ISO/TC 135 Committee for Non-Destructive Testing 20th Plenary Meetings

Reported By: Jennifer Jimenez, Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB)

In conjunction with the 19th World Conference on Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) held in Munich, Germany from June 13-17, the ISO/TC 135 Committee for Non-Destructive Testing held its 20th plenary meetings from June 18-20.

From June 18-20, the German Society for Non-Destructive Testing (DGZfP) generously opened its doors at their training centre in Munich-Ismaning to welcome the 20th plenary session of ISO/TC 135. Over the course of the three days, TC 135 and its 8 Sub-Committees met to review workplans, discuss international standards development and investigate any new work items.

The Sub-Committees are as follows:

The Canadian delegation that participated in these meetings was the largest assembled in the last few years, consisting of five members (Sharon Bond – Canadian Institute for Non-Destructive Evaluation (CINDE), Jennifer Jimenez – CGSB, Darcy Corcoran – NAIT, PK Yuen – Natural Resource Canada (NRCan) and René Guérard – CEGEP Trois Rivières). In order to prepare for these meetings, the delegation met on May 24 in Calgary with members of the Canadian Standards Mirror Committees (SMC). These SMCs are established at the National level and composed of Canadian experts who determine Canada's position on ISO ballots and international work.   This allowed for the five attending delegates to be well prepared and informed on Canada's position for the various work items, prior to the meetings in Munich. Of note is the leadership role that Canada holds with ISO/TC 135/SC7, with the position of Chair being held by Sharon  Bond from the CINDE, and the position of Secretary being held by Jennifer Jimenez from the CGSB.

Sharon Bond of CINDE and Chair of the ISO/TC 135 Committee leads a discussion at the meetings

Under the scope of work for SC7, is the standard ISO 9712 Non-destructive testing -- Qualification and certification of NDT personnel. This standard is instrumental in establishing the certification system for NDT personnel in Canada and in many countries around the world, and Canada continues to be a well-respected international leader when it comes to our knowledge and established certification system. ISO directives require a systematic review of standards every 5 years, therefore, ISO 9712 will be up for review in 2017 with Canada leading this process.

The three days of meetings in Munich were deemed a success and plans are now underway for the next plenary session to be held in Brazil in 2018 to be held in conjunction with the Associação Brasileira de Ensaios Não Destrutivos e Inspeção (ABENDI) annual conference. Overall, Canada can continue to be proud of the leadership role we play in NDT at ISO and the delegates that did us proud with their contributions. Next steps consist of bringing back what was learned at these meetings and sharing with the SMC level members to help continue the strong network of NDT professionals in our country.