I attended the API 1104 spring meeting in Washing D.C. last week The discussions on the first day were regarding Appendix A and B. Appendix A proposed changes would include clarification to sections related to stress analysis, clarification of some essential variables (filler metal, base metal and position), and some allowances for retesting of charpy and tensile specimens under specific circumstances. Appendix B is also proposing some dramatic changes. These changes would mainly consist of clarifying or adding essential variables (heat input range, weld deposition, carbon equivalent), clarifying the intent of welder qualification and the inclusion of procedure and welder requirements for weld deposition repairs.
During the second day, the qualification subcommittee reviewed their proposed changes. Most of the discussions were on allowing retesting of some mechanical tests during procedure qualification. The remainder of the day was for the group working on repair welding. The group wants to develop a much larger repair welding section which will be more descriptive to the user and give guidance on how to qualify repair procedures.
All and all the meeting was very productive and there was a lot of interesting discussions. I do not know how many of the changes will be accepted by the publication date but regardless the next edition of API 1104 will be different and, in my opinion, a much better document