Section 7 Wind turbine/RNA manufacturing surveillance

7.1 Module requirements

7.1.1 The purpose of this module is to undertake surveillance to verify that the project-specific WTs are manufactured, assembled and tested in accordance with their approved design and to the intended quality. Surveillance comprises audit, inspection, and document reviews by the certification body.

7.1.2 The scope of this module reflects the requirement of IEC 61400-22 Wind turbines – Part 22: Conformity testing and certification and IECRE OD-502 Project Certification Scheme that WTs must be type-certified (at least provisionally) in order for an overall project certificate to be issued. It can be assumed that, under the scheme for type certification of the WT/RNA, the certification body has completed an evaluation of the manufacturer’s quality system and that the manufacturer operates a quality management system certified to ISO 9001 Quality Management. This evaluation does not need to be repeated by the project certification body.

7.1.3 However, under the scheme for type certification of the WT/RNA the certification will have been required to undertake inspection during manufacture of only one specimen, most likely for a unit delivered to another project. The project certification body therefore needs to undertake surveillance of the project-specific WT/RNA manufacture.

7.1.4 IEC 61400-22 Wind turbines – Part 22: Conformity testing and certification and IECRE OD-502 Project Certification Scheme requires that the project certification body defines a project-specific surveillance scope based on a number of factors including (refer to Paragraph 9.8.2, IEC 61400-22 Wind turbines – Part 22: Conformity testing and certification and Paragraph 7.7.2, IECRE OD-502 Project Certification Scheme for a full list of factors):

the status of the WT type certification, including any conditions or outstanding work;
the manufacturer’s experience of delivering the project-specific scope;
the certification body’s experience with the manufacturer;
the quantity and type of units in the project scope;
the extent of inspection by the purchaser;
availability of quality control documents; and
access to sub-supplier facilities and documentation.

7.2 Guidance on input requirements

7.2.1 In order for the certification body to define and plan the project-specific scope for their surveillance of WT/RNA manufacture, the applicant should provide the following:

WT type certification and supporting design documentation;
details of manufacturer including locations and sub-suppliers (and their scopes);
manufacturing codes and standards;
manufacturing schedule; and
details of the inspection and other assurance processes planned by the applicant and its contractors.

7.2.2 In order for the certification body to carry out their planned surveillance of the project-specific WT/RNA manufacture, the applicant should provide (or provide access to) the following:

inspection and test plans (ITPs) including indication of the planned reviews and intervention points of the applicant and their contactors;
manufacturing and testing plans and procedures;
manufacturing and quality control procedures (including welding, heat treatment and NDE);
sub-supplier quality system documents;
quality control document such as material certificates, material traceability records, operator qualifications, heat treatment records, weld procedure qualifications, NDE reports, test reports and inspection reports; and
details of deviations from requirements and their handling/approval.

7.3 Surveillance methodology

7.3.1 LR will review the ITP for the WT/RNA, including the references to manufacturing procedures and the codes and standards referenced, and the indication of the planned reviews and intervention points of the applicant and their contactors. Based on the findings of this review LR will indicate the planned surveillance on the plan(s), as certification body.

7.3.2 The marked-up ITP becomes the surveillance plan referred to in Ch 2, 7.1 Module requirements. It should include details of the sample size to be surveyed by the certification body, as applicable.

7.3.3 LR’s surveillance should be conducted and reported in accordance with the agreed plan, although the plan can be updated in the course of the manufacture in response to changes (e.g. to sub-suppliers or schedule) or to findings (e.g. areas of concern identified during surveillance activities).

7.3.4 The focus of the surveillance will be on acquiring evidence that the WTs/RNAs are built in accordance with the type-certified design, paying special attention to areas of potential deviations (e.g. design changes or different manufacturing processes or locations) from the type certification.

7.3.5 The surveillance should be conducted by a combination of audit (assessing the assurance processes), sample review of manufacturing records, and sample of inspections, focussing on areas of greatest risk.

7.3.6 An essential part of the surveillance is to verify material and component origin and quality, and their traceability through the processing stages. This applies to WT components and sub-assemblies, metallic and non-metallic materials, and will comprise a combination of document review and inspection to confirm that:

components and sub-assemblies delivered to the WT assembly location are of the same type and source as per the type-certified design;
materials are certified according to BS EN 10204 Metallic products: Types of inspection documents type 3.1 or 3.2 or equivalent (type 2.2 may also be acceptable, subject to more intensive review and inspection by LR); and
the manufacturer is implementing a suitable identification system that enables all finished materials to be traced to the original source.

7.3.7 The sample review of manufacturing records will include confirmation that all personnel carrying out critical functions (e.g. assembly, welding, NDE) are qualified for the tasks they are performing.

7.3.8 As a minimum, LR will attend the WT assembly location and any sub-supplier whose scope of supply is deemed to be critical (reference the criteria provided in Paragraph 9.8.2, IEC 61400-22 Wind turbines – Part 22: Conformity testing and certification) for inspection and witnessing final testing.