Emerging Skills Program — no certification exam
API 579-1 / ASME FFS-1 Fitness-For-Service
The run-repair-replace standard behind API 510, 570, 653 and 580 — Level 1 to Level 3 assessments, remaining life, and the calculations that produce them. Training, not certification preparation.
Why this matters
The problem this solves
API 579-1 is the standard that decides whether equipment with a known flaw can keep running — and it is the one piece of the inspection stack API has never built a certification around.
API 510, 570, 653 and 580 all hand the run-repair-replace decision to API 579-1 / ASME FFS-1. None of them require a separate 579-1 credential, because API’s Individual Certification Program does not offer one. The standard is applied inside those certifications rather than examined on its own.
That gap is the reason this is a programme and not an exam guide. The competency is real, valuable and in daily use; the certification simply does not exist, and a page implying otherwise would be selling something nobody can buy.
So the material is built for applied competency rather than exam drilling: 18 modules covering all 14 Parts of the standard, worked calculations throughout, and three Excel workbooks carrying live calculators for the numbers you actually have to produce and defend.
Before you enrol
Is this a certification?
The short answer is no, and it is worth being explicit about it rather than leaving it to be discovered later.
What this programme gives you
- 18 modules of study notes covering all 14 Parts of the standard
- 1,215 practice questions across 56 mock tests, every one with a worked explanation
- 330 flashcards and a Quick Reference Handbook
- Three Excel workbooks with live calculators for t-min, RSF, the Failure Assessment Diagram, Larson-Miller creep and Miner fatigue damage
- An EIM certificate of completion
What it does not
- Not preparation for a certification exam — API runs none for 579-1
- No API or ASME credential at the end, because no such credential exists
- Not part of API’s Individual Certification Program, unlike 510, 570, 653, 571, 577, 580, 936, 1169, SIFE and SIRE
- Not a substitute for API 510, 570, 653 or 580 if your employer requires one of those
If you need a recognised credential, start at certification exam preparation.
Who it's for
Roles this is built around
Inspectors holding API 510, 570 or 653
Certified
Making the run-repair-replace calls those codes hand straight to API 579-1, often without ever having been taught it.
Asset integrity and RBI engineers
API 580 territory
Feeding probability of failure from a real assessment rather than a default table nobody can defend in a review.
Mechanical and materials engineers
Any level
Writing, reviewing, or challenging a fitness-for-service report somebody else produced.
What it covers
The outline
An outline, not a weighted Body of Knowledge — nobody publishes weights for a subject with no exam behind it.
Fundamentals of Fitness-For-Service
What an FFS assessment is, and where it sits between an inspection finding and a run-repair-replace decision.
Introduction to API 579-1 (2021 Edition)
How the standard is organised — Parts 1 and 2, and the road map into Parts 3 through 14.
When should API 579 be used?
The judgement call: which findings warrant a formal assessment, and which are simply a repair.
Assessment Levels 1, 2 and 3
The data each level demands, the conservatism traded away, and when a Level 1 result is enough to stop.
General metal loss (Part 4)
Thickness averaging, the critical thickness profile, and the remaining strength factor for widespread thinning.
Local metal loss (Part 5)
Locally thinned areas and groove-like flaws, and exactly where Part 5 takes over from Part 4.
Pitting corrosion (Part 6)
Pit-couple methodology, the pitting charts, and combining pitting with general thinning.
Fracture mechanics primer
Stress intensity, fracture toughness and the Failure Assessment Diagram — before Parts 3 and 9 need them.
Brittle fracture (Part 3)
MAT and MDMT screening curves, exemption from impact testing, and the three levels applied to brittle fracture.
Blisters, HIC and SOHIC (Part 7)
Blister assessment, through-thickness cracking, and what wet H₂S service does to the acceptance criteria.
Crack-like flaws (Part 9)
Flaw characterisation, FAD-based assessment, and the residual stress assumptions that dominate the answer.
Laminations (Part 13)
When a lamination is benign, when it is not, and the interaction rules with free surfaces and welds.
Weld misalignment and distortion (Part 8)
Peaking, banding and out-of-roundness, and the bending stresses they quietly introduce.
Components in the creep range (Part 10)
The Larson-Miller parameter, creep damage accumulation, and remaining life above the creep threshold.
Fire damage (Part 11)
Heat exposure zones, material property recovery, and deciding what actually has to be replaced after a fire.
Dents and gouges (Part 12)
Assessment of mechanical damage, and why a dent with a gouge in it is a different problem from either alone.
Fatigue damage (Part 14)
Cycle counting, Miner’s rule, and screening a component for fatigue before committing to a detailed assessment.
Case studies
Thirty worked cases from real assets, cutting across Parts and grouped by asset class.
Outcomes
What you will be able to do
- Decide whether an inspection finding needs a formal assessment at all, or simply a repair
- Choose the right Part of API 579-1 for the damage actually in front of you
- Run a Level 1 screening assessment and recognise when its conservatism is costing real capacity
- Know when Level 1 must escalate to Level 2, and when Level 3 finite element work is genuinely warranted
- Calculate a remaining strength factor and a remaining life, and set an inspection interval from it
- Read, review and challenge a fitness-for-service report written by somebody else
Standards referenced
What the programme works from
| Standard | What we use it for | Note |
|---|---|---|
| API 579-1 / ASME FFS-1 | Fitness-For-Service | The standard this programme teaches |
| API 510 | Pressure Vessel Inspection Code | Defers to 579-1 for run-repair-replace |
| API 570 | Piping Inspection Code | Same |
| API 653 | Tank Inspection, Repair, Alteration and Reconstruction | Same |
| API 580 | Risk-Based Inspection | Draws on FFS for probability of failure |
| API RP 571 | Damage Mechanisms Affecting Fixed Equipment | Identifies the damage FFS then evaluates |
How it runs
Ways to take it
Formats offered — not scheduled dates. Live cohort dates live on the course page, so there is only ever one copy of a date.
| Format | Duration | Group size | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-paced online | 12 months access | Individual | Study notes, question bank, flashcards and the calculation workbooks |
FAQs
Questions people ask first
No. Unlike API 510, 570, 653, 571, 577, 580, 936, 1169, SIFE, and SIRE, API 579-1 is not part of API’s Individual Certification Program, and there is no Prometric-administered certification exam for it. It’s a standard applied and referenced within those other certifications, not a standalone credential.
Fitness-for-service assessment is core, high-value technical knowledge for inspectors and engineers regardless of whether a standalone certification exists, and it’s directly relevant to API 510, 570, 653, and especially 580. EIM’s programme builds genuine applied competency, not exam-format drilling for a test that isn’t offered.
It provides methodologies for analyzing, evaluating, and monitoring pressure vessels, piping, and storage tanks with identified flaws or damage, supporting run-repair-replace decisions. It’s referenced directly by API 510, 570, 653, and 580.
Structured study notes covering all major assessment types, a practice question set for self-assessment, and worked example problems mirroring real fitness-for-service calculations, delivered as self-paced online training with a completion certificate from EIM.
No formal prerequisite exists, but the material assumes a working engineering or inspection background, and it’s most valuable for those already pursuing or holding API 510, 570, 653, or 580.
Level 1 (conservative screening calculations usable with minimal data), Level 2 (more detailed analysis allowing less conservative results), and Level 3 (advanced numerical analysis, typically finite element modeling, for complex or borderline cases).
No. API 580 covers risk-based inspection program methodology and does have an official ICP certification exam. API 579-1 is the fitness-for-service standard that API 580 references for probability-of-failure assessment, but 579-1 itself has no separate certification.
EIM’s certificate confirms completion of EIM’s training programme. It is not issued by, affiliated with, or equivalent to an API Individual Certification Program credential, since no such credential exists for API 579-1.
Want the full outline?
Tell us your role and what you are trying to fix, and we will send the programme outline and what it would take to run it for your team.
Certifications that formalise this
If you need a recognised credential in this area, these are the exams that cover it.