About

Firm Identity

AIS™ is a mechanical integrity firm. That distinction is not a positioning choice. It is an operational one.

There is a category of firm that runs tests schedules crews, deploys equipment, and delivers data. And there is a category of firm that manages inspection programs defines scope, interprets standards, makes acceptance decisions, and produces records that survive regulatory review. AIS™ operates in the second category. The work is different. The accountability is different. The deliverable is different.

Mechanical integrity inspection, as AIS™ practices it, begins with the applicable code and ends with a documented, traceable record of inspection decisions made against that code. NDE methods and weld inspection are execution tools applied within that framework they do not define it. The framework is defined by the applicable standard, the scope of assets under inspection, and the program structure established before any field work begins.

AIS™ was established to provide that kind of inspection principal-led, independent, and built for the regulatory environment of the Basin. Not for volume. Not for speed. For accountability.

Principal-Led Model

What This Means in Practice

The inspector responsible for program decisions is present throughout execution not available by phone

Acceptance decisions are made by the person who will defend them not delegated to field personnel

Documentation maintained by the inspection principal not compiled from field notes after the fact

Engagements accepted only where the principal-led structure can be maintained through completion

How AIS™ Is Structured

The inspector responsible for the program is responsible for the results.

In a principal-led inspection model, the person making inspection program decisions is directly accountable for those decisions not managing a crew that makes them, not reviewing reports produced by subcontracted technicians, and not signing off on work done by personnel who operate under a different standard of accountability. The principal is present, qualified, and personally responsible for the inspection judgment.

This structure matters because inspection accountability does not transfer cleanly through layers of subcontracting. When an inspection finding is challenged by a regulator, reviewed in an incident investigation, or referenced in a capital project handover, the question is not who ran the test it is who made the acceptance decision and on what basis. In a principal-led model, that question has a clear answer.

AIS™ takes on a limited number of engagements precisely because of this model. The volume of work is governed by the capacity to maintain principal-led execution not by the availability of crews or the size of the contract. When that capacity is reached, AIS™ declines additional work rather than diluting the accountability structure that makes the model function.

Practice Standard

Independence from fabrication, repair, and execution contractors is not a policy. It is the condition under which AIS™ accepts work.

AIS™ does not maintain commercial relationships with the fabricators, repair contractors, or construction firms whose work it inspects. This is a structural requirement of the inspection model, not a preference. When inspection judgment is commercially entangled with contractor performance through referral arrangements, preferred vendor relationships, or shared commercial interest in project completion that judgment is compromised before it is made. AIS™ avoids that entanglement by design.

In practice, this means AIS™ inspection programs are scoped and structured by the inspection principal before contractor engagement, hold points are defined and enforced without contractor input on whether they are commercially inconvenient, and rejection decisions are made against the applicable code without negotiation.

The inspection record reflects what was found not what was commercially preferable to report. That is the only condition under which AIS™ accepts an inspection engagement.

AIS™ does not operate as a rapid-response commodity testing provider. We deliver inspection programs designed to hold up under audit, handover, and regulatory review.

Experience Context

Experience spanning new construction, capital projects, revamp work, and ongoing integrity programs across the Basin.

New Construction & Greenfield

Field experience from new construction and greenfield projects from first weld through mechanical completion, including compressor station construction, facility expansion, and tank battery installation. Built in operating environments, under production pressure, in the regulatory context that governs Basin operations.

Capital Projects & Revamp Work

Modification inspection in operating facilities piping tie-ins, vessel alterations, equipment replacement, and repair oversight in active systems. The interaction between the new construction code and the applicable in-service standard, and the documentation requirements for altered components under API and ASME standards, are core areas of the AIS™ practice.

Ongoing Integrity Programs

In-service mechanical integrity program experience spans pressure vessels under API 510, process piping under API 570, and above-ground storage tanks under API 653. Risk-based inspection planning per API 580 has informed program structure and interval management across Basin programs. That experience governs how AIS™ scopes and structures new programs.

Credentials & Governing Standards

Standards governing AIS™ inspection programs and supporting execution credentials.

Listed in the order they govern AIS™ program work planning and program authority first, execution credentials second.

API Certifications Program Authority

API 580 — Risk-Based Inspection

Current. Informs inspection scope, prioritization, and interval setting across mechanical integrity programs. Applied upstream of asset-specific codes.

API 510 — Pressure Vessel Inspection

Governs in-service inspection and alteration oversight for pressure vessels across the AIS™ practice.

API 570 — Piping Inspection

Governs in-service inspection and integrity program management for process piping systems.

API 653 — Aboveground Storage Tank Inspection

Governs construction, in-service, and repair inspection for storage tank assets across new installation, revamp, and compliance programs.

Supporting Execution Credentials

AWS CWI — Certified Welding Inspector

CWI-certified weld inspection integrated into AIS™ mechanical integrity programs, capital projects, and repair and alteration scope. Applied within API-governed program authority. Certification governed by the American Welding Society (AWS).

ASNT-Aligned NDE / NDT

Nondestructive examination personnel qualification aligned with ASNT standards. Applied within AIS™-governed programs where code, risk profile, or inspection scope requires. Not a catalog service.

Note on credential presentation

Credentials are listed factually. No badge display. No certification wall. API standards govern AIS™ programs. AWS CWI and ASNT credentials are execution qualifications applied within that framework.

Regional Presence

Based in the Basin. Built for the Basin.

AIS™ operates across New Mexico and into West Texas within approximately 120 miles of Carlsbad the operating geography of the Basin. Programs are designed for the regulatory environment, project pace, and operating conditions of this region. Not adapted from practices developed elsewhere. Not scaled for national deployment.

The decision to operate within a defined geographic range is consistent with the principal-led, accountability-first model. Coverage that outpaces the ability to deliver principal-led inspection judgment is coverage that compromises the model. AIS™ does not pursue it.

Regional Workforce Support Supporting Engagement

Supporting workforce qualification and craft development in New Mexico.

AIS™ supports workforce qualification and technical readiness across the Basin through involvement with the Southeast New Mexico College NDE program, the Trade-X building initiative, and New Mexico Workforce Solutions / America's Job Center.

This engagement reflects a long-term commitment to craft and technical talent development in New Mexico not a training-for-hire offering. The involvement is grounded in the belief that qualified inspection and NDE personnel are a regional infrastructure requirement, and that Basin operators, contractors, and inspection firms all benefit from a deeper and better-qualified local talent base.

Southeast New Mexico College NDE Program

Trade-X Building Initiative

New Mexico Workforce Solutions / America's Job Center

A mechanical integrity firmbuilt on accountabilitynot on volume.