Lifecycle Playbooks
Stage 06 · Pre-dispatch QC / TPI witness
Inspection & Factory Acceptance Testing
FAT is where the paper meets the valve. This playbook runs the inspection visit so every test is witnessed against written acceptance criteria and the release is documented, not negotiated.
For: QC engineers and third-party inspectors releasing the order
You are here if
- A witness test is tomorrow and the acceptance criteria are not agreed
- The inspector needs the ITP and nobody can produce the approved copy
- A seat leak at FAT and the team must rule: acceptable class or reject?
Where this stage goes wrong
- Testing witnessed without the governing standard's acceptance criteria in hand
- Leakage class ambiguity - 'no leakage' means different things across standards and seat types
- Release given with documentation incomplete, decoupling the valves from their evidence
The Playbook
- 1Confirm the approved ITPThe agreed hold/witness/review points and the governing test standard travel with the inspector.
- 2Verify identity and material firstTag, nameplate, heat numbers vs MTCs - before any pressure test, confirm the valve is what the dossier says.
- 3Witness shell and seat tests to criteriaTest pressures, durations and allowable leakage per the standard, recorded per valve - not per lot summary.
- 4Complete functional checksOperation, torque where specified, accessories and actuation stroke on actuated tags.
- 5Release against the dossierInspection release note issued only when test certificates and MTC package match the witnessed valves.
Stage deliverables
Witnessed FAT records per valveInspection release noteComplete test certificate set
Tools for this stage
Reviewed by Process Engineering, Vajra Industrial SolutionsDiscipline: Valve Service SpecificationLast reviewed: 20 June 2026
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