The National Board has developed two separate commissions: the National Board Inservice Commission and the National Board New Construction Commission.

A National Board Inservice Commission qualifies an individual to perform inspections related to installation, inservice, and repairs and alterations to boilers and pressure vessels.

A National Board New Construction Commission qualifies an individual to perform inspections related to boilers and pressure vessels being constructed in accordance with the ASME Code.

To qualify for either the National Board Inservice Inspector Commission or the National Board New Construction Commission, prospective applicants must possess a high school diploma (or equivalent educational background) and some combination of the following areas of education and experience:

• Technical training in inspection
• Technical curriculum
• College or university courses
• College or university degree
• One full year of technical experience in any of the following areas:
  
  • Engineering design
  • Manufacturing
  • Operation of boilers exceeding 50,000 pounds
  • Repair, alteration, or maintenance of boilers/pressure vessels
  • Quality control systems
  • Inspection
  • NDE Level II examination of boilers/pressure vessels

Not all of these education and experience requirements must be completed to qualify for a National Board commission. However, each requirement is assigned a different credit value, and some combination of credits totaling five points must be achieved.

In order to be issued a commission, the candidate must be employed as inspector by a jurisdiction, an Authorized Inspection Agency, Owner-User Inspection Organization, or a Federal Inspection Agency.

In addition to meeting the education, experience and employment requirements above, all applicants must complete the following:

• National Board Inservice Inspector Commission:
  • Take the National Board Inservice Inspector Examination and receive a passing grade
• National Board New Construction Commission
  • Attend National Board's "A" course, receive a passing grade on the examination and meet On-the-Job training requirements.

Many jurisdictions require individuals having a National Board Commission to meet additional requirements prior to performing inspections in that jurisdiction. Requirements may vary among jurisdictions. Commissioned Inspectors and their employers must abide by the specific requirements of the jurisdiction in which they practice.

A complete list of qualifications is described in NB-263,Rules for National Board Inservice and New Construction Commissioned Inspectors.