A Level 3 may be required to manage and control NDT work being performed and also

lead a team of NDT technicians who will look to him for guidance especially on subjects of
a technical nature. The Level 3 will be expected to give advice, handle problems, take
decisions and lead from the front. With this in mind, the Level 3 will require leadership
skills in addition to technical skills and experience.

Technical skills can normally be taught to the full in the classroom. Leadership skills may
be taught to some extent in the classroom, but are an inherent part of an individual’s
character and temperament. Leadership skills must be find tuned by practical application.

Leadership requirements include:

a) The willingness and ability to accept orders from senior staff and to act in the
manner prescribed.
b) The willingness and ability to give orders in a clear, concise, verbal or written
manner, which will enable the recipient to carry out the action(s) required with full
confidence, i.e. leaving no doubt as to what is required.
c) The willingness to stand up and be counted, not only for a job well done, but also
when things go wrong, perhaps due to your direction, or lack of it.
d) The capability to listen if and when explanations are necessary for any reason and
to follow up with constructive reasoning and advice.
e) The willingness to let your staff get on with the job and to trust them to act in a
professional manner whilst you stay in the background managing.
f) The ability to back up members of your team, whether technically, administratively
or otherwise, as and when required.

NDT technology knowledge required for a Level 3 is similar to that required for a Level 1
or 2 NDT technician but with some additional scope and depth. The additional knowledge
will include an understanding of NDT methods complimentary to the main NDT method(s)
being used and a deeper knowledge of the products/ processes applicable.

Except when taking examinations, NDT personnel at any level would not be expected to
memorise the content of normative documents (specifications, codes of practice etc.) in
use. At the workplace the specified normative documents should all be available. The
Level 3 would be expected to read, understand, and apply them with the necessary level
of precision and direction required.
The Level 3 should be aware of common standards used in NDT including those which give
acceptance criteria for the products applicable.

The Level 3 should have a full knowledge of what is required for the structure and content
of NDT procedures and sub-tier documents, e.g. technique sheets.

Planning will be required for all phases of a contract from inception to completion. Planning
for inspection would usually relate to the following areas as a minimum:

 Pre-contract: job requirements; allocation of correct staff; collection of codes,

drawings and other technical data; general administrative arrangements; work
schedule.
 In-contract: application of actual inspection and production of documentation,
e.g. equipment required, NDT personnel approvals, procedure approvals (weld/NDT
etc.); inspection and testing of components.
 Post-contract: compilation of all test data, inspection reports and certification.

There are various ways for dealing with the planning function for NDT testing; methods
include the following:

a) Place NDT technician(s) permanently at the work place expect them to use their
time in a useful and expedient manner.
b) Use charts which define job function(s) and estimated work time. This may reduce
the actual inspection hours required but requires greater mobility and more effort
from the NDT technician(s).
c) Make a detailed assessment of the overall production plan. This may be done by
the use of forward scheduling (network planning) which may take the form of
critical path analysis (CPA), or programme evaluation review technique (PERT).
Both techniques use the same principal of defining the sequence of operations by
means of a network of links and arrows. Alternatively a technique known as reverse
scheduling may be used in which the completion date for the last operation is
determined and then all other operations are worked back from it each with their
own target date.

Organisational skills are necessary to ensure that the NDT requirements of any plan can
be met on time using the correct personnel for the job. This may require individuals being
assessed for technical, physical and mental abilities to ensure that they are able to perform
the tasks required, as well as ensuring their actual availability at the time required and
the supervising/monitoring of their actions to completion of the contract.

The term audit basically means to check against documented criteria to ensure that the
documented criteria is able to do what is required. Auditing may take place during any
phase in a contract:

 Pre-production: may assess ability/qualification of staff; staff availability; planned

work scheduling.
  In-production: may assess whether specifications are being adhered to.
 Post-production: may assess the overall standards of NDT which were achieved
in order to improve for the future.

The actual audit may involve detailed checks of a very limited area of the NDT operation
to ensure that the documentation produced meets the requirements of the specification.
Alternatively, an overall check of the NDT function may be made where, for example, the
content of a particular file is examined for presentation and content.

Level 3s should ideally be aware of QA/QC aims and requirements in order to manage the
NDT work effectively. The knowledge will enable the Level 3 to understand better what is
required if auditing or being audited.