Establishing an Operational Integrity Baseline at Pipeline Handover

This white paper examines a critical transition in the steel-pipe lifecycle: the point at which a completed project becomes a live operational asset.

Mechanical completion alone does not guarantee that an operator has a defensible starting point for long-term integrity management. Design records, as-built configuration, material and weld records, coating repairs, pressure-test evidence, accepted deviations, commissioning results, initial inspection findings, operating constraints and unresolved items may originate from different project systems and may not arrive as a coherent operational baseline.

The paper introduces a series-specific Handover Evidence Reconciliation Map for large-diameter steel-pipe assets. It organizes the handover problem around four practical questions: what was actually installed; what evidence supports the asset’s initial condition; what limitations, deviations or open items remain; and who is responsible for maintaining the integrity baseline after transfer to operations.

The approach is manufacturer-neutral and based solely on publicly accessible standards, regulatory information and industry material. It does not claim to replace established handover, asset-management or pipeline-integrity practices. Instead, it provides a structured synthesis for connecting project evidence with the first defensible operational integrity baseline.

The paper forms No.19 of the From Project to Live Asset — Phase III research series, extending the earlier Mill-to-Project work into the operational lifecycle. Its scope is limited to evidence continuity and human engineering decision support; execution-control and automated physical-action mechanisms are outside scope.

Version 1.3.0 — Final Deep Fact-Checked, Link-Reverified, Originality-Hardened, Manufacturer-Neutral Edition.

Author-written abstract, reproduced from the authoritative Zenodo DOI record.