ORGANIZATION AND RESPONSABILITIES IN LOCAL PLAN APPROVAL OFFICES (LPO)
DELEGATION OF A LPO
General
The LPOs are generally placed under the authority of the national or regional Chief Executive. For the case of BPO, GPO, NPO (and NOR in Oslo as the satellite of NPO), those LPOs are placed under the authority of a Technical Director of the North Europe Zone.
The LPO Surveyors work within the scope of a delegation granted by HO, in order to carry out design assessment of ships, mobile offshore units or marine equipment and to conclude whether compliance has been achieved; they also carry out technical studies related to their discipline.
When the submitted job is outside the Rule range, the methodology to be applied is to be agreed with HO.
Definitions
The following definitions apply:
HO:
in the present procedure, HO is to be understood as DA.
head of Section:
in the present procedure, head of Section is to be understood as DA Section Manager or Technical Referent - Inland Navigation.
discipline:
technical scope of work of any LPO surveyor. Typical disciplines are: Hull, Machinery, Electricity-Automation, Safety, Stability, Tonnage, Hydro-Mooring.
topic:
specific subject inside the discipline.
plan approval surveyor (LPO surveyor):
surveyor authorized to carry out design assessment in scope of his qualification and to conclude whether or not compliance has been achieved.
trainee:
plan approval staff receiving theoretical and practical training in the concerned discipline for the concerned topic, under the supervision of a trainer or a tutor. A trainee is not considered as qualified yet for that topic, although he can be already qualified in some other topics of the same discipline.
tutor:
plan approval surveyor assisting, coaching and supervising the practical training of a trainee, in a field (discipline and topic) for which he is qualified, until the trainee is qualified in that field.
any plan approval surveyor may be considered as a tutor.
trainer:
plan approval surveyor with experience and knowledge in a given field, having capability recognised by the Society to give theoretical training (through classroom teaching or individual training).
report monitoring:
monitoring of the plan approval production (approved drawings, reports) by plan approval surveyor having the requested qualification level.
activity monitoring:
individual assessment of a plan approval surveyor performed by a monitor, as described in the monitoring of quality of services procedure.
Format and Content
The delegation information is recorded in a dedicated database (Lotus Notes in the past - Qualif web base).
The delegations are nominative. In each discipline, they are ranked according to 3 technical levels (level 1, level 2, level 3) and 1 technical management level.
In each discipline, the delegations are as follows: The technical levels are ranked for listed topics, whereas the technical management is global.
level 1:
Technical qualification for listed topics. It expresses the ability:
to carry out plan approval, and to use concerned Recognised Organisation (RO) software,
to tutor trainees,
to assist level 2 or level 3 surveyors during an individual training or classroom training.
level 2:
Technical qualification for listed topics. It expresses the ability:
to carry out plan approval, and to use concerned Recognised Organisation (RO) software,
to tutor trainees,
to provide individual training or classroom training to any trainee or plan approval surveyor,
to perform Report Monitoring of any trainee or plan approval surveyor,
to perform Activity Monitoring of any plan approval surveyor.
level 3:
Technical qualification for listed topics. It expresses the ability:
to carry out plan approval, and to use concerned Recognised Organisation (RO) software,
to tutor trainees,
to provide individual training or classroom training to any trainee or plan approval surveyor,
to perform Report Monitoring of any trainee or plan approval surveyor,
to perform Activity Monitoring of any plan approval surveyor.
technical management:
Technical management qualification for the discipline. It expresses the ability:
to perform Report Monitoring on any drawing / report issued by plan approval surveyor of the LPO in that discipline.
Important: direct report monitoring of a trainee by a management delegation is not permitted (refer to 2.2).
This technical management delegation has one level only. It may be granted in addition to technical levels delegations. Its scope is limited to the concerned LPO.
Granting of the initial delegation
1.4.1
In each discipline, the delegations are normally granted by the HO Managers with a 2 year validity, fur-ther to an appropriate checking and a validation by head of Section (designated as "Section HO Manager" in Qualif). A final validation is performed by the LPO coordinator or other delegated person (designated as "HO Manager” in Qualif).For the case of Inland vessels refer to paragraph 1.4.2.
The initial delegation is granted based on the following principles:
level 1:
practical know-how (on-job training, experience)
theoretical training including individual assessment
level 2:
level 1 and activity as plan approval surveyor duly evidenced,
advanced theoretical training and/or individual assessment to evaluate the acquired knowledge, the experience, the autonomy, and the supervision capability
level 3:
level 2 and Report Monitoring activity duly evidenced,
individual assessment to evaluate the acquired knowledge, the experience, the autonomy, and the supervision capability
minimum 4 years of total experience as plan approval surveyor, with 2 years minimum at level 2 (typically)
technical management:
previous technical experience (in yard, designer company, class society,...) or a technical level delegation in at least one discipline,
management capability and experience,
specific training.
The technical management delegation is granted in 2 different ways according to the situation:
if the concerned discipline is outside the field of technical expertise of the surveyor, the delegation is given based on proven experience and specific general training by HO (typically 1 week for all disciplines). However, for Hull discipline, there is one pre-requisite to have already at least one surveyor in the LPO with technical delegation level 2 or level 3,
if the concerned discipline is the field of technical expertise of the surveyor, the delegation is given based on existing level 2 or level 3 in this discipline and formal application by the LPO Manager.
1.4.2 Inland vessels
The delegations for Inland vessels are normally granted to surveyors already qualified for sea-going ships, according to 1.4.1.
In each discipline, the delegations are normally granted by the HO Managers Inland or Section HO Managers Inland with a 2 years validity, further to an appropriate checking and a validation by head of Section (designated as "Section HO Manager Inland" in Qualif). A final validation is performed by the LPO coordinator or other delegated person (designated as "HO Manager Inland” in Qualif). For each surveyor, the individual topics of the inland vessels delegation are deduced from the individual topics of the sea-going ship delegation, on basis of correspondence table attached (Annex 1).
The initial delegation is granted based on the following principles, with a correspondence:
level 1:
level 1 for sea-going ships in same discipline, and for concerned topics,
general theoretical training including individual assessment,
level 2:
level 2 for sea-going ships in same discipline, and for concerned topics,
general theoretical training including individual assessment,
level 3:
level 3 for sea-going ships in same discipline, and for concerned topics,
general theoretical training including individual assessment,
technical management:
technical management qualification for sea-going ships in same discipline,
general theoretical training including individual assessment,
Recruitment and Trainings
The LPO Surveyors are recruited with the minimum skills stipulated in the related management procedure evaluated by experienced LPO staff. New appointed surveyors are registered as "trainee" before receiving their initial delegation. Their initial training is arranged in 2 steps according to the provisions stipulated in IACS PR 7:
first step: practical training based on local job fellowship during roughly 1 or 2 years under the supervision of Tutor(s) qualified with level 1 minimum (unless justified exceptions),
second step: theoretical training organized by HO based on specialized modules per discipline: "Hull structure (junior)" - "Machinery" - "Electricity"/"Automation" - "Safety" - "Stability", or similar (eg: offshore).
For the organisation of the Training for LPO Surveyors, due reference is to be paid to the Training Manual appended to the related management procedure.
The content of the practical training is recorded by the trainee and the resulting competence is assessed by the Tutor(s) (Tutor's appreciation, against familiarization with the rules and tools necessary for the local current work). Theoretical Information on general subjects such as Classification and Statutory activities, Quality management, Legal or Ethical issues is given out during the practical training and preferably formalized into an induction plan covering Class, Statutory, Quality Procedures, Recognised Organisation (RO) Organization, Recognised Organisation (RO) relevant technical and IT tools, local instructions if any,…. This is checked, and completed if necessary, before granting delegation level 1.
The competence gained after the whole training cycle is demonstrated through an examination organized by HO after the theoretical training sessions and before granting the initial delegation.
For HO staff, the standard examination may be replaced by an equivalent assessment arranged by the Head of the relevant section in HO.
For both the theoretical and the practical trainings, due evidence is to be recorded in the concerned surveyor qualification individual file (Qualif database).
In case of further trainings, due evidence of such training is also to be recorded in the concerned surveyor qualification individual file (Qualif database).
The process of qualification of the surveyors recruited from another IACS classification society may be simplified. An equivalence of delegation can be granted based on their official former delegation sheet and subject to an additional training on the specific Recognised Organisation (RO) Rules, technical tools and software, procedures and administrative processes.
For a surveyor entitled to lead a classroom training, an individual assessment must be performed by the lead trainer or by an experienced surveyor of the same discipline to confirm the training capabilities of the surveyor.
LPO have access to the pertinent Rules, Regulations and general information through the website MOVE (“Rules Explorer” for the main Recognised Organisation (RO) rules, Rules Notes and Guidance Notes, as well as other rules and guidance notes, “Regs4ships” for IMO and several flag states Regulations, “Class & Statutory News”, “IMO Amendments” for statutory requirements and their entry into force, …), M&O Technical - Home sharepoint (Recognised Organisation (RO) Rules Library, Technical Library, LPO, Innovative R&D Projects, 3D Classification & scientific software). Up-dated information is circulated to the LPOs either by specific messages, or through sessions such as webinars or the LPO Managers Seminar.
Updating of the initial delegation
The initial delegation is up-dated:
following relevant training sessions or seminars, exam (if relevant),
upon justified request (self-study, demonstrated competence),
and is renewed at the end of the validity period, considering the activity done during the period and further to an Activity Monitoring.
Work outside the scope of delegation
In special cases suitably justified, it may be accepted that some drawings are reviewed by a LPO outside the scope of its delegation; the LPO will then have to:
advise Head Office to request agreement and appropriate instructions for examining those documents and precise the name of LPO staff member involved;
once reviewed, inform Head office (or his delegated LPO) of the completion for final monitoring and validation.
Reinstatement of a delegation
It may happen that a duly delegated LPO Surveyor leaves design assessment activity for some time, either because of other position or because of resignation. If this Surveyor comes back to LPO design assessment activity after some time, then his delegation must be formally re-activated according to the following principles:�
The Surveyor is registered as a trainee.
The Surveyor receives a practical (on-the-job) up-date training in the LPO during a probatory period. This training should cover Rules, technical tools and software, procedures and administrative processes. The duration of the probatory period is to be 3 months in case of period outside the LPO design assessment activity not exceeding 3 years and 6 months otherwise. Case by case basis, these figures may be adjusted depending on actual demonstrated capability.
At the end of the probatory period, a local evaluation of the Surveyor is performed by his manager, with formal conclusion issued and reported in the dedicated qualification database.
Last, a direct assessment of the re-gained competency is performed by concerned Head of HO Section, either by means of a technical interview, an at-distance job monitoring or during a technical audit.
After the above steps, the delegation is first reactivated with same scope as previously existing, at end of previous Recognised Organisation (RO) period within design assessment. This scope may be extended later on, according to §1.3.
Suspension of a delegation
Delegation suspension may occur through two distinct mechanisms:
Automatic suspension in Qualif occurs when the Activity Monitoring is not completed within the required timeframe, as specified in the monitoring of quality of services procedure — MONITORING OF QUALITY OF SERVICES, section 4.2.2.
Manual suspension in Qualif (by “HO Manager”/”HO Manager Inland”) is implemented when a surveyor demonstrates serious technical and/or procedural deficiencies, identified through local report monitoring, activity monitoring, or internal audit. The following corrective measures are applied sequentially:
Step 1: The surveyor must complete a refreshment training on the subject(s) related to the identified deficiencies. Simultaneously, enhanced monitoring of the surveyor's output is implemented.This enhanced monitoring can be performed locally or at HO level (to be defined on a case by cases basis).
Step 2: Following the refreshment training and enhanced monitoring period (typically 3 months), if deficiencies remain uncorrected, the corresponding delegation shall be manually suspended in Qualif.
MONITORING AND SUPERVISION
General
The provisions for Report Monitoring and Activity Monitoring (for Surveyors) apply to the LPO activities as described hereafter, both for sea-going ships and inland vessels.
Report Monitoring
Report monitoring applies in the same way in HO and in the LPOs. Sea-going ships and inland vessels are to be considered separately when applying below principles.
It is carried out by the Head of Department/Section/Office or any other designated person with the relevant level of qualification on documents or reports subjected to design assessment by LPO staff.
This report monitoring is evidenced by an electronic validation in VPM. Exceptionally, it may be also evidenced by a dated signature on the manuscript or by a double signature on the document.
The documents concerned by this paragraph are those issued by HO or by the LPO, within the following services:
drawing approval for Classification or Statutory Services,
other technical studies.
The extend of documents to be monitored is given below:
trainee:
100% of the documents issued. All documents to be issued under the supervision of a tutor, except when the report monitoring is performed by a level 2 or a level 3 plan approval surveyor
level 1 plan approval surveyor:
100% of the documents issued
level 2 plan approval surveyor:
50% of the documents issued, to be decided by the LPO Manager. The remaining 50% is not subject to report monitoring and can be validated in VPM by the plan approval surveyor
level 3 plan approval surveyor:
10% of the documents issued, to be decided by the LPO Manager. The remaining 90% is not subject to report monitoring and can be validated in VPM by the plan approval surveyor
Specific arrangements for each Section or LPO are described in procedures relating to organisation, responsibilities and delegations of signature.
When a trainee cannot be monitored by a level 2 or level 3 surveyor, the following procedure shall be implemented in VPM:
The trainee shall be designated as "surveyor in charge" in VPM to identify the complete list of tasks for which the trainee has received training,
The assigned tutor (at least a level 1 surveyor) is responsible for conducting a comprehensive review of the trainee's work (Assessment of the trainee's compliance verification against applicable rules and regulations, issuance of comments addressing any identified non-compliance, appropriate stamps for both class and statutory requirements, traceability of supporting documents,…)
Upon satisfactory completion of this review, the tutor shall request the review to be validated.
At this stage, the Management delegation is authorized to validate the drawing.
The tutor requesting the review to be validated and the plan approval surveyor validating the review with his Management delegation shall be two different plan approval surveyors.
Activity Monitoring
The provisions stipulated in the monitoring of quality of services procedure are applicable to the LPO surveyors.
As a rule, any plan approval surveyor is monitored at least once every other calendar year for each discipline where he has a valid qualification, for global scope of sea-going ships and inland vessels, if relevant. Trainees are not subject to Activity Monitoring until they get qualified.
From 01 July 2026, technical staff shall have an Activity Monitoring conducted within twelve (12) months of the first qualification being issued in each field of activity listed below:
Design review
Design review Inland
“First qualification” refers to the initial certificate issued to plan approval surveyors for each activity listed above. In general, this first certificate includes the basic delegations required for that activity.
Activity Monitoring is carried out during examination of some documents of a particular project and is duly documented as per Appendix 1 of the monitoring of quality of services procedure, reporting any areas of improvements or recommended training actions. Due reference is to be paid to the provisions stipulated in IACS PR 6. For activity monitoring of plan approval surveyor with level 2 or level 3, it is recommended to examine documents that have not been subject to Report Monitoring.
The individual Activity Monitoring report is stored in the Qualification database (starting 2011), and is reviewed during the annual PMP in case of significant findings.
The Activity Monitoring is performed by a Monitor.
This Monitor is to be as follows:
one of the plan approval surveyors from the same LPO and having qualification level 2 or level 3 in the monitored discipline,
a specialist (i.e., an individual with appropriate knowledge and experience) designated by Head Office, as per the monitoring of quality of services procedure.
The plan approval surveyors who cannot be monitored locally in their discipline are monitored:
preferably by a HO specialist in the discipline conducting direct interviews during a visit or an audit of the LPO or performing a remote examination of the reports, drawings and documents stored in VPM (including calculations notes and database when applicable),
by a plan approval surveyor from another LPO holding qualification level 2 or level 3 in the monitored discipline.
For each plan approval surveyor, the Activity Monitoring of technical delegation in each discipline covers also the technical management delegation if any.
The plan approval surveyor granted with a technical management delegation only are monitored by suitable section of HO, in the concerned discipline, during annual LPO Seminar or during any visit to HO or LPO.Alternatively, the monitoring may be performed remotely (Visio conference).
Activity monitoring for inland delegations should be performed following the same principles as for sea-going activities. However, depending on the number of qualified surveyors and inland projects handled by the LPO, the following alternative approaches may be considered.
The plan approval surveyors who cannot be monitored locally in their discipline may be monitored by one of the plan approval surveyors from another LPO and having qualification level 2 or level 3 in the monitored discipline.
If the surveyor has not reviewed enough inland projects during the past two years (typically 3 projects), the activity monitoring performed for sea-going projects can exceptionally be considered as activity monitoring for inland delegation in the same discipline, subject to further agreement with HO.
For plan approval surveyor granted with technical management delegation only, the activity monitoring performed for sea-going projects are considered as a valid activity monitoring for inland delegation in the same discipline
The Activity Monitoring is normally done during the period of 6 months preceding the delegation expiry.
ORGANIZATION OF A LPO
Technical team
The technical team is managed by a Head of LPO or equivalent depending on the Regional organisation provided that supervision of the LPO activity is efficiently maintained by surveyor(s) with an appropriate experience.
The LPO Head has delegation to sign all letters, reports, drawings and other documents produced ; any sub-delegation is documented.
The technical team is normally organised to cope with all technical activities in accordance with the delegation granted, on new constructions and conversions of ships in service; statutory activities are done as per TNC 004.
The specific local arrangements are reflected in a procedural document or a working instruction. In particular where a Continuity Plan is required in case of sanitary emergency, the following is to be documented:
the Crisis Management team in charge of ensuring continuity of the work,
the list of personnel provided with a laptop and Internet connections liable to work temporarily outside the office.
LPO project manager
The LPO Project manager is appointed for the project by the LPO Manager of the LPO owner (The LPO owner is specified in the RFC and managing the greatest number of design review disciplines), his responsibilities are:
To liaise with the Project Leader when appointed, or the NC Manager / NC Manager Delegate to:
review the project as defined in the related procedure, §4.3 during a preliminary kick off meeting,
attend regular meetings during design review phase to provide feedback on the plan approval activities, identify / anticipate possible blocking points and discuss the necessary actions to be put in place, get an update of the building phase’s progress, (refer to the related procedure, § 5.1.3 and 5.7.2)
To liaise with the other LPOs and coordinate the plan approval activities of the project,
To monitor the progress of the design review activities.
Administrative tasks
The administrative tasks are done according to the following guidelines:
Correspondence and documents (drawings, booklets, calculation notes etc.)
The incoming and outgoing correspondence are suitably recorded and filed. All documents are identified with the register number or section number (SNC, APG,...).
After review, the documents including copies for files if any, are:
adequately stamped (as per TNC 002),
signed (except for documents stamped electronically).
Dispatch of documents/drawings to clients
According to the letters and the dispatch prepared by the Surveyor, the documents are checked and sent to the clients and Recognised Organisation (RO) offices. A trace of the mailing (date, number of copies for each addressee, ...) is kept.
All documents / drawings sent to the clients and Recognised Organisation (RO) offices must be kept in digital format in VPM (scanned copy if necessary), to allow further access to information.
Filing
The correspondence and documents submitted related to a specific project are identified and filed together, either in paper or electronic format.
The VeriStar Project Management "VPM" database is used for recording the drawings and the associated comments; this allows to follow:
the references of the drawings and their revision,
the drawing approval status (numbering code is given in TNC 002),
the formulated comments (2 types: "to be dealt with" or "to be resubmitted") and/or Notes,
the follow-up of comments,
progress of the drawing categories (when applicable).
Letters, e-mails, reports and technical notes are filed in files/sub-files of identified databases, Recognised Organisation (RO) Apps, or SharePoint, as appropriate.
The calculation booklets, database, computers outputs and other calculations are stored in dedicated folders organized by activities (typically: hull, machinery, electricity, automation, firefighting, cargo containment system, stability, freeboard, tonnage, etc.). All files are appropriately referenced with project identifiers, document type/software designation, and currency status (current/obsolete). Electronic files are secured, and calculation outputs are archived in PDF format. A master list documenting all calculations and corresponding ship references is maintained and kept current. The filing structure—whether using local servers, dedicated SharePoint repositories, VPM/Documents, or a combination thereof—is defined in the local instructions.
Documentation and equipment
Each LPO works with reference to the applicable Rules and Regulations and Quality documents according to its delegation of activities.
Each LPO is equipped, in suitable environmental conditions, with the necessary hardware to run the programmes provided by DT according to its delegation.
INTER-RELATIONSHIPS
With DT
The LPOs are technically supervised by HO through internal audits, and Activity Monitoring on the staff with higher levels where relevant.
HO reserves its right, at the client's request, for sophisticated ships or to keep/gain competencies, to examine drawings and documents of ships normally reviewed by a LPO within its delegation.
With FM
The LPOs apply to FM (Fleet Management) or to the Marine Operation Centres for classification & statutory matters of ships in service.
With other LPO: LPO in charge, LPO owner
The review of ship and related equipment drawings may be distributed among several LPOs, depending on the qualifications in force. This share of work is generally made by discipline (hull, stability, machinery, electricity & automation, safety, tonnage, hydro-mooring) . As such, the following inter-relationships apply, to secure the review process ownership:
the review process is owned by one of the LPO, named “LPO owner”. By definition, the LPO owner is the LPO in charge of the review of ship drawings for the largest number of disciplines (in case of same number of disciplines by two LPOs, the LPO owner is the one in charge of the hull drawings),
other LPOs may also participate to the drawing review. They are in charge of drawings review for one or several disciplines. They are named “LPO in charge”,
Equipment drawings are examined by the LPO covering the country where the equipment is manufactured, if within the scope of its delegation, or by another designated LPO otherwise.
However, drawings and documents of equipment or systems designed and engineered for the specific ship they will be fitted on are to be examined by the LPO in charge of the ship drawings review for the corresponding discipline, as a rule. Review by another LPO is also possible, provided full traceability is achieved by means of VeriStar Project Management (VPM) and the LPO in charge of the corresponding discipline is kept informed.
The review by the LPO in charge of the ship drawings for the corresponding discipline namely applies to :
fire fighting or fire detection systems (Safety discipline),
main and emergency switchboards. (Electricity discipline)
With Survey Stations
The LPOs receive the drawings and documents either from the survey station in charge of the survey of ships or directly from the shipbuilder/designer or the equipment manufacturer.
The LPOs give technical advice to survey stations if need be, according to their delegation.
With Satellite offices
Satellite offices are technical centers with LPO Surveyors delocalized but working under the direct control of a supervising LPO; the requirements concerning Delegation, Organization and Monitoring as stipulated in ORGANIZATION OF A LPO to INTERNAL AUDITING of the present PNC are similarly applicable under the supervision and responsibility of the supervising LPO Manager, with specific arrangements documented in a local Procedure to take the local conditions into account.
In addition to the comments validation through VPM, it is required to arrange face to face meeting with the supervising LPO at regular intervals, typically every 6 months.
The satellite offices are not audited separately from the supervising LPO, as they form one team; however the supervision procedures and effectiveness of the satellite offices are verified by the auditors and included in the audit programme.
INTERNAL AUDITING
Audit team
The auditors are selected amongst the management staff of HO or the LPOs so as to cover most of the various disciplines involved (Hull, Machinery, ...). Specific internal audit for inland vessels may be initiated if felt necessary.
Audit performance
The audit performance covers primarily the technical content of the services and the staff competence, secondarily the office quality system (i.e. procedures and work instructions, existence and implementation) and organisation.
The audit is based on interviews with the management, the staff (technical and administrative) and on a file review (selection of a couple of contracts representative of the activity: LPO type of Vertical Contract Audit or VCA).
The audit may be distributed in several visits by the various auditors who check the files and perform the Activity Monitoring of the required staff.
Audit report
The report of the audit is made according to Annex A2 of the related management procedure. The resulting Corrective Actions (if any) are defined and implemented by the audited LPO Manager, after validation by the auditor.
Audit planning and follow-up
The audits are planned to cover all the LPOs approximately every 3 years. A shorter periodicity is achieved when the audit findings justify so.
Quasi sister ships and MoUS
Quasi sister ships
For ships defined as quasi sister ships in accordance with the related procedure, § 1.4.11, the following provisions apply:
Complete approved documentation: The quasi sister ship shall possess a full set of approved drawings and documents as specified in the applicable sections of the Recognised Organisation (RO) Rules. All drawings and documents must bear the hull number of the quasi sister ship,
Rules gap analysis (Ref the related procedure, Annex 5): The LPO (or respective LPOs for their assigned activities) shall conduct a gap analysis to identify any Class requirements that entered into force between the initial contract date and the date the option is exercised. This analysis shall be recorded in VPM/Design review/Documents.
MoUs
For Recognised Organisation (RO) classed ships based on a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with a design previously approved by another IACS classification society, TNC1125 (applicable revision) and PR42 (according to the date of the contract for construction) shall apply.
The MoU contract shall be registered in VPM/Design review/Documents.