[PSUBS-MAILIST] G.L. Classification Overview

[hank pronk]

Mark,
If you wanted a certified sub, you are already prepared to pony up some hard earned bucks.  In most cases we as psubers would not expect to fabricate our own hull's and expect certification.  You would take your certified blueprints to a fab shop that only builds pressure vessels.  we have some awesome places here In Western Canada that could do it no problem.  These shops have all these requirements in place already.  These big shops need a year or so lead time, so it would not happen fast.  If you keep the design simple from a fabrication point of view, I think it is not out of reach for a regular guy.  I have learned with getting house moving permits that you just chip away at the regulations one by one and in no time you have it.  It takes three months to get a permit to move a large structure and one night to move it. :-) 
Hank



On Thursday, November 28, 2013 3:02:39 AM, Marc de Piolenc <piolenc at archivale.com> wrote:
  


On 11/28/2013 5:39 PM, Alan wrote:

> Then comes the build, which may require an initial inspection of your work shop
> & that of sub contractors. You are required to have a quality management
> system in place such as ISO 9001, have qualified people employed & name
> your supervisor to them.

Well, that's tens of thousands of dollars for ISO certification right up 
front - that's if you can get it. This is worse than I thought.

> Any structural components are examined by the surveyor in uncoated condition.
> The pressure hull can be subjected to an external hydraulic pressure test at this
> Stage.

Another couple of tens of g's - if you can get the service. You've now 
spent the equivalent of two to four times the cost of actually 
constructing a small sub, and have nothing to show for it but (possibly) 
an approved bare hull.

> However there is a yearly inspection & a 2 &1/2 yearly inspection to maintain class.
> After 5 years you have to reclassify. I have no idea what these annual inspections
> cost but guess they are additional to the classification cost.

That's a safe bet. What a racket!

> I suppose these exhaustive tests have relevance in the commercial realm where
> your submersible may be at the coal face every day & going down 2000ft, but if
> any authority required certification for private builders we would be wiped off the
> face of the planet.

Yup. Glad I live in the Philippines. Here, if you're only risking your 
own life, it's pretty much your business... which is as it should be.

Marc

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