To achieve success in ship construction, it is necessary for the ship owner and the ship builder to agree on the level of quality in the final product. Classification rules, regulatory requirements, and ship specifications all help to define an acceptable level of construction quality; however, this guidance alone is not sufficient. It is up to the shipbuilder, therefore, to describe the level of workmanship sufficiently that will be reflected in the delivered ship, and for the ship owner to communicate his expectations effectively for the final product.

It is the intent of this document to contribute to these objectives in the following ways:

To describe a reasonable acceptable level of workmanship for commercial vessels built in the United States.

To provide a baseline from which individual shipyards can begin to develop their own product and process standards in accordance with generally accepted practice in the commercial marine industry.

To provide a foundation for negotiations between the shipbuilder and the ship owner in reaching a common expectation of construction quality.

The acceptance criteria herein are based on currently practiced levels of quality generally achieved by leading international commercial shipbuilders. These criteria are not intended to be a hard standard with which all U.S. shipyards must comply. Rather, they are intended to provide guidance and recommendations in the key areas that play a major role in customer satisfaction and cost-effective ship construction.

1.1 This practice consists of three annexes: hull structure, outfitting, and coating. The subject of these annexes was selected for several reasons. Other commercial shipbuilding nations already have in place widely recognized standards of expectations in these areas. These constitute the most significant areas where workmanship is a critical factor in customer satisfaction. The cost associated with the labor involved in these three areas is a significant factor in construction man-hours and overall schedules.

1.2 The standard criteria provided in this practice are intended to apply to conventional, commercial ship construction. In many cases, specialized, nonconventional vessels using nonstandard materials or built-to-serve sole requirements may require unique acceptance criteria that are beyond those provided in this practice.