Approving ECHs

The Equipment Condition History (ECH) is used to document historical information obtained during inspections. Significant events in the Equipment lifecycle should be recorded with an ECH. Once the ECH is written (i.e. Approved), it will be a permanent record that can be retrieved from either its active location or inactive such as from a Record Archive or Salvage location.

To create a Condition History Entry

This is explained in the ECH manual.

Draft

Once an ECH is created, the approval status will be by default DRAFT. The actual status is always shown in the Approval sidebar on the ECH details page and in the Condition History main grid.

ECH Approval Status shown in Main Grid.

 There are different types of Condition Histories:

• Some will have only Narratives on GENERAL Component, when no Schedule is credited, but significant events took place and should be registered.
• Some will have a Schedule or multiple Schedules being credited (excluding Schedule type CORROSION) and describe the work and findings associated with the inspection or work performed.
• Some will have both Narratives on GENERAL Component and Schedule(s) being credited.

When the ECH is in DRAFT status, Inspection Data Scope can be added and/or removed to and from an ECH (note the available Template options for the Schedule-Component).

Inspection data scope can be added when ECH is in Draft status.

 

Writer Approved / Level 1 Approved

Once the data is completed and the ECH has been reviewed, the Inspection Approval sidebar can be used to approve the ECH. By clicking on Approve, the status will by default change directly to the maximum allowed Approval status (this can be WRITER APPROVED, LEVEL 1 APPROVED, but also FINAL APPROVED), depending on the user’s Approval Privileges. However, by clicking on the white arrow next to the Approval button, an alternative status can be selected (again depending on the user’s Approval Privileges).

Note: This dropdown is not available for sites that follow a strict Approval flow, i.e. a step cannot be skipped – e.g. first level 1 Approve, then Final Approve, even if the user has Final Approval privileges.

To Approve on (non-default) level, two steps are required:

• Click the arrow to select the Approval Level.
• Click Approve.

To Approve on (non-default) level, two steps are required. This option is not available at all sites.

An ECH with status WRITER APPROVED or LEVEL 1 APPROVED can be approved to FINAL APPROVED or disapproved back to DRAFT (in which case the Approval process starts again).

When at Level 1 Approved Status, Disapprove or Final Approve is possible.

 

Final Approved

Once the ECH is FINAL APPROVED, the following actions will take place:

• If the ECH includes Credited Schedules, these will be updated using an Inspection Complete Event, which will be FINAL APPROVED on the final approval of the ECH. 
• If a Credited Schedule is a Recurring Schedule, a new Schedule will be created automatically. 
• All Schedules Created from the ECH (normally CAIRs) will be Approved automatically.
• Once an ECH is Final Approved, the Approval sidebar will show the remaining options on the ECH: Backout or Edit Condition History:
  • The Backout button will delete the created recurring Schedules (for Schedules being credited). The user must provide a reason why a backout of the ECH is applied (a new Event is created, see next paragraph on Backout).
  • If you have final Approval rights the Edit Condition History button will allow you to take the ECH out of Final Approval status to Writer Approved status. The Edit ECH button is designed to allow the user to edit only narrative text and ECH specs/detail codes, without changing the ECH scope itself.

Backout and Edit Condition History is possible when Final Approved.

 

Take Note

In the ECH manual the Approval, Editing, and Backout processes are explained in terms of the ECH lifecycle. Here you will also find more information on how the Credited Schedules are exactly affected. 

Backout

The backout feature is used when an event is in Final Approval status but there is an error or mistake that needs to be fixed. Not all users can do this. This privilege is determined by the user’s role, e.g. INSP GENERAL. 

Generally, when an event is in Final Approval, the data cannot be changed. So, what if a user makes a mistake? Below you see what can be done if a mistake is discovered after the Event is in Final Approval:

When a user clicks on the backout button and confirms the action (warning):

• An Event is created (Inspection Function = ‘Event backed out’).
• The ECH Status is set to Writer Approved.

After a backout, the automatically created (recurring) Schedules are removed. The User created Schedules, however, will still be available. You are now allowed to:

• Add and remove credited Schedules.
• Edit Inspection Data.
• Create new Schedules in the ECH.

Note: To change details (other than Description field, such as Condition Date and Resp Inspector) or to delete the ECH, the Backed out ECH should be Disapproved to DRAFT. Once the ECH is (re)populated with the correct data, the ECH should be reapproved to FINAL APPROVED.

Witnessing

In IMS PEI you can add additional Approval steps for an ECH by enabling Witnessing for the ECH.