In recent years, the question of acceptance testing has been very acute. Many believe that the standards in our country are used on a voluntary basis, and the Technical Regulations do not give direct indications of the need for acceptance tests. There are also such judgments: why invest extra money if you still need to issue a certificate. Or: you can’t get permission to use, acceptance tests are also an unnecessary procedure, etc.
Let's try to figure it out.
Technical regulations
Since mid-February 2013, a document that has been waiting a long time has come into force: Technical Regulation of the Customs Union "On the Safety of Machines and Equipment" TR TS 010/2011. It contains direct instructions for guaranteeing safety during design work and subsequent manufacture. That is, the conversation is about the need to determine and establish a risk that is acceptable for the machine and / or equipment. At the same time, the level of security must be ensured:
- a complex of calculations and tests, which are based on proven methodological developments;
- the completeness of experimental design and research work;
- the manufacture of machinery and / or equipment should be accompanied by the tests prescribed in the attached design (design) documentation.
That is, it is clear that both the design organization and the manufacturer are required to test the facility. They are provided for by the design documentation, they must be carried out before certification (the procedure confirming compliance). The fact of declaring is obvious - the availability of a document on your own tests carried out before the confirmation procedure. But it is not clear what kind of tests are meant.
The concept of "test"
It means a technical action that makes it possible to check the engineering characteristics of an object (product), to determine the degree of wear, quality and suitability for long-term use. Testing a prototype is allowed both for individual elements and in combination.
Test stages
Allocate departmental, interdepartmental and state acceptance tests. GOST 34.601-90 establishes the following types of them:
- preliminary;
- experienced;
- acceptance.
Any of them requires compliance with a certain procedure, for which a special document is being developed - an acceptance test program. It must be approved by the customer. The scope of the test is prescribed in the program, both necessary and sufficient, ensuring the intended completeness of the results obtained and their reliability.
Preliminary tests should be carried out after testing and preliminary debugging of equipment.
Experimental tests are carried out in order to determine the readiness of equipment (machinery, systems) for continuous operation. Without these tests, acceptance tests are prohibited.
Final stage
These are acceptance tests. The ticket to the life of the equipment being developed (machines, systems) depends on them. This stage provides answers to questions posed to designers. First of all, it is compliance with the intended purpose, productivity and technical and economic efficiency, whether it will meet modern safety requirements and contribute to improving the work of workers.
Even during the acceptance tests, they check:
- assessment of the success of the pilot tests;
- making decisions on the possibility of putting equipment (machines, systems) into commercial operation.
Acceptance tests are carried out at the customer's facility (and already existing). For this, an order or order is issued on the execution of the necessary work.
Acceptance Test Program and Methodology
Both of these documents are written in accordance with current regulations and standards developed for certain types of objects. They are approved by the ministries in charge of design organizations.
The program spells out in detail:
- the purpose of the upcoming work and their scope;
- acceptance criteria for both the facility as a whole and its parts;
- a list of objects to be tested, as well as a list of requirements that the object must comply with (mandatory with indications of the terms of reference);
- test conditions and terms;
- material and metrological support of upcoming work;
- testing tools: technical and organizational;
- methodology for acceptance testing and processing of the results;
- the names of the persons designated as responsible for conducting the test work;
- list of necessary documentation;
- verification of its quality (mainly operational and design).
Depending on the technical and other characteristics of the object of study, the document may contain these sections, but if necessary, they can be reduced or new ones introduced.
A package of documents for the development of the Program and methodology
The requirements for the design and content of these documents are governed by GOST 13.301-79.
The list of documents for creating the Program and methodology is not permanent. It varies depending on the attitude of the tested object to that or the ministry or organization. But in general, the following documents will be required:
- manual;
- normative - technical documentation: technical specifications, standards, etc .;
- passport of the received object;
- documents on registration passed from the manufacturer;
- drawings and descriptions;
- factory test reports (for foreign manufacturers).
The program and methodology of test work by the customer and Rostekhnadzor specialists drawn up and certified are registered with the Federal Agency.
Commission
For acceptance tests, it is formed by the relevant decree for the enterprise. The commission should include representatives of the supplier of components, the customer, the design organization, the developer, the technical supervision authorities and organizations involved in installation and commissioning. The commission is approved by the relevant ministry.
In its work, the commission uses the following documents:
- terms of reference for the creation of equipment (machines, systems);
- preliminary test report;
- executive documentation for the installation;
- acceptance test program;
- acts of metrological certification (if necessary);
- working journals with experimental tests;
- acts of acceptance from them and completion;
- technical documentation for equipment (machine, system).
Before acceptance tests, the system documentation and technical documentation are finalized according to the remarks of the protocol of preliminary tests and the act of completion of pilot tests.
The manufacturer and the design organization must provide the acceptance committee:
- materials of the preliminary tests;
- experienced facilities that successfully passed preliminary tests;
- reviews, expert opinions, patents, certificates of authorship, issued in the process of acceptance testing for a design sample;
- other materials approved by test procedures for certain types of objects and typical programs.
Check
This is one of the main points of acceptance testing. They should not duplicate the previous steps, and their dates are tightened.
Acceptance tests include verification of:
- quality and completeness of the implementation of the functions of equipment (machinery, systems) in accordance with the statement of work;
- the work of staff in an interactive mode;
- fulfillment of any requirement related to equipment (machine, system);
- completeness of operational and accompanying documentation, and their quality;
- methods and tools necessary to restore the facility after possible failures.
If two or more objects with similar characteristics are tested, then the same conditions are created for the tests.
During the acceptance tests, tests for durability and reliability are not conducted, but the indicators obtained during the tests should be recorded in the relevant acts.
Test end
Acceptance tests are completed by technical expertise. That is, the object is disassembled, and the technical condition of its elements (nodes) is established, as well as the complexity of disassembling and assembling the entire object of study.
At the end of the work, the commission develops and draws up a test report. Based on it , an acceptance certificate will be further drawn up . If necessary, the commission determines the amount of refinement of equipment (machines, systems) and / or technical documentation, and also gives recommendations on launching the test facility in serial production.
If this is not possible, the acceptance test report is supplemented by proposals for improving the product, repeated acceptance testing, or a requirement to stop work on the object.
Acts and Results
Acts on acceptance of the facility are approved by the management of the enterprise, which has appointed a commission for testing.
The acceptance test methodology recommends, if necessary, to consider the results of tests carried out at the scientific and technical council of the relevant ministry or enterprise developing the facility together with the customer (that is, even before the approval of the acceptance certificate).
The decision to launch the tested facilities in a series is made on the basis of materials and recommendations of the acceptance committee and / or scientific and technical council by order of the ministry. It necessarily indicates the volume of production, and gives recommendations for implementation.
Acceptance Test Act
Four years ago, unified forms of primary documents were canceled. This gave organizations the right to develop their own templates for any document. The main thing is to comply with the following requirements:
- The document is signed by all persons who compiled it. If one of them acts by proxy, this must be reflected in the act.
- It does not affect the legality of the act; it is drawn up on a regular sheet of writing paper or on letterhead. By the way, it’s how, by hand, a document is written or typed on a computer (the main thing is “live” signatures).
- Stamps and stamps are placed on the document, if it is prescribed in the charter and / or accounting policies of the organization.
- Logically, the act has three parts: the beginning (the so-called cap - date, name, place of compilation), the main part and the conclusion.
The number of copies of documents is equal to the number of signatories to it. Each of them has the same legal status and identical text. Information about the act is entered in a specialized journal of accounting documentation of the organization.
Errors and descriptions in the acceptance test document should not be. Because it can be not only the basis for putting the object on the balance sheet of the organization or its cancellation, but also the main supporting document when applying with a lawsuit to the court.
Act content
In the center of the page the name of the document is written, below - the place of compilation (city, village, etc.) and the date.
The main part of the act contains the following information:
- The composition of the commission . The enterprise (organization, ministry), representatives who will sign the document, then their positions and full name, first name and patronymic are indicated.
- The name of the object and the real address of its installation.
- A detailed painted list of test works (drawn up in the form of a list or table) with information on the conditions for passing the tests.
- If deficiencies are found, they, as well as suggestions for rectification, are introduced either below or draw up an annex to the act.
- The acceptance test certificate (sample is given below) ends with the conclusions of the commission on the legal capacity or incapacity of the test object.
The opinion of any member of the commission, different from the rest, is necessarily registered either in the act itself (as a separate clause) or in the annex to it. All papers accompanying the act are also listed in it.
And only after that all participants in the preparation of the document put their signatures and decipher them.
If the commission recommended improvements, then in the act it is necessary to indicate the dates of repeated tests.
Completion of work
The signed act is included in the set of documents accompanying the object that is being tested. The act is stored either in accordance with applicable law, or in the manner established by regulatory acts of the organization.