Section IX, R Standards Committee on Welding and Brazing
Welding and Brazing Qualifications (BPV IX)
Section X, P Standards Committee on Fiber-Reinforced Plastic
Fiber-Reinforced Plastic Pressure Vessels Pressure Vessels (BPV X)
Section XI, P Standards Committee on Nuclear Inservice Inspection
Rules for Inservice Inspection of Nuclear Power (BPV XI)
Plant Components
Section XII, P Standards Committee on Transport Tanks (BPV XII)
Rules for the Construction of and Continued Service
of Transport Tanks
* P denotes a product Code
* R denotes a reference Code
lx • Organization and Operation of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Committee
THE ACCREDITATION COMMITTEES
As explained in the discussion of the various Code symbol
stamps in section 1.7.8.3, no organization may do Code work
without first receiving from the ASME a Certificate of
Authorization to use one of the Code symbol stamps. The accreditation
committees issue these certificates to applicants found to be
qualified by ASME review teams. The Committee on Boiler &
Pressure Vessel Conformity Assessment (CBPVCA) handles this
work for boiler and pressure vessel activities. The Committee on
Nuclear Certification (CNC) does the same for nuclear activities.
Any disagreements as to the qualifications of applicants and any
allegations of Code violations are dealt with by one or the other
of these two accreditation committees, in deliberations that are
not open to the general public. An ASME Certificate of
Authorization can be revoked by cause, following hearing and
appeal procedures.
COMMITTEE OPERATIONS
Since 1986, the Boiler and Pressure Vessel Committee has had
four major meetings a year, during four weeks known as Codeweeks.
The Committee used to meet six times a year, but decided
to reduce the number of meetings as an economy measure. The
four meetings are scheduled to result in approximately equal time
intervals between meetings (i.e., February, May, August and
November). The May meeting (sometimes called the out-of-town
meeting) is held jointly with the annual meeting of the National
Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors. The chief inspectors
of the various states and provinces of Canada who comprise
the membership of the National Board are the top officials who
enforce those sections of the Code that are adopted into the laws
of their jurisdictions. This meeting also provides an opportunity
for them to observe and participate as guests or conference committee
members at the various Code committee meetings. The
Technical Oversight Management Committee always meets on
Friday; the Standard Committees meet earlier in the week.
Section II, IX, XII and the Accreditation Committees meet on
Tuesday, Section IV on Wednesday, and Sections I, III, VIII, and
XI meet on Thursdays of a Code week. Subgroups and working
groups usually meet earlier in the week than their parent Standard
Committees. This arrangement facilitates an orderly and timely
flow of information from the subtier committees upward to the
Standard Committees.
HOW THE COMMITTEE DOES ITS WORK
The ten Boiler and Pressure Vessel Standard Committees
administer the Code. The major technical work of the Committee
falls into four categories; providing interpretations of the Code in
response to inquiries, developing Code Cases, revising the Code,
and adding new provisions to it. This work usually starts at the
sub-tier levels of the committee structure (i.e., the subgroups and
working groups). Many items (Code changes for instance) require
consideration by the Standards Committee. Actions of the
Standards Committee are subject to approval by one or the other
of the two Boards above the Standards Committee (one for
nuclear and the other for non-nuclear items). All proposed,
revised or withdrawn standards shall be announced on the ASME
Web site for public review. A notification shall also be included in
Mechanical Engineering that, at a minimum, directs interested
parties to the ASME Web site for public review announcements,
and provides instructions on obtaining hard copies of the public
review proposals. Since all proposed Code revisions also require
ANSI approval, they are also announced in ANSI Standards
Action.
These approval actions by the Supervisory Boards as well as
the public review are conducted concurrently with the Standards
Committee voting following the respective Standards Committee
meetings. Thus these items have received very careful technical
consideration within the Committee and are also open to review
by the public to avoid any inequity, hardship, or other problem
that might result from a Committee action. Any comments
received during public review delay an item until the originating
committee considers those comments. The several categories of
the committee work are now described.
CODE INQUIRES AND INTERPRETATIONS
Anyone who has used the Code knows the aptness of the second
paragraph of the preamble to Section I and similar statements
in Sections IV and VIII, Div. 1 & Div. 2: “The Code does not contain
rules to cover all details of design and construction.” What it
contains rather are many rules for what might be called standard
construction covering most typical and common construction
details. This has evolved over the past 90 plus years as modern
boiler and pressure vessel construction have evolved, presenting
new situations, new arrangements, and new equipment. It is thus
not surprising that so many inquiries are received by the
Committee, asking for guidance in the application of specific provisions
of the Code.
The ASME has established procedures and controls on
responding to inquiries and publishes the questions and replies for
the guidance of all users of the Code. These procedures are
intended to protect the committee members and the ASME from
any inference that a specific industry or company has an undue
influence in the formulation of the questions or replies, or may
benefit to the detriment of others. Sometimes inquirers ask questions
that the Committee can’t answer, for various reasons. The
Committee is not in the business of consulting engineering. It
does not have the resources to study plans and details sent in by
inquirers and pass judgment on those designs. It also is in no position
to undertake the potential liability for making such judgments.
Accordingly, the ASME Secretaries use one of four form
letters for responding to the most common types of questions considered
inappropriate: Indefinite questions that don’t address