Industrial Valves, Actuators & Flow Control worked example

Certification Documentation Burden at 23% qa review and customer approval overhead: a worked example

What does the result look like when qa review and customer approval overhead reaches 23%? The full calculation is worked below with real intermediate numbers. Use this when planning QA documentation workload for orders requiring material test reports, hydrostatic test certificates, PMI reports, dimensional certificates, or full data books per API, ASME, or customer specifications.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Valves requiring certification packages: 50 valves (unchanged)
  • Average hours per certification package: 1.5 hr / package (unchanged)
  • QA review and customer approval overhead: 23 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 20)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Base documentation hours = valves x hours per certification package) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 41 hr for total documentation burden (hours), the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 33.33 hr for base compilation hours.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 23 % for qa review and approval hours added.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 1.5 pieces / min for certification packages completed per hour.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where qa review and customer approval overhead sits at 20% and the headline result is 40 hr, this scenario comes in 2.5% above the baseline at 41 hr.
  • A figure at this level is achievable when qa review and customer approval overhead is genuinely sustained, not just peaked for a shift. It assumes one average package effort; a standard commercial valve cert is far lighter than a full PED or API 6A data book, so separate complex packages from routine ones.

Results at a glance

  • Total documentation burden (hours): 41 hr (headline result)
  • Base compilation hours: 33.33 hr
  • QA review and approval hours added: 23 %
  • Certification packages completed per hour: 1.5 pieces / min

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Certification Documentation Burden calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.