• Independent Assessments - Reducing Non-productive Time - Increasing Performance

  • A fully integrated approach to equipment failure prevention

  • Search for Approved Suppliers and validate Certificates of Approval

  • An Accreditation Programme that provides assessment at Facility, Product, Process and Design levels

What Does Approval Guarantee The End User

The NS Accreditation Programme is a partnership between NS Accreditation & Standards; Suppliers of product and services to oil and gas drilling operations; and the end users themselves.

The number of critical wells being drilled is growing year on year, their difficulty and the associated higher risk of drilling them, and of course the higher cost, means that drilling equipment is not only being put under greater stresses but being asked to do more. In addition the industry itself is under the world’s microscope.

Therefore end users are increasingly more concerned to ensure that the equipment that they receive does not only meet the quality standard that they require but is seen to meet it as well. And as much as a company's longevity of experience in the design and provision of equipment that has performed under these conditions will always remain a factor in equipment purchase – it can no longer be considered the only factor by drilling managers and their procurement teams.

Certificates of Approval show the capacity of the company that holds them to meet the demands of the NS-1™ Standard. So, as the custodians of the most relevant manufacturing standard for equipment used in critical well drilling (offshore, ERD, HP/HT) - that standard whose initial and ongoing development is based on real knowledge and understanding of equipment failures and what causes them – NS Accreditation & Standards are in a good position to offer the industry an integrated approach to the demands of the end users.

They are reviewed annually or biennially and reflect the specific product or service being provided.

It is important for end users to understand the contents of a certificate, what is included and what has not been assessed. (See ‘Analysing an Approval Certificate’).

It remains the responsibility of the supplier to maintain their ability to manufacture the product to the standards required to obtain the certificate. The certificate is not a guarantee of continued performance but of the capacity for that company to work to the level achieved.

How to analyse a certificate of approval