General

The purpose of this document is to describe DNV GL’s recommendations for recertification of well control equipment to secure the required functionality.

In the context of this recommended practice (RP) recertification is defined as the process and associated verification activities, to assess the continued conformity of an object (component, equipment or system), including the attestation of the process. The continued conformity shall be documented to be within the specified acceptance criteria for the equipment or system. Recertification may also be referred to as renewal of certificate.

In the context of this RP the recertification process is applicable to used objects irrespective of whether the object has previously been certified or not.

Specific requirements in order to fulfil regulatory requirements for selected shelf states can be found in the appendices to this document. The recertification process outlined in this recommended practice focuses on the technical well barrier functions. The performance of operational and organizational barriers may need to be verified through other means.

It is recommended that blow-out preventers and other well control equipment used for drilling, completion, workover and well intervention operations is overhauled and recertified at least every 5 years. Where allowed by shelf state regulations, the recertification can be performed using a phased approach where all components that make up the equipment are inspected during the five year time frame. Consideration may be given for intervals other than 5 years based on a reliability centred maintenance (RCM) process and/ or condition based maintenance. Note that deviations from a five year calendar based regime may require acceptance from the applicable shelf state regulator.

The purpose of the recertification process is to verify and document that the equipment condition and properties are within the specified acceptance criteria as well as the specified recognized standards. The process shall ensure that documentation of the condition of the equipment is available and updated.

If repair or modification is performed prior to the end of a five yearly maintenance/overhaul interval, it is recommended that the methodology described in this recommended practice is used to document the repair/modification so that it can serve as input to the full 5-yearly recertification process. However, if a full recertification process is carried out, the interval will be rescheduled and a new 5 year interval will apply.

For design and fabrication of new equipment, the methodology and requirements described in this recommended practice may be used to establish guidelines and recommendations regarding documentation and traceability requirements for later recertification processes of maintenance/overhaul activities.

The recertification process for equipment intended for use on board mobile offshore units with DNV GL class and DRILL/DRILL(N)/DRILL(US) class notation is described in DNVGL-RU-OU-0101 and DNVGL-SI-0166, as well as in App.D. Well control equipment certified in accordance with DNVGL-OS-E101 and followed up by the mentioned classification rules are an acceptable alternative to the process described in this document.

This RP may be used as a certification scheme. In this case, all requirements of this RP formulated by way of the verbal form “shall”, shall be fulfilled.

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