What we help with

  • Gap analysis. A review of your NDT program against the Nadcap NDT audit criteria and your customers' specifications, working from your own licensed copies of the checklists.
  • Documents. Preparing or revising procedures, technique sheets, the written practice and the records an auditor will trace a job through.
  • Self-audit support. Helping you complete the required self-audit honestly and completely, and walking a job through the way an auditor would.
  • Findings and corrective action. Root cause, containment, corrective action and objective evidence written so the response can be closed rather than returned.
  • Between audit cycles. Ongoing compliance support so the program does not drift between audits, including as your outside Level III.

Who it is for

  • Suppliers preparing for a first Nadcap NDT audit.
  • Accredited suppliers adding a method or scope.
  • Suppliers with open findings, a failed audit or lost merit status.
  • Programs whose Level 3 or quality lead has left partway through a cycle.

How a Nadcap NDT audit works, in outline

Nadcap is an industry-managed accreditation program for special processes in aerospace, NDT among them. It is administered by the Performance Review Institute (PRI), and the requirements for each process are set by a task group of prime contractors and suppliers.

  • Criteria. The supplier obtains the applicable audit criteria through PRI (for NDT, the AC7114 family of checklists), plus any supplements its customers require.
  • Self-audit. Before the audit, the supplier completes a self-audit against those criteria.
  • On-site audit. A PRI auditor spends several days on site reviewing procedures, personnel qualification (usually to NAS410), equipment and materials control, and following real jobs from order to report.
  • Findings. Nonconformances are raised against the criteria. The supplier responds within set deadlines with root cause, corrective action and evidence.
  • Decision. Once the responses are accepted, the task group reviews the audit and grants accreditation. A strong record can earn merit status and a longer interval between audits.

This is an outline only. The audit criteria are PRI's documents: we do not reproduce them, and we work from the copies you are licensed to use.

What we do not do

NDT LLC is an independent consultant. We do not conduct Nadcap audits, grant or influence accreditation, or speak for PRI or any task group, and no consultant can guarantee an audit outcome. What we can do is make sure your program, your documents and your people are ready for the questions an auditor will ask.

Related standards

  • NAS410 for personnel qualification, with levels written 1, 2 and 3.
  • ASTM and SAE method standards such as ASTM E1417 for penetrant and ASTM E1444 for magnetic particle, typically invoked by customer specifications.
  • Customer specifications from the primes you supply, which often tighten the general documents.

Our standards watch tracks revisions to many of the documents NDT programs are built on.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a Nadcap consultant?

No. Nadcap does not require one, and many suppliers prepare on their own. A consultant helps most when it is your first audit, when you are adding a method, when an audit has gone badly, or when the people who ran the last cycle are no longer with you.

How do I prepare for a Nadcap NDT audit?

Start early. Obtain the current audit criteria through PRI, complete the self-audit honestly, and check that your procedures, written practice and certification records agree with each other and with your customers' specifications. Then trace several real jobs from purchase order to report, the way an auditor will, and fix what does not hold together.

Can you give us the Nadcap NDT checklist?

No. The audit criteria are PRI's documents, and suppliers obtain them through PRI. We work from the copies you are licensed to use and never reproduce them.

What happens if the audit raises findings?

Findings are common, especially on a first audit. Each one needs a response within the deadline that addresses root cause, not just the symptom, with evidence that the correction is in place. We help write responses that can be accepted the first time.

Is NDT LLC affiliated with PRI or Nadcap?

No. NDT LLC is an independent consulting firm and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the Performance Review Institute or Nadcap.

This page describes our consulting services in general terms. It is not engineering, legal or regulatory advice; always work to the current edition of the codes, standards and customer specifications named in your contract.

NDT LLC is an independent consulting firm. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the Performance Review Institute (PRI), Nadcap, the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), SAE International, or any other organization named on this page; names are used only to identify the organizations and documents referred to.