Aramco Qualification Guideline.docx

ARAMCO QUALIFICATION GUIDELINE The minimum qualification requirements are the following:

1. High School graduate, a technical diploma or equivalent. BS Degree qualification in the specific discipline is preferred

2. Ten (10) years of relevant industrial experience, including six (6) years of experience in a given inspection specialty for which Inspector proposed to be qualified

3. Be fully conversant with applicable Industry standards, specifications, and fabrication methods and shall perform

4. 5. 6. 7.

8.

a variety of inspection functions with minimal supervision as required to verify supplier compliance with the purchase order requirements. Please refer to the attached document “Agency Inspector Qualification” that shown the required working knowledge for each discipline. Be able to read engineering drawings and shall have knowledge and understanding of IS09001 quality system requirements and implementation Meet all additional minimum requirements for each specific inspection discipline, and the certifications and/or qualifications when the applicable commodity, process, examination, test, etc. is included in the fabrication process Pass the applicable commodity examination and/or Interviews in accordance with Table (1) Command of the English language equivalent i.e. Has a sufficient range of language to be able to give clear descriptions, express viewpoints on most general topics, without much conspicuous searching for words, using some complex sentence forms to do so Report writing skills in the English language

The examination consists of two Parts: written (closed Book) and verbal interview. The examination will be administered and conducted by Aramco personnel. Timing and the location of the examination will be advised in due time. Written Exams are performed with online application eQual (Electronic Qualification System) using an AOC-owned tablet. The software displays a countdown counter and progress indicator (questions answered vs. total). Minimum passing score of each written exam is equal to 70%. Inspectors must pass mandatory basic exams outlined in Table -1 prior to proceeding with further main commodity exam (SEE NOTE). The candidates are not allowed to use any books/notes/ electronic devices other than the device provided by AOC. Exam sequence to follow the mandatory pre-requisites; failure to pass a pre-requisite exam shall stop the candidate from continuing with the next connected exam. Note: Please refer to column “Pre-requisite” in table 1 below. The column specifies which qualification must be obtained before to undertake the desired exam. For example: the inspector who is willing to be qualified for QM33 HEATERS shall firstly be qualified for QM32 BOILERS but, before to take the exam for QM32, he shall firstly pass the exam for QM04 NDT (ALL METHODS) and QM12 COATING-NON CRITICAL and, before to take the exam for QM04 NDT, he shall firstly pass the exam for QM03 MECHANICAL GENERAL).

Written exam exemption Some written exam can be exempted at AOC discretion if suitable and acceptable certification, as shown in column “Certificates accepted in lieu of exam”, will be provided by the inspector. For example: - ASNT TC 1A or ASNT CP 189 or ISO9712 level 2 certificates would exempt QM04 NDT written examination, - AWS-CWI or CSWIP 3.1 certificates would exempt QM03 MECHANICAL GENERAL written examination, - NACE certificates would exempt QM11 COATING CRITICAL and / or QM12 COATING NON CRITICAL written examination When and where necessary, Examiner shall perform adequate verifications of the candidate's certifications by means of accessing the appropriate certifying entities websites / registry. Inspectors with accepted certifications shall be evaluated through interview for the proposed commodity Verbal interviews shall be conducted with the aim to:  Supplement written (electronic) examination when permitted in Table -1  Qualify inspectors when no written examination is required per Table-1  Evaluate knowledge and technical skills in the area of commodity proposed to be qualified outside of the structured examination  Evaluate “soft skills” of an inspector: Fluency in English language, communicability, suitability to represent Aramco in both appearance and demeanor  Establish and enhance integration between AOC QMD and Agency Inspectors by supporting and encouraging engagement.  Re-assess inspector when needed The following three general sections shall be covered in such an interview: a) Experience in the industry and in the field: clients, locations, commodities inspected, projects, problems encountered etc. b) Issues that are specific to AOC and Aramco: monitoring inspection, Aramco standards, reporting, precedence of PO requirements etc. in case Candidate is already approved for other commodities and has specific knowledge of Aramco Standards. c) Exam outcomes. Interviewer shall review prior to start of the interview the exam report for any tendencies, especially in failed questions. For QMs that require interviews instead of exam (e.g. QM08 – Fittings) as per Table-1 the following additional section shall be covered: e) Qualification specific questions, similar to exam questions but requiring more open and detailed answer, in interaction with the interviewers.