AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS (ASME)

It's about time that Piping & Fabrication talk about The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is one of the leading organizations in the world which develops and publishes codes and standards. The ASME established a committee in 1911 to formulate rules for the construction of steam boilers and other pressure vessels. This committee is now known as the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Committee, and it is responsible for the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. In addition, the ASME has established other committees which develop many other codes and standards, such as the ASME B31, Code for Pressure Piping. These committees follow the procedures accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

ASME BOILER AND PRESSURE VESSEL CODE
The ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code contains 11 sections:
Section I Power Boilers
Section II Material Specifications
Section III Rules for Construction of Nuclear Power Plant Components
•    Division 1 Nuclear Power Plant Components
•    Division 2 Concrete Reactor Vessel and Containments
•    Division 3 Containment Systems and Transport Packaging for Spent Nuclear
Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste
Section IV Heating Boilers
Section V Nondestructive Examination
Section VI Recommended Rules for Care and Operation of Heating Boilers
Section VII Recommended Rules for Care of Power Boilers
Section VIII Pressure Vessels
•    Division 1 Pressure Vessels
•    Division 2 Pressure Vessels (Alternative Rules)
•    Division 3 Alternative Rules for Construction of High-Pressure Vessels
Section IX Welding and Brazing Qualifications
Section X Fiber-Reinforced Plastic Pressure Vessels
Section XI Rules for In-Service Inspection of Nuclear Power Plant Components
Code Cases: Boilers and Pressure Vessels
Code Cases: Nuclear Components

Primarily, Sections, I, II, III, IV, V, VIII, IX, and XI specify rules and requirements
for piping. Section II, V, and IX are supplementary sections of the code because
they have no jurisdiction of their own unless invoked by reference in the code of
record for construction, such as Section I or III.

Editions and Addenda
Code editions are published every three years and incorporate the additions and revisions made to the code during the preceding three years. Colored-sheet addenda, which include additions and revisions to individual sections of the code, are published annually. Before the 1986 edition of the code, addenda were published semiannually as summer and winter addenda.
   
Interpretations
ASME issues written replies to inquiries concerning interpretation of technical aspects of the code. The interpretations for each individual section are published separately as part of the update service to that section. They are issued semiannually up to the publication of the next edition of the code. Interpretations are not part of the code edition or the addenda.

Code Cases
The Boiler and Pressure Vessel Committee meets regularly to consider proposed additions and revisions to the code; to formulate cases to clarify the intent of the existing requirements; and/or to provide, when the need is urgent, rules for materials or construction not covered by existing code rules. The code cases are published in the appropriate code casebook: (1) Boiler and Pressure Vessel and (2) Nuclear Components. Supplements are published and issued to the code holders or buyers up to the publication of the next edition of the code.

Code case(s) can be reaffirmed or annulled by the ASME Council. Reaffirmed code case(s) can be used after approval by the council. However, the use of code case(s) is subject to acceptance by the regulatory and enforcement authorities having jurisdiction. A code case once used for construction may continue to be used even if it expires later or becomes annulled. An annulled code case may become a part of the addenda or edition of the code or just disappear after its annulment because there may not be any need for it