PEI's Recommended Practices

Most PEI members are aware that we publish recommended practices of general interest to companies in the petroleum equipment industry. In the past 22 years, PEI has written recommended practices on eight subjects; in 2009 we will introduce two new ones and revise two old ones.

What many PEI members do not know, however, is the process PEI goes through to revise established documents or write new ones.

Possible new recommended practice topics (with proposed scope statements) are submitted by PEI members and reviewed by the PEI Board of Directors. Once a topic is approved by the board, an 18- to 24-month document preparation process begins. The PEI staff selects a consultant for the project while the president appoints the committee, whose job it will be to write the recommended practice. Committee members are selected from a list of volunteers who have expressed an interest in participating on the committee and who have knowledge and/or experience on the topic.

The consultant takes about six months to pull together all the materials he can find on the subject and begins to write a rough draft of the document, regularly consulting the committee by conference call and e-mail to make sure he is on the right track. Once the consultant has completed the first draft, the committee gathers for its first face-to-face meeting.

The committee reviews the entire document, section by section, paragraph by paragraph, word by word, in this first meeting. Oftentimes it takes a second meeting to complete the initial review of the document. Sometime before the next meeting, diagrams, drawings and photographs are discussed and incorporated into the recommended practice. Big holes in the text are filled.

The next face-to-face meeting usually occurs three to six months after the initial committee meeting. The entire document is reviewed again, and captions are added to drawings. The consultant then compiles a final draft. PEI staff proofreads the copy and the committee reviews it one last time. By now we are somewhere between 12 and 15 months into the project.

PEI sends a paper copy of the draft document to all PEI members and others with an interest in the subject, asking them to submit comments. Many of the comments come from manufacturers, installers, distributors, regulators and equipment end-users. The number of comments varies, but ranges from 50 to 140. Staff compiles all comments and submits them to the committee which reviews each comment prior to getting together for the last meeting. The committee meets until all the comments are acted upon.

When the text and figures are approved by the committee, the consultant and staff begin the process of putting the final document together. The artist touches up the drawings and teams of proofreaders inspect the document for errors. The committee has one more look at the finished product before it is printed. The process, almost two years after it was started, is finally completed.

PEI is proud of its recommended practices. They are widely used and respected because of the effort that goes into each and every one of them.

You are encouraged to participate in the process. Suggest a topic. Serve on a committee. Read the draft and suggest ways to improve it. When you buy the finished document and see that your employees follow it, you will do so with confidence, knowing the effort that went into each project.

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The PEI Journal • First Quarter 2009 • Volume 3, No. 1 • Contents are Copyright © Data Key Communications, Inc.
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