4.18 Final Approval
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Statutory Documents - IMO Publications and Documents - Circulars - Maritime Safety Committee - MSC.1/Circular.1455 – Guidelines for the Approval of Alternatives and Equivalents as Provided for in Various IMO Instruments – (24 June 2013) - Annex – Guidelines for the Approval of Alternatives and Equivalents as Provided for in Various IMO Instruments - 4 Process - 4.18 Final Approval

4.18 Final Approval

  4.18.1 The Final Approval phase will cover typical approval submittals, such as drawings, specifications, and support documentation, in addition to the submissions specified at the time of achieving preliminary approval.

  4.18.2 At the time of approval, all potential hazards and failure modes for the alternative and/or equivalency will have been assessed versus evaluation criteria, to a level of confidence necessary to grant final approval.

  4.18.3 In most cases, approval of the alternative and/or equivalency will involve conditions related to in-service surveys, inspections, monitoring, and possibly testing. In most cases, the conditions will be fixed already during the design phase. As experience accumulates and confidence in the alternative and/or equivalency is gained, these additional conditions and requirements may be relaxed.

  4.18.4 Following final approval, in the construction and in-service phase the Administration needs assurance that knowledge related to the alternative and/or equivalency features is fed into the quality control process. In order to achieve this, communication between the approval team and the survey team is strongly encouraged.

  4.18.5 All documents and drawings required to be submitted by the Submitter are verified by the Approval Authority.


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