Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Inspection Planner

🎯 Role Definition

An Inspection Planner is accountable for designing and executing comprehensive inspection programs that ensure asset integrity, regulatory compliance and operational reliability. This role converts inspection policy into detailed inspection plans and job packs, schedules and coordinates internal crews and external NDT/mechanical contractors, administers inspection data in CMMS (SAP PM / IBM Maximo), applies Risk‑Based Inspection (RBI) and fitness‑for‑service principles, and drives continuous improvement of inspection intervals and methodologies to reduce downtime and lifecycle costs.

Key SEO / LLM keywords: Inspection Planner, inspection planning, risk‑based inspection (RBI), CMMS, SAP PM, IBM Maximo, NDT, API, ASME, asset integrity, inspection schedule, regulatory compliance, maintenance planning, turnaround planning.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Field Inspector / Site Inspector
Inspection Technician / NDT Technician
Maintenance Planner or Engineering Technician

Advancement To:

Senior Inspection Planner / Lead Planner
Inspection Supervisor / Team Lead
Reliability Engineer / Asset Integrity Engineer
Maintenance Planning Manager or Asset Integrity Manager

Lateral Moves:

NDT Specialist (Level II/III)
Quality Engineer / Quality Assurance Lead
Turnaround Planner / Shutdown Coordinator

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Develop and maintain the full plant inspection plan and schedule, converting corporate inspection strategies and regulatory requirements into detailed, sequenced work orders and job packs that minimize operational disruption.
Create risk‑based inspection (RBI) strategies and execute equipment criticality assessments to prioritize inspection frequency, methods and resources based on probability of failure and consequence of failure.
Produce detailed inspection scopes, sequences, procedures and acceptance criteria for NDT and mechanical inspections (UT, RT, MT, PT, ET), ensuring clarity for field crews and third‑party inspection contractors.
Generate and validate work packs that include permits, isolation plans, safe work method statements, lifting plans and required tooling, ensuring compliance with site HSE and permit‑to‑work systems.
Plan and schedule inspections within the CMMS (SAP PM, IBM Maximo), track status, record findings and ensure inspection results feed back into asset health records and maintenance plans.
Coordinate resources across operations, maintenance, safety and procurement to confirm availability of plant access, scaffolding, cranes, isolation, and necessary spares prior to inspection execution.
Specify and manage third‑party inspection and NDT contractors: prepare scopes of work (SOW), evaluate bids, issue purchase orders, monitor performance, and validate contractor deliverables and certificates.
Apply relevant codes and standards (API 510/570/653, ASME, ISO, local regulations) to inspection planning and record keeping to ensure regulatory compliance and audit readiness.
Analyze inspection results and non‑conformance reports to recommend repairs, re‑inspections, monitoring, or changes to inspection intervals and maintenance strategies.
Lead turnaround and shutdown inspection planning: develop inspection matrices, bundle inspection tasks to reduce shutdown hours, and coordinate sequencing with multiple discipline planners.
Maintain and validate inspection equipment calibration and certification records; ensure NDT devices and gauges meet traceability and calibration standards prior to use.
Develop and maintain inspection KPIs (completion rates, defect rates, overdue inspections, asset condition indices) and prepare regular management reports to inform reliability decisions.
Conduct fitness‑for‑service reviews and input to engineering assessments; liaise with corrosion / metallurgical specialists to interpret inspection findings.
Implement continuous improvement initiatives to reduce inspection cost and downtime, such as optimizing intervals, adopting advanced NDT/predictive technologies (ultrasonic thickness mapping, guided wave, corrosion mapping).
Ensure accurate tagging, photo documentation and electronic capture of inspection results, and lead the migration or cleanup of legacy inspection data in inspection management systems.
Provide on‑site technical support during complex inspections or abnormal findings, including supervising abrasive blasting, repairs, and final acceptance activities.
Prepare budgets and resource forecasts for inspection activities, monitor actuals, and flag cost/ schedule risks to stakeholders.
Drive competency development by organizing training and qualification plans for internal inspectors and verifying contractor personnel certifications (NDT Level II/III).
Support regulatory inspections and third‑party audits by preparing records, inspection histories and evidence of corrective actions.
Collaborate with procurement to define spare parts, consumables and tooling requirements associated with inspection scopes and to ensure timely delivery prior to inspection windows.
Lead root cause investigations for recurring inspection findings and translate lessons learned into updated inspection procedures and checklists.
Implement and support the use of mobile inspection applications and digital inspection forms to improve data quality and turnaround of inspection reports.
Perform periodic review and revalidation of inspection strategies to reflect changes in operating conditions, materials, corrosion rates, and new failure modes.

Secondary Functions

Support ad‑hoc inspection data requests and exploratory analysis to help stakeholders understand degradation trends and inspection outcomes.
Contribute to the organization's inspection strategy, asset integrity roadmap and RBI program continuous improvement.
Collaborate with business units to translate maintenance and production constraints into optimized inspection windows and resource plans.
Participate in project planning meetings, pre‑shutdown readiness reviews, and cross‑functional change control boards to ensure inspection deliverables are integrated into larger projects.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Risk‑Based Inspection (RBI) methodology and implementation.
CMMS proficiency: SAP PM and/or IBM Maximo for inspection scheduling, work order creation, and asset history management.
NDT knowledge and operator oversight: UT, RT, MT, PT, ET; ability to read NDT reports and review NDT certificates (NDT Level II/III experience advantageous).
Familiarity with industry codes and standards: API 510/570/653, ASME, ISO 9001 and local regulatory frameworks.
Inspection planning and work pack creation, including permits and isolation plans.
Experience with turnaround/ shutdown planning and multi‑discipline task bundling.
Advanced Microsoft Excel for data analysis, pivot tables and KPI dashboards; familiarity with Power BI or Tableau is desirable.
Project scheduling tools: MS Project, Primavera P6 or equivalent.
Fitness‑for‑Service (FFS) basics, corrosion assessment, and thickness trend analysis.
Knowledge of inspection hardware and calibration management, and proof of maintaining measuring devices to traceable standards.
Experience with mobile inspection applications, digital forms and inspection database migrations.
Procedure and report writing: creating clear, audit‑ready inspection procedures and technical reports.

Soft Skills

Strong stakeholder management: ability to influence operations, maintenance, procurement and contractors.
Excellent written and verbal communication tailored to technical and non‑technical audiences.
Detail orientation with a pragmatic focus on safety, quality and operational impact.
Problem solving and root cause analysis (5 Why, RCA, FMEA).
Time management and the ability to prioritize multiple concurrent inspection campaigns.
Leadership and contractor supervision — directing crews on site and ensuring compliance with specifications.
Adaptability and continuous improvement mindset — embraces new inspection technologies and processes.
Negotiation and vendor management skills for securing contractor scopes and controlling cost.
Risk awareness and sound judgment in isolations, permits and hot work decisioning.
Coaching and mentoring skills for developing junior inspection and maintenance staff.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

High School Diploma or Technical Certificate with relevant trade background (e.g., mechanical, welding, NDT) plus demonstrated inspection planning experience.

Preferred Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or similar.
Relevant certifications such as NDT Level II/III, API Inspector certifications, RBI foundation, or CMMS administration certificates.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Mechanical Engineering
Materials Science / Metallurgy
Industrial Engineering
Quality / Safety Management
Asset Integrity Management

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 3–7 years of progressive experience in inspection planning, NDT coordination or maintenance planning in oil & gas, petrochemical, power generation, utilities or heavy industry.

Preferred: 5+ years with proven experience implementing RBI programs, working with SAP PM or IBM Maximo, managing third‑party NDT contractors, and planning for turnarounds and shutdowns. Experience with API/ASME code application and regulatory inspections is highly desirable.