What goes into a piping documentation package
A piping fabrication documentation package — often delivered as a spool data book or test-package dossier — demonstrates that each spool and weld was fabricated, examined and tested in line with the line class, the isometric and the applicable code. Typical contents include material test reports for pipe, fittings and flanges (usually EN 10204 3.1 or 3.2), welding documentation (WPS, PQR/WPQR and welder qualifications), a weld map and weld log keyed to the isometric, NDE reports per the inspection and test plan (RT, UT, PT, MT, and ferrite or hardness checks where required), PWHT charts and heat-treatment records, pickling and passivation records for stainless systems, the hydrostatic or pneumatic pressure-test report per test package, and the marked-up as-built isometrics. The exact list depends on the line class, the fluid service category and the client's turnover requirements.
Normative context: ASME B31.3, B31.1 and EN 13480
Process piping is most often fabricated to ASME B31.3, power piping to ASME B31.1, and European installations to EN 13480. Welding procedures and welder qualifications follow ASME Section IX or EN ISO 15614 and EN ISO 9606, with welding quality management commonly to EN ISO 3834. Fluid service categories under B31.3 (normal, category D, category M, high pressure) drive how much examination and documentation a given weld needs, and a client or third-party inspector frequently witnesses hold points and reviews the resulting records. An MDB platform should not reinterpret these requirements — it should give the fabricator the structure to assemble exactly what the line class, code and contract already call for.
Why a generic document workflow falls short
Piping projects multiply quickly: a single package can involve hundreds or thousands of welds, each traceable to a welder, a procedure, a heat number and an NDE result. Reconciling that by hand — a weld log in Excel, certificates in folders, test packages assembled in Acrobat and handed over by file transfer — is where traceability gaps appear. A missing mill certificate for one heat, a weld assigned to the wrong procedure, or a test package released before its last radiograph is signed off are the kind of errors that surface during turnover, exactly when the schedule has the least slack.
How MDB Builder helps
MDB Builder gives a piping fabricator a sector-specific structure from day one, organised the way turnover packages are actually reviewed: by test package, by line and by weld. Mills, NDE subcontractors and PWHT vendors can be invited to upload directly into the sections they own, without an account. Each document is tracked with its revision status (IFR / IFA / Approved), and the platform assembles the final bookmarked PDF — cover, index, weld log, certificates and reports — automatically, regenerating it when a revision lands. The client or third-party inspector reviews the turnover package online and approves it with a single action.
What MDB Builder does not do
MDB Builder does not perform pipe stress analysis, does not generate isometrics, and does not replace the responsibilities of the welding coordinator, the NDE Level III or the authorised inspector. It is a documentation workflow platform: it gives the fabricator the structure, supplier collaboration and PDF assembly a modern piping turnover package needs, while the engineering, welding, examination and inspection content comes from the parties qualified to produce it.