About the BPVC

Since its first issuance in 1914, ASME’s Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC) has pioneered modern standards-development, maintaining a commitment to enhance public safety and technological advancement to meet the needs of a changing world.  More than 100,000 copies of the BPVC are in use in 100 countries around the world. 

Click here for a printer-friendly version of a brochure, which details all 12 BPVC Sections, plus ASME’s portfolio of related BPVC offerings.

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Product Scope / Abstract

This Division of Section VIII provides requirements applicable to the design, fabrication, inspection, testing, and certification of pressure vessels operating at either internal or external pressures generally above 10,000 psi.  Such vessels may be fired or unfired.  This pressure may be obtained from an external source, a process reaction, by the application of heat from a direct or indirect source, or any combination thereof.  Division 3 rules cover vessels intended for a specific service and installed in a fixed location or relocated from work site to work site between pressurizations.  The operation and maintenance control is retained during the useful life of the vessel by the user who prepares or causes to be prepared the design specifications.  Division 3 does not establish maximum pressure limits for either Section VIII, Divisions 1 or 2, nor minimum pressure limits for this Division.  Rules pertaining to the use of the UV3 ASME Product Certification Marks are also included.

Careful application of this Section will help users to comply with applicable regulations within their jurisdictions, while achieving the operational, cost and safety benefits to be gained from the many industry best-practices detailed within these volumes.

Key changes to this 2013 Edition include:

• New Mandatory Appendix on Establishing Governing BPVC Editions and Case for Pressure Vessels and Parts
• KD-1, KD-2, KD-3, to include the simplified elastic-plastic analysis, thermal stress ratcheting assessment and a fatigue penalty factor for linear elastic fatigue analysis
• New Nonmandatory Appendix B, which includes the requirements of withdrawn standard High Pressure Systems Nonmandatory Appendix A and Section 3000
• To permit electroslag welding for weld overlay in KF-2 Supplemental Welding Fabrication Requirements

All changes to this 2013 Edition are incorporated into the appropriate page and each affected area is identified with a designator.  Each Section includes a Summary of Changes that lists the material affected by the change, plus the nature of the change.  There will no longer be Addenda service for this 2013 Edition or for future Editions.

Intended for manufacturers, users, constructors, designers and others concerned with the design, fabrication, assembly, erection, examination, inspection and testing of pressure vessels, plus all potential governing entities.

BPVC purchasers may wish to purchase a binder from ASME (BPVC Binder), but the publication will also fit a standard three-ring binder.

For the convenience of those applying for and/or maintaining their ASME Product Certification Marks, ASME gathers its required codes and standards into the f