Engineering Procedure

SAEP-302 15 February 2016

Instructions for Obtaining a Waiver
of a Mandatory Saudi Aramco Engineering Requirement
Document Responsibility: Standards Coordination

Contents
1 Scope ............................................................ 2

2 Applicable Documents .................................. 2

3 Terminology .................................................. 2

4 Instructions.................................................... 4

5 Responsibilities ............................................. 6

Previous Issue: 29 June 2015 Next Planned Update: 15 February 2019

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Contact: Assiri, Mohammad Zayed (assirimz) on +966-13-8801228

©Saudi Aramco 2016. All rights reserved.

Document Responsibility: Standards Coordination SAEP-302
Issue Date: 15 February 2016 Instructions for Obtaining a Waiver
Next Planned Update: 15 February 2019 of a Mandatory Saudi Aramco Engineering Requirement

1 Scope

This document establishes instructions for obtaining a waiver to a Mandatory Saudi

Aramco Engineering Requirements (MSAERs) through the SAP waiver process.
See SAEP-301 for information about MSAERs documents.

The scope of a waiver request is limited to a specific facility, project, and MSAER.
To extend the scope to cover additional facilities, projects, or requirements in MSAERs,
a new SAP waiver request must be submitted.

Any uncertainty as to whether a waiver is required shall be resolved by the relevant

Standards Committee Chairman or Responsible Department.

This procedure is not intended for joint venture projects.

This procedure is not applicable for requesting deviations from the established list of
Standards and Codes defined in SAEP-148 for Non-Industrial, Public, or Government
facilities/projects that are non-Saudi Aramco owned. Waiver requests for standards and
codes defined in SAEP-148 for Saudi Aramco owned projects shall follow this procedure.

2 Applicable Documents

The requirements contained in the following documents apply to the extent specified in
this procedure.

 Saudi Aramco Engineering Procedures

SAEP-148 Mandatory Engineering Standards and Code for Non-
Industrial, Public, and Government Projects
SAEP-301 Instructions for Establishing and Maintaining Mandatory Saudi
Aramco Engineering Requirements

 Saudi Aramco Engineering Standard

SAES-B-014 Safety Requirements for Plant and Operations Support Buildings

3 Terminology

3.1 Acronyms
CE Chief Engineer of Engineering Services
CoA Condition of Approval
MSAER Mandatory Saudi Aramco Engineering Requirement
RDM Responsible Department Manager

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Document Responsibility: Standards Coordination SAEP-302
Issue Date: 15 February 2016 Instructions for Obtaining a Waiver
Next Planned Update: 15 February 2019 of a Mandatory Saudi Aramco Engineering Requirement

SCC Standards Committee Chairman

SCU Standards Coordination Unit

3.2 Definitions

After-the-Fact: A deviation from a MSAER that has already taken place at the
time of the waiver initiation.

Chief Engineer: Chief Engineer of Engineering Services; the final approval

authority of waivers in the SAP waiver system.

Government: The Saudi Arabian government

Initiator: The project engineer or the engineer in an operating unit who

initiated and created a waiver request.

Non-Industrial Projects: Non-oil and gas projects located at least 500 meters
outside a plant perimeter fence (see SAES-B-014). This term is used to indicate
Saudi Aramco owned and operated facilities, but may be generalized to any
non-industrial projects.

Originator: The management of the initiator requesting a waiver. The originating

organization may be Project Management, Operations, Maintenance, or any
organization with a vested interest in the waiving of a MSAER.

Other Agency: Any organization with a special interest or expertise in the

subject of the waiver request, such as Inspection, Security, Facility Proponent,
Facilities Planning, etc.

Project Owner: The owner of the facility. This may be Saudi Aramco, the
government, a municipality, or another entity.

Proponent Department Manager: The department manager of the facility that

is the subject of the waiver request.

Public Projects: Any project executed by Saudi Aramco that will not be
owned, operated and/or maintained by Saudi Aramco.

Responsible Department: The department assigned the responsibility to

establish, update, and maintain specific MSAER documents.

Responsible Department Manager: The manager of the department assigned

the responsibility to establish, update, and maintain specific MSAER documents.

Standards Committee Chairman: The head of the standard committee

responsible to review or assign reviewers, and evaluate the waiver request.

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Document Responsibility: Standards Coordination SAEP-302
Issue Date: 15 February 2016 Instructions for Obtaining a Waiver
Next Planned Update: 15 February 2019 of a Mandatory Saudi Aramco Engineering Requirement

4 Instructions

A waiver request must be submitted for any deviation to a Mandatory Saudi Aramco
Engineering Requirement (MSAER) that is to be applied to a project or work activity.

4.1 Versions of MSAERs

If a newer version of an MSAER is to be applied to a project or work activity

with requirements “frozen” at an earlier date (such as the FEL2-DBSP Approval
date), the newer version may be adopted in its entirely, including its references,
with no additional notification or permissions from the Standards Committee
Chairman or Responsible Department. However, if only a portion of the newer
version is necessary, the Standards Committee Chairman or Responsible
Department Manager and the Proponent representative at division head level or
higher must approve a letter of concurrence prepared by originator.

4.2 Waiver Request Process

The following chart is an overview of the e-Waiver SAP workflow.

1. Initiator completes a waiver request in SAP and attaches all supporting

documentation such as (email communication, drawings, studies, etc.).
The justification shall include the impact and identify other alternatives to
deviation. The following shall be addressed:
 Safety
 Cost
 Schedule
 Other

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Document Responsibility: Standards Coordination SAEP-302
Issue Date: 15 February 2016 Instructions for Obtaining a Waiver
Next Planned Update: 15 February 2019 of a Mandatory Saudi Aramco Engineering Requirement

If justification and sufficient technical information is missing, the waiver

request will be rejected.
2. The e-Waiver is routed to the Originator who checks that all required
documentation is provided and approves it for processing.
If deviation from the mandatory requirement has already taken place and
the waiver request is “after-the-fact,” the waiver request shall be routed to
the initiator's department manager for approval. This approval should not
be delegated to a lower position.
3. The Standards Committee Chairman responsible for the MSAER assesses
the waiver request, completes the Analysis of Request, and recommends
approval or rejection in SAP.
a. The Standards Committee Chairman may assign the waiver to a subject
matter expert within his organization.
b. The Standards Committee Chairman may route to “Other Agency”
outside his organization for review and recommendations on the
waiver.
c. The assigned reviewer and SCC may add conditions required for
approval of the waiver request.
d. The SCC evaluates whether the standard requires revision based on the
waiver request and previous similar waivers.
4. The RDM evaluates the SCC recommendation and recommends to approve
or reject the waiver. The RDM may return the waiver to the SCC for
further analysis.
5. The Chief Engineer approves or rejects the waiver request in SAP.
The Chief Engineer may choose to return the waiver to the RDM for further
analysis. The CE may call for a team review meeting based on the
complexity and/or criticality of the waiver. The team shall be composed of
the Chief Engineer, the RDM, the SCC of the document waiver, Originator
and Proponent Manager.
6. If approved with conditions, the Originator must provide an estimated
completion date.
7. If conditions are added to the waiver, the Proponent must accept or reject
the conditions of approval. If conditions are rejected then the waiver ends
with a rejection status.
8. If Originator disagrees with a rejection decision, she/he shall submit a new
waiver request with supporting documentation.

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Document Responsibility: Standards Coordination SAEP-302
Issue Date: 15 February 2016 Instructions for Obtaining a Waiver
Next Planned Update: 15 February 2019 of a Mandatory Saudi Aramco Engineering Requirement

4.3 Process Escalation and Time Limits

The escalation time limits and automatic actions for e-Waivers are shown in the
table below.

Time Limit
Role Action at Time Limit
(working days)
Initiator 30 days Waiver deleted

Originator 3 days Waiver deleted

Standard Committee 7 days (shared)
Chairman 17 days (shared -
Waiver escalated to RDM
Standard Committee if other agency was
Reviewer consulted)
Waiver recalled and workflow
returned to SCC to assign new
Other Agency 10 days
Agency or proceed without Other
Agency consultation
Responsible
3 days Waiver escalated to Chief Engineer
Department Manager
Chief Engineer -- --
Proponent
5 days Waiver approved
Department Manager

5 Responsibilities

Title or
organization Action or task
accountable
 Initiates the waiver request in the SAP system
 Prepares responses to questions or requests for additional
Initiator information from reviewing authorities
 Attaches supporting documentation as needed
 Submits waiver to Originator
 Approves the waiver request
 Supplies additional information required by the review
Originator authority
 Provides an estimated completion date for waivers approved
with conditions

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Document Responsibility: Standards Coordination SAEP-302
Issue Date: 15 February 2016 Instructions for Obtaining a Waiver
Next Planned Update: 15 February 2019 of a Mandatory Saudi Aramco Engineering Requirement

Title or
organization Action or task
accountable
 Reviews or assigns reviewer(s) to evaluate the waiver request
 Forwards to Other Agencies as needed to participate in the
review and evaluation process
Standards
Committee  Adds conditions of approval (CoAs) when necessary
Chairman (SCC)  Decides if a standard requires revision
 Recommends approval/rejection of the waiver request
 Revises any standards affected by the waiver
Proponent
 Approves or rejects conditions required for the implementation
Department
of a waiver
Manager
 Reviews the waiver and documentation and provides
Other Agency
feedback to the SCC by adding remarks to the waiver
 Ensures that all waiver requests are processed in accordance
Responsible with this procedure
Department  Reviews and recommends approval or rejection of waiver
Manager requests
(RDM)  Conducts a detailed review of all aspects of “after-the-fact”
waiver requests, including what allowed their occurrence
 Ensures that all waiver requests are processed in accordance
with governing procedures and standards
 Reviews waiver approval recommendation received from RDM
Chief Engineer
 Approves or rejects waiver request
(CE)
 Returns request to RDM for further analysis if necessary
 May require a team review meeting based on the complexity
and/or criticality of the waiver
 Tracks the progress of each waiver request as it moves
Standards among organizations for concurrence and approval
Coordination  Issues monthly, quarterly, and other periodic reports, as may
Unit (SCU) be required by management, on the number of waiver
requests, processing time, “after-the-fact” waiver requests, etc.

Revision Summary
15 February 2016 Major revision to reflect the new enhancements made to the SAP eWaiver Process.
These enhancements include adding the Chief Engineer as the final approval authority and
empowering Standards Committee Chairman to receive the waiver request and make
technical decision. In addition, new tracking and reporting features were introduced.

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