When I first began teaching in 2007, we had a 5 day course. It covered a little bit of everything for everyone, and not enough of anything for anyone. Over the years we broke the course into smaller and smaller segments, a 3-day and a 2-day, followed by a 2-day and four 1-days, and in 2015, 7 individual 1-day courses.

The primary objective was to reduce the amount of class time spent by participants on topics outside there sphere of interest or responsibility, and to enable a stronger focus on specific areas of interest. In our training series last incarnation, almost all of our courses were structured as 1 day training sessions.

In discussions with industry sponsors, regulators and training participants – as well as consideration of the training required for the various CPAC code qualification exams, we have determined that the 1 day format is not providing the most effective training value at the entry and junior levels. The Z662 requires training to be evaluated for effectiveness and continually improved, and after the application of several metrics we have revised our format to provide our fundamentals content (level 1 code qualification) and task concepts training (level 2 code qualification) in a single 2-day format.

The revisions to the course allow participants with craft experience (design, construction, welding, operations or quality control) to write their level 2 CPAC code examinations at the conclusion of the training. Level 1 certificates will also be granted to successful writers. Administrative course participants (H.R, procurement etc.) will still write the Level 1 examination.

The net result of these changes is that the cost of training and examination to achieve a Level 2 credential will be reduced by approximately $250 per participant, and the amount of technical content will increase over the 2 day period. This additional technical training time is gained from writing only 1 examination instead of 2, and the removal the fundamental reviews previously contained in the standalone level 2 concept courses.

There is an added bonus to the curriculum changes. With more time spent on each of the fields of interest, all participants will have a better understanding of the relationship between the design, construction and operating concepts of Z662. To see the new course description please take a look at the North American Pipeline Fundamentals brochure.

For our full course listing please visit www.TheOtherNASA.com

For a list of code qualification, and certification challenge exams and dates visit www.CPACouncil.com