Knowledge center for plastic piping systems and sealing constructions

Testing, inspection and certification

For many years Normec QS has provided independent services in the field of testing, inspection and certification of plastic pipe systems and sealing structures. In fact, it is the only party in the Netherlands with its own laboratory, inspection institute and training center for personal certification butt welding and electrofusion welding. Technical Manager Henk de Bruijn and also 'spiritual father' of the current welding certifications and one of the founders of many associated NEN standards and NTAs may have recently reached retirement age, but he remains associated with Normec QS. 

Normec QS is a one-stop-shop for testing, inspecting and certifying plastic piping and sealing structures. "Our services range from training and certifying welders to inspecting welds through a variety of methodologies and determining the residual life of plastic piping systems," says Aart van Steenbergen, commercial manager at Normec QS. "We operate in an absolute niche." A niche for which Henk laid the groundwork in the early 1990s at the then Röntgen Technische Dienst (RTD). "No qualifications or certifications existed for the construction of plastic piping and sealing structures. We then started qualifying welders to weld plastic pipes for sewer, drinking water and gas in diameters from 63 to 630 mm. Moreover, in the early years, I was the only person in the Netherlands who provided on-site inspections for mirror welding."

Accredited laboratory

As the X-ray Technical Service started to focus on steel after a while, the "plastics division" was picked up under the name "QS BV" over 20 years ago. And this has been expanded over the years by a close-knit team of colleagues. "We have grown from qualifying welders to certifying welders. So over the past twenty years we have certified quite a few welders and supervised many more projects." Henk is referring, among other things, to training, instructing and supervising welders in bottom and top sealing of landfills in HDPE, as well as for foil applications in civil projects, such as the construction of an aqueduct, tunnel or sunken tunnel. Since three years, the former QS divisions have been part of Normec, including Normec Testing, which conducts research on welded joints in foil and piping, mainly in PE, from its accredited laboratory. "That makes us a one-stop shop for good reason," says Aart. "Clients can go to one address for testing, inspection ánd certification."

Informal atmosphere

Apart from the technical know-how, there is also just a very informal atmosphere at Normec QS. "That is also the reason I like to stay involved after my retirement," says Henk. "We work with a very nice club of people." And that feeling also prevails among the welders who periodically have to undergo (re)training for the NTA 8828 and the NEN 7200. "Our training courses are known for being informal. We speak the language of the guys outside." Thanks to Henk's years of experience, Aart says he knows how to answer every question. Not infrequently, he receives emails from welders with questions from the field. Henk: "I always give them my number. That way they can call or app me if they have a problem outside. And that way they often let me know that they have passed their theory. That's great when you have such a click with the guys outside."

Normec QS can thus value all types of piping and sealing structures. "In doing so, we also make grateful use of the expertise of my colleague senior product expert and recognized long-life behavioral expert Dr. Jan Breen, an authority on material science," says Henk. "For example, we are also able to determine the residual life of PVC pipes. That can be very interesting in view of the replacement task." Normec QS also makes an important contribution to standards development, both nationally and at the European level. The company is also closely involved in the update of the manual on foil structures for civil applications in cooperation with the Department of Public Works. In short, Normec QS is rightly the knowledge center for plastic pipe and sealing constructions, and specializes in testing, inspection and certification."