Organisation

COFREND certifies operators according to EN ISO 9712 for all areas excluding aeronautics: industrial manufacturing and maintenance, railway maintenance, naval applications, steel industry, foundry production, tube manufacture, etc. COFREND relies on three Sectoral Committees that are made up of representatives from companies in their activity sectors:

-          CIFM (Manufacturing and maintenance)

-          CFCM (Railway maintenance)

-          CCPM (Metal products)

COFREND is audited by DREAL (regional environment, planning and housing agencies) and accredited by the French Ministry of Environment, Energy and Sea, which is in charge of international climate relations under the Accreditation of personnel conducting non-destructive testing as per Directive 2014/68/EU on pressure equipment mentioned in Article R557-9-4 of the Environment Code.

In every sector, certification covers an operator for a qualification level (three levels - 1, 2 and 3 - are laid down by the standards) and for a test method: ultrasonic testing (UT), radiography (RT), magnetic particle testing (MT), penetrant testing (PT), eddy current testing (ET), leak testing (LT), visual testing (VT), acoustic emission (AT), time-of-flight diffraction technique (TOFD) and IR thermography (IRT).

The Certification and Qualification Hub runs the certification and qualification activity.

 

ORGANISATION OF THE COFREND CERTIFICATION SYSTEM

The Certification and Qualification system comprises:

  • the Competence Evaluation Management Committee (CDEC), made up of representatives of the various Sectoral Committees (Chairman of each Sectoral Committee or his/her duly-appointed sole alternate) to ensure the consistency of the COFREND certification system, evaluate the needs of manufacturers in terms of changes in the certification system and COFREND-certified methods, announce the certification of operators and publish the certification documents, etc.,
  • Sectoral Committees that manage the specific features of their activity sectors (specific tests, practical trials, etc.),
  • Approved Examination Centres responsible for arranging qualification exams.

 

Lastly, the COFREND certification system is being modernised constantly to ensure that it is efficient, effective and competitive. Representation in European (CEC/EFNDT) and international (ICNDT) certification systems is a means of ensuring the harmonisation of practices better and improving the recognition of different certifying bodies.

 

Certification procedures

Access to NDE standards