Rules for Building and Classing Facilities on Offshore Installations published by ABS

The American Bureau of Shipping on July 1st, 2023 published the Rules for Building and Classing Facilities on Offshore Installations.

In the July 2023 edition, the "ABS Approval Letter and Survey Reports" part is added.

Foreword

These Rules contain the technical requirements and criteria employed by ABS in the review and survey of hydrocarbon production facilities that are being considered for Classification and for maintenance of Classification.

It is applicable to Hydrocarbon Production and Processing Systems and associated utility and safety systems located on fixed (bottom-founded) offshore structures of various types.

It also applies to systems installed on floating installations such as ships shape based FPSOs, tension leg platforms, spars, semisubmersibles, etc.

There are differences in the practices adopted by the designers of fixed and floating installations.

Some of these differences are due to physical limitations inherent in the construction of facilities on new or converted floating installations.

Recognizing these differences, the requirements for facilities on fixed and floating installations are specified in separate chapters.

Chapter 3 covers requirements for facilities on floating installations and Chapter 4 covers requirements for facilities on fixed installations.

Facilities designed, constructed, and installed in accordance with the requirements of these Rules on an ABS classed fixed or floating offshore structure, under ABS review and survey, will be classed and identified in the Record by an appropriate classification notation as defined herein.

These Rules have been written for world-wide application and as such, compliance with individual requirements may require comprehensive data, analyses and plans to be submitted to demonstrate the adequacy of the facility.

ABS acknowledges that there is a wide range of documents that may be required for submittal to satisfy these Rules.

It is not the intention of these Rules to impose requirements or practices in addition to those that have previously proven satisfactory in similar situations.

Design and installation requirements presented in these Rules are based on existing methodologies and attendant safety factors that are deemed to provide an adequate level of safety.

Primarily, the use of such methods and limits in these Rules reflects what is considered to be the current state of practice in the design and installation of offshore facilities.

The application of these Rules by ABS will not seek to inhibit the use of any technological approach that can be shown to produce an acceptable level of safety.

These Rules are applicable to the classification of facilities for which applications, or contracts for classification, are received on or after 1 January 2018.

Scope

The requirements in the Rules are applicable to hydrocarbon production and/or processing facilities located on floating or fixed offshore installations, and apply to the following systems and associated equipment:

● Hydrocarbon Production

● Hydrocarbon Processing

● Process Support

● Process Control

● Marine Support

● Electrical

● Instrumentation and Control

● Fire Protection and Personnel Safety

The following ABS Rules and Guide, latest edition, are applicable as referenced therein for systems or services other than for the hydrocarbon production and processing facilities.

i) FPI Rules: ABS Rules for Building and Classing Floating Production Installations

ii) Offshore Installations Rules: ABS Rules for Building and Classing Offshore Installations

iii) Marine Vessel Rules: ABS Rules for Building and Classing Marine Vessels

iv) MOU Rules: ABS Rules for Building and Classing Mobile Offshore Units

Appropriate flag state and port state authorities are to be consulted for their specific requirements.

● Chapter 2 provides definitions, references, abbreviations and acronyms associated with these Rules.

● Chapter 3 covers requirements for hydrocarbon production and processing facilities on floating installations.

● Chapter 4 covers requirements for hydrocarbon production and processing facilities on fixed installations.

● Chapter 5 covers requirements for survey during and after construction.

Classification Boundaries

The boundaries for classification where a hydrocarbon production and/or processing facility is installed on an offshore installation are defined to include the following major items:

i) For floating installations:

• a) Vessel, including hull structure, equipment, and marine machinery, subject to the requirements of the FPI Rules.
• b) Position Mooring System, according to the requirements of the FPI Rules.
• c) Hydrocarbon Production and/or Processing Facilities (topside), according to the requirements of these Rules.

ii) For fixed installations:

• a) Structure, subject to the requirements of the ABS Rules for Building and Classing Offshore Installations (OI Rules).
• b) Hydrocarbon Production and/or Processing Facilities (topside), according to the requirements of these Rules.

iii) Classification of additional equipment and systems may be offered if requested by the owner.

If you need more information, please visit the ABS Rules and Guides page, where the document is available FOR FREE.