FDQ Tier 1 · Opens Wed Nov 18
Field Driven Quality QC training for pipeline and facilities hands.
Tier 1 is an online course for hands with no quality background. It teaches the work of a contractor QC tech or an owner-side junior inspector, on the right-of-way and inside the fence.
The paperwork side of the job, the part the crew never gets taught.
You already know what good work looks like. Tier 1 teaches the records that prove it, the ones a QC tech keeps every day. A few of them:
- Module 5
Weld mapping
Number every weld, repairs, cut-outs and tie-ins included, so no number is ever used twice. Tie each one to its station, pipe, heat numbers, welders, WPS and NDE.
- Module 5
Building the weld log
Build the log from a day of field data, reconcile it against the pipe tally, and audit someone else's log for errors.
- Module 9
Torque mapping
Number and tag every bolted joint, convert target torque to pump pressure from the tool's chart, check the pattern and passes, and keep the torque record that signs each joint off.
- Module 2
Document control
Make sure you're working the current revision, deal with a superseded copy, read transmittals and status codes, and handle redlines.
- Module 2
The NCR workflow
Carry a nonconformance from finding and tagging to closure. Write the NCR with the requirement, what you found, where, and the evidence, with no blame.
- Module 4
Material traceability
Read an MTR and check it against the spec, transfer heat numbers before pipe is cut, and quarantine material you can't trace.
- Modules 2 and 3
ITPs and hold points
Read and write an inspection and test plan line, and know what the crew may do at each hold, witness and review point.
- Module 10
Test packages
Build a test package and work out the test pressure at the high and low points of the section.
For welders, helpers, operators, laborers and foremen who want the quality side of the job. You don't need a quality background or a CWI to start. It covers gas and hazardous liquid lines and their stations, under 49 CFR 192 and 195.
Free lesson · 4 minutes 47 seconds
Lesson 1: Why weld maps exist
The first lesson of the weld mapping module. Put your email on the Tier 1 list and it opens right away, with the Weld Field Sheet to print.
Get lesson 1 freeThree tiers. Tier 1 opens first.
- Tier 1
Pipeline and facilities QC, from how a job runs to running a QC day: the work of a contractor QC tech or owner-side junior inspector.
Opens Wed Nov 18 - Tier 2
For working QC inspectors and quality engineers who run quality on an active project.
Coming soon - Tier 3
For quality managers and directors who build the program a whole project works in.
Coming soon
Who's behind FDQ
I'm Blake Binford, and I founded Field Driven Quality. I'm based in Houston, Texas.
I started in the field as a laborer and worked as a foreman. From there I went into third-party inspection, in pipe mills and coating mills and on pipelines and compressor stations. Since then I've worked quality on pipeline, LNG, compressor station and industrial jobs, and as head of quality I've built the quality systems large companies run their work on.
The best quality hands I worked with came up through the crew. FDQ is the course I wish someone had handed them: what the job actually is, what the paperwork is for, and how to do it so the crew still respects you.
Questions about Tier 1
Do I need a CWI or API 1169 first?
No. Tier 1 is for hands with no quality background. It doesn't replace those certs either. It teaches the work of a first QC or junior inspector job, and every module says where a certified inspector takes over.
What does Tier 1 cost?
$495. People who get on the list before Tier 1 opens pay the founding price, $395. Getting on the list is free, and there's nothing to pay when you sign up. You pay only if you enroll, after Tier 1 opens.
Can I do it on my phone?
Yes. Tier 1 is online and the lessons play on a phone. Lesson 1 is a good test: it plays on the next page after you sign up.
Can my company put a crew through it?
Tell us the job, the timeline and how many people on the contact page.
Watch lesson 1 free
Why weld maps exist, 4 minutes 47 seconds. Put in your email and it opens right away, with the Weld Field Sheet to print.