Superior Fluid Solutions · Procurement
Getting Material Certification With the Order
A material test report is easy to obtain when you ask at the right moment and write it on the purchase order. It is very hard to obtain after the crate has shipped.
Most missing certification is not a supplier failure. It is a wording failure at the front of the order. The paperwork that proves what a fitting is made of has a name, a type, and a moment when it has to be requested, and if any of the three is left vague the shipment arrives with a packing slip and nothing else. According to Texas Flange, a flange distributor’s own technical publication, a heat number is “a unique identification code assigned to a specific batch of steel during the melting process”, and that number is the hinge the whole chain of custody turns on. Here is what to ask for, and how to write it so nobody has to chase it later.
What a material test report actually is
A material test report, also called a mill test report or a mill test certificate, is described by the Wikipedia entry on the subject as a “quality assurance document used in the metals industry that certifies a material’s chemical and physical properties.” It carries the “results of chemical and physical examination to allow the purchaser or end user to compare the plate to the requirements of the relevant standards.”
Two things follow from that definition. First, an MTR is a record of measurements, not a licence: it tells you what the metal was found to contain and how it behaved in test, and it is your job to compare those numbers against the specification you bought to. Second, an MTR belongs to material, not to a part number. A report that covers a different melt than the one in your box has told you nothing useful about the parts you are about to install. That distinction is what the certificate types exist to manage.
Heat numbers and the traceability chain
Traceability is a matching exercise. The heat number identifies the melt, the mill records the test results against that heat, and the receiving check confirms that the number on the material is the number on the certificate. Texas Flange describes the verification step as confirming “that the heat number stamped on the flange matches the heat number listed on the MTR”, which is the same test whatever the component is.
Codes expect that link to survive to the installed item. The Los Alamos National Laboratory engineering standard for ASME B31.3 process piping requires that “materials and components are sufficiently identified by markings, tags, or documentation to assure they are in accordance with the specified requirements and traceable to the required documentation.” Note the word documentation in that list. Small instrument components often cannot carry a legible heat stamp on the part itself, so traceability runs through the bag or box label, the lot reference and the certificate. Do not let a storeman decant loose ferrule sets into an unmarked bin and expect the trail to still exist at handover.
Certificate types under EN 10204
EN 10204 is the European standard that names the inspection documents, and its type numbers have become common shorthand well beyond Europe. The difference between them is who inspected, and whether the inspection was done on your actual material. Getting the number right in the enquiry is the single highest value thing a buyer does on this subject.
| Type | Issued by | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | Manufacturer | “a statement of compliance with the order” and no test results at all |
| 2.2 | Manufacturer | Compliance statement plus results from non-specific inspection, which may “come from a different heat or lot than the material delivered” |
| 3.1 | The “manufacturer’s authorized inspection representative, who is independent of the manufacturing department” | Results from specific inspection of the product actually delivered |
| 3.2 | Manufacturer plus a third party, either the purchaser’s representative or an official inspector | Specific inspection results validated and co-signed by the independent party |
Quoted descriptions are from the published summaries of EN 10204 listed in the sources. Which type any given item can be supplied against is confirmed per order.
Read across that table and the practical rule appears. If you need evidence about the metal in your box, you need a 3.1 or a 3.2. A 2.2 can be perfectly honest and still be about a different melt. A 2.1 is a promise with no numbers behind it. None of those is wrong; they are different products, and buying the cheap one and hoping it satisfies a 3.1 requirement is how a handover package fails at the last minute.
Three ways the certificate goes missing, all of them avoidable at the enquiry stage.
Asked too late
Specific inspection is an activity, not a printout. Requesting a 3.1 after the goods have shipped means asking for work that can no longer be done on that lot.
Asked in the wrong place
A request buried in an email thread does not travel with the order through the supplier’s system. Requirements that are not on the purchase order tend not to reach the packing bench.
Asked without a type
“Please send certs” is answered honestly with whatever is easiest to produce. Name the type, the standard and the heat requirement and the answer changes.
What to ask, and when
Ask at enquiry, before the purchase order exists. That is the only point where a supplier can still price the work, check whether the item can be supplied against the type you want, and schedule a witness if a third party has to attend. Five questions cover most of it: which certificate type can you supply, which material specification will the results be reported against, will the document cover the heat actually shipped, will it travel in the box or arrive electronically, and does anything here need a third party present. Texas Flange makes the timing point in plain terms, noting that “knowing how to read these reports before you order allows you to communicate exactly what you need.”
It also helps to look at what a finished report looks like before you write the requirement. Superlok® publishes a downloadable typical material test report on its own site, which is a manufacturer publication and a useful reference for the fields you should expect to see. Our own certifications page sets out the third party approvals we hold, which is a separate question from per-order material documentation and is worth keeping separate in your file.
Writing it onto the purchase order
Put the requirement on the order line, in the description, where a picker and an expediter will both see it. Language that works reads something like: supply with EN 10204 type 3.1 inspection certificate reporting chemical composition and mechanical properties against the specified material standard, heat number to be shown on the certificate and traceable to the delivered items, documents required with shipment and by email to the named recipient, and certification is a condition of acceptance. Each clause does a job, and the last one is the clause that gets phone calls answered.
Three more habits save trouble. Make the certificate a stated deliverable rather than an assumption, so that a short delivery of paperwork is visible in the same way a short delivery of parts is. Add it to the requisition template rather than remembering it each time, especially for corrosion-resistant items in stainless steel where the grade is the whole point of the purchase. And name a recipient, because a certificate that reaches the buyer’s inbox and never reaches the QA file has not really been delivered. On turnaround work, where documentation gets compressed into a very short window, that discipline is worth more than speed: our note on chemical turnaround fittings covers the same pressure from the schedule side.
Buying questions
Is a certificate of conformance the same as an MTR?
No. A conformance statement says the goods meet the order. An MTR reports measured chemical and physical results. In EN 10204 terms that is roughly the gap between a 2.1 and a 3.1, and only one of them contains numbers.
Can I get a 3.1 certificate after delivery?
Sometimes, if the manufacturer still holds the records for that heat and the delivered items remain traceable to it. Do not plan on it. The reliable route is to state the type on the purchase order before the goods are made or picked.
Do small fittings carry a stamped heat number?
Often they cannot, because there is no surface for it. That is why the code language allows identification by markings, tags or documentation. Keep the original packaging identification with the parts until they are installed and recorded.
Does a 3.2 cost more or take longer?
It involves a third party, so it has to be arranged and attended. Treat it as a scheduled activity in the order, and raise it at enquiry rather than at expediting. We will not quote a duration we cannot stand behind, so ask us per order.
Which items on my order need certification?
Whatever your specification, client or code package says, which usually means pressure containing parts in the service in question. If you are unsure, apply it to the wetted metal components: tube fittings, pipe fittings and valves. Grade and available certificate type are confirmed per order.
Need the certification named on the order?
Tell us the certificate type and the standard at enquiry and we will confirm what can be supplied against it.
Superior Fluid Solutions
Fittings and valves listed in 316 stainless steel, with documentation confirmed per order. Superlok® states that its fittings are made with the finest interior surface finish of any tube and pipe fitting on the market.
Sources
- “Mill test report (metals industry),” Wikipedia, supports the definition of an MTR and the distinction between EN 10204 types 3.1 and 3.2. en.wikipedia.org
- HardHat Engineer, “4 Types of Inspection Certificates (2.1, 2.2, 3.1, and 3.2) as per EN 10204,” supports who issues each type and what each contains. hardhatengineer.com
- Projectmaterials, a commercial piping materials publication, “EN 10204 2.1 vs 2.2 vs 3.1 vs 3.2,” supports the point that type 2.2 results may not come from the delivered heat. blog.projectmaterials.com
- Texas Flange, a flange distributor publication, “How to Read a Material Test Report,” supports the heat number definition, the matching check and the timing advice. texasflange.com
- Los Alamos National Laboratory Engineering Standards, “ASME B31.3 Process Piping Guide,” Section REF-3, supports the material identification and traceability requirement. engstandards.lanl.gov
- Superlok® USA, “Typical Material Test Report,” a manufacturer publication, cited as a published example of a finished report. superloknorthamerica.com
Technical note: the sources above define what an MTR contains, name the EN 10204 inspection document types and state the traceability requirement in a process piping guide. They do not certify any specific item, they do not prove that a particular certificate type is available for a particular part, and they are not a substitute for the material specification on your own drawing or code package. No prices, durations or stock positions are stated here because none could be sourced. Material grade, pressure rating and the certificate type that can be supplied are confirmed per order.
Trademark disclaimer: Superlok® is a registered trademark of its owner, and all other marks named above belong to their respective owners. No affiliation, sponsorship, approval or endorsement by any company named here is claimed or implied, and nothing above should be read as saying any product is the same as, equivalent to, compatible with or a replacement for another manufacturer’s product. Cross-references are made by form, fit, and function only.
