SPECIFICATION APRIL

S-631-12 2023

Supplementary Specification for

Material Requirements for
Structural Steel

Revision history

VERSION DATE AMENDMENTS

1.0 April 2023 First Edition
Supplementary Specification for Material Requirements for Structural Steel

Acknowledgements
This IOGP Specification was prepared by a Joint Industry Programme 35,
Standardization of Offshore Structures Specifications, organized by IOGP
with support from the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Disclaimer
Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information
contained in this publication, neither IOGP nor any of its Members past present or
future warrants its accuracy or will, regardless of its or their negligence, assume
liability for any foreseeable or unforeseeable use made thereof, which liability is
hereby excluded. Consequently, such use is at the recipient’s own risk on the basis
that any use by the recipient constitutes agreement to the terms of this disclaimer.
The recipient is obliged to inform any subsequent recipient of such terms.
This publication is made available for information purposes and solely for the private
use of the user. IOGP will not directly or indirectly endorse, approve or accredit the
content of any course, event or otherwise where this publication will be reproduced.

Copyright notice
The contents of these pages are © International Association of Oil & Gas Producers.
Permission is given to reproduce this report in whole or in part provided (i)
that the copyright of IOGP and (ii) the sources are acknowledged. All other rights are
reserved. Any other use requires the prior written permission of IOGP.
These Terms and Conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance
with the laws of England and Wales. Disputes arising here from shall be exclusively
subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

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Supplementary Specification for Material Requirements for Structural Steel

Table of Contents
Foreword ............................................................................................................................................................ 4
1. Scope ....................................................................................................................................................... 5
2. Normative References ............................................................................................................................. 6
3. Requirements .......................................................................................................................................... 6
A Steelmaking and manufacturing method....................................................................................... 6
B Chemical composition, CE and Pcm............................................................................................... 7
C Heat treatment, delivery condition and simulated PWHT ............................................................. 7
D1 - Tensile Properties ............................................................................................................................ 8
D2 – Charpy energy and toughness properties ....................................................................................... 8
D3 – Strain ageing and cold forming ....................................................................................................... 8
D4 – Through thickness testing (TTT) ..................................................................................................... 9
E – Pre-production weldability qualification ............................................................................................. 9
G1 – NDE of base materials .................................................................................................................... 9

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Supplementary Specification for Material Requirements for Structural Steel

Foreword
A series of Specifications (all parts of S-631) was prepared under a Joint Industry Project 35 (JIP35) by the
‘Offshore Structures Specifications Task Force’ organized by the International Oil & Gas Producers
Association (IOGP) with support from the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Recent trends in oil and gas projects have demonstrated substantial budget and schedule overruns. The Oil
and Gas Community within the World Economic Forum (WEF) have implemented a Capital Project
Complexity (CPC) initiative which seeks to drive a reduction in upstream project costs with a focus on
industry-wide, non-competitive collaboration and standardization.

Further to the publication of the IOGP Operators’ Position and Key Messages on Standards (April 2017) and
successful pilot study for IOGP JIP33 Standardization of Equipment Specifications for Procurement, the
IOGP Offshore Structures Subcommittee discussed improving efficiency in this discipline by reducing or
eliminating variation in requirements between operating companies and developing common operator
requirements for offshore structures. The Offshore Structures Subcommittee established a Task Force (with
administrative support funded by JIP35) to agree on the industry and/or international standard for each
discipline and then develop minimum common requirements to improve efficiency and quality while reducing
variation and cost.

Ten key oil and gas Companies from the IOGP Membership participated in developing these Specifications,
with the objective to leverage and improve industry level standardization for projects globally in the oil and
gas sector.

The work has developed a minimized set of supplementary requirements for the design and operation of
offshore structures based on a critical review of the ten participating members’ company specifications,
building on recognized industry and/or international standards. The following specifications are developed:

1. S-631-01 General requirements for offshore 7. S-631-07 Station keeping

structures
2. S-631-02 Arctic offshore structures
3. S-631-03 Concrete offshore structures
4. S-631-04 Topsides structures
5. S-631-05 Foundations
6. S-631-06 Weight management
8. S-631-08 Seismic
9. S-631-09 Metocean
10. S-631-10 Marine soil investigations
11. S-631-11 Fixed steel offshore structures
12. S-631-12 Material requirements for structural steel

The expectation is that the participating and other operating and engineering companies will adopt and
reference all parts of the specification series IOGP S-631 for offshore structures, with the participating
companies eliminating the supplemental requirements from their in-house specifications. Tracking the
adoption of the parts of this specification and of the reduction in company requirements will be managed by
the IOGP Offshore Structures Subcommittee.

This series of Specifications has been developed to promote the opportunity to realize benefits from
standardization and achieve significant cost reductions for upstream project costs. The Offshore Structures
Specification Task Force performed their activities in accordance with IOGP’s Competition Law Guidelines.
Terminology used within this Specification is in accordance with ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 and as defined in
the parent standard.

This series of Specifications aims to significantly reduce waste, decrease project costs and improve schedule
through pre- competitive collaboration on standardization. These specifications define the supplementary
requirements to recognised industry and/or international standards which are indispensable for the
application of this specification.

Following approval by the IOGP Offshore Structures Subcommittee, IOGP has authorized the publication of
this Specification. Where adopted by the individual operating companies, this Specification aims to
supersede existing company documentation for the purpose of industry-harmonized standardization.

In the event of a conflict between these Specifications and a relevant local law or regulation, the relevant law
or regulation shall be followed. If these Specifications create a higher obligation, it shall be followed as long
as this also achieves full compliance with the law or regulation.

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Supplementary Specification for Material Requirements for Structural Steel

1. Scope
This specification provides supplementary requirements to purchase of structural steel materials in addition
to the normative references provided below. It is intended to cover all technical requirements to the
purchased product, and additional company-specific requirements should not be required. However, there
may still be some issues where quality system, certifying bodies for manufacturing systems and personnel
require additional requirements in the contract to take care of regional differences.

The requirements apply to the following offshore structures:

• Fixed Offshore Platforms

• Topside and substructures of floating platforms including:
o Semisubmersible platforms (SEMI)
o Tension Leg Platforms (TLP)
o Deep Draft Caisson Vessel (DDCV), also termed Single Point Anchor Reservoir (SPAR)
o All combinations of Floating Production, Storage and Offloading Units (FPSO, FPU, FSU,
FLNG etc)
• Subsea structures
• Other applications with approval of Owner
These requirements do not apply to those parts of floating offshore structures and mobile offshore units that
are governed by the rules of a recognized certifying authority and which are wholly within the class rules
unless accepted by the certifying authority.

Particular provisions for structures designed for cold climate (design temperature below -10°C are not
provided in this document. Guidance can be found in ISO 19906 and ISO/TS 35105.

Particular provisions or relaxation of requirements for structures designed for warmer climate are not
provided in this document.

The specified requirements apply to the following product forms:

a) Plates
b) Rolled sections
c) Seamless and welded hollow structural sections (HSS), including rectangular (RHS) square (SHS)
and circular (CHS) cross-section.
d) Seamless pipes and tubulars
e) Welded pipes and tubulars fabricated from rolled plates

It shall be noted that fabricated items under items c) and e) may have requirements related to the fabrication
process not addressed in this document. However, requirements apply for mother-plate unless there is
conflict with the fabrication requirements.

It shall also be noted that item c) refers to structural steel standards while item d) and e) refer to linepipe
standards. Welded pipes under item e) include SAW and HFW longitudinal welding processes.

Requirements to the following product forms are not included in this specification:

• Structural bolting (nuts and bolts)

• Forged pins or axles

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Supplementary Specification for Material Requirements for Structural Steel

2. Normative References
This specification provides supplementary requirements to any of the following material delivery standards,
as selected of Owner. Latest edition of the documents shall apply:

Design standards

• ISO 19902 Petroleum and natural gas industries — Fixed steel offshore structures
• API RP 2 WSD Planning, Designing, and Constructing Fixed Offshore Platforms - Working Stress
Design
• API RP 2A LFRD Planning, Designing, and Constructing Fixed Offshore Platforms - Load and
Resistance Factor Design
• API RP 2FPS Recommended Practice for Planning, Designing, and Constructing Floating
Production Systems, Second
• ISO 13623 Petroleum and natural gas industries — Pipeline transportation systems

It shall be noted that ISO 19902 defines two different approaches to the designation and determination of
technical requirements:

• Material Category approach (MC) is considered equivalent to API RP 2A and API RP 2FPS
• Design Category approach (DC) is considered equivalent to NORSOK N-004 with associated
material requirements in NORSOK M-120 and M-101
Standard specifications for material delivery conditions for structural materials
• EN 10225 Parts 1 – 4
• EN 10025 Parts 1 – 6
• API SPEC 2H, 2W, 2Y
• API SPEC 5L
Special emphasis is also provided for documentation of weldability of structural steel specified in
• API RP 2Z
• EN 10225 Part 1, Annex B, C and D (Option 17)

3. Requirements
The supplementary requirements are given in the table below. Each requirement is associated with some brief
comments with justifications and technical details

A Steelmaking and manufacturing method

Steel plates, rolled and seamless hollow sections designated as CV1, CV2, CV2Z, CV2X, CV2ZX, SQL I
or SQL II shall be vacuum degassed and/or ladle refined. For these steels manufactured in accordance
with EN 10225-1 or EN 10225-2, Options 1 and 2 shall apply.

Seamless steel pipes ordered in accordance with API 5L/ISO 3183 to meet designations CV1, CV2,
CV2X, SQL I, or SQL II shall be purchased to PSL2 requirements. Impact testing temperature shall be
specified to meet ISO 19902 requirements for the specific application.

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Supplementary Specification for Material Requirements for Structural Steel

B Chemical composition, CE and Pcm

A product analysis shall be reported for steel plates, rolled and seamless hollow sections designated as
CV1, CV2, CV2Z, CV2X, CV2ZX, SQL I or SQL II, based on one plate/section per heat and:

• For these steels manufactured in accordance with EN 10225-1, EN 10225-2 or EN 10225-3,

Option 7 shall apply.

• For these steels manufactured in accordance with API Specification 2H, API Specification 2W or
API Specification 2Y, or agreed alternative ASTM product specification, ASTM A6/A6M
Supplementary Requirement S2 shall apply.

The CEV and/or Pcm of the heat analysis shall be reported in accordance with the relevant product
specification/standard.

For steels manufactured in accordance with EN 10225-1, EN 10225-2 or EN 10225-3, Option 8 shall
apply. Pcm shall be reported for any steels supplied with C ≤ 0.12%

The maximum CEV or Pcm value shall not exceed the lower of:

• 0.46% or 0.25% respectively

• the maximum value specified in the relevant product specification/standard

Steel plates, rolled and seamless hollow sections designated as CV2Z, CV2X, CV2ZX, SQL I or SQL II
shall be supplied with maximum S-content of 0.006% and:

• For plates manufactured in accordance with API Specification 2H, API Specification 2W or API
Specification 2Y, or agreed alternative ASTM product specifications, Supplementary Requirement
S5/SR5 shall apply

• For plates manufactured in accordance with EN 10225-1, Option 3 shall apply with exception that
maximum S-content shall be 0.006%

• For rolled or seamless hollow sections manufactured in accordance with EN 10225-2 or EN

10225-3 respectively, Options 6 and 7 shall apply with including a requirement that maximum S-
content shall be 0.006%

C Heat treatment, delivery condition and simulated PWHT

For steels plates, rolled and seamless hollow sections subject to PWHT during subsequent
manufacturing/fabrication activities, one set of test specimens per heat shall be subject to a simulated
PWHT and:

• For these steels manufactured in accordance with API Specification 2H, or API Specification 2Y,
or agreed alternative ASTM product specifications, Supplementary requirement S9 shall apply.
For API Specification 2W, supplementary requirement SR7 shall apply.

• For these steels manufactured in accordance with EN 10225-1, EN 10225-2 or EN 10225-3,

Option 9 or Option 10 shall apply

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Supplementary Specification for Material Requirements for Structural Steel

D1 - Tensile Properties

For all steel plates, rolled and seamless hollow sections designated as CV2, CV2X, CV2Z, CV2ZX, SQL I
or SQL II, the maximum tensile-to-yield ratio shall not exceed the lower of:
• 0.93
• the maximum value specified in the relevant product specification/standard
Guidance notes:
• ISO 19902 states that plates with SMYS 420 MPa and above shall be specified to have the same
minimum yield strength for all thicknesses for plates specified to EN 10225 and EN 10025.
Purpose is to simplify design.
• API 2W provides ranges for the yield strength such that strength for the same grade can vary with
wall thickness. This approach must be coordinated with the strength levels used in design.

D2 – Charpy energy and toughness properties

Steel plates, rolled and seamless hollow sections designated as CV2, CV2X, CV2Z, CV2ZX or SQL I or II
shall be impact tested using test specimens with their longitudinal axis transverse to the main rolling
direction at a test temperature -40°C. Minimum average impact energy values shall meet the greater of
50J/35J (average/individual minimum) or the relevant product specification/standard requirements.

For steel plates and rolled sections designated as CV1 and manufactured in accordance with an ASTM
specification, impact testing shall be undertaken in accordance with ASTM A6/A6M, S5, test frequency H.
Test temperatures and acceptance criteria shall be as specified in ISO 19902 for the relevant steel
designation.

Guidance note:

Location and orientation of Charpy test specimens may differ between standards for technical delivery
conditions, see section 2. Such differences shall not violate the validity of the test results.

D3 – Strain ageing and cold forming

Steel plate subject to cold forming shall be tested in accordance with requirements listed below if:
a) the cold forming strain exceeds 5% or
b) the D/t ratio ≤ 20 or
c) the free nitrogen content Nfree exceeds 0.040/ε,where ε is the cold forming strain.
If the free nitrogen content is not documented, the total nitrogen content shall be assumed in clause c)
above.
• For steels manufactured in accordance with API Specification 2H, or API Specification 2Y, or
agreed alternative ASTM product specifications, Supplementary Requirement S8 shall apply. For
API Specification 2W, supplementary requirement SR6 shall apply.

• For steels manufactured in accordance with EN 10225-1, Option 11 shall apply with the exception
that average impact energy values shall meet the minimum un-aged values as specified in section
D2 above

• For steels manufactured in accordance with other standards, and where strain ageing resistance
is required, one of the two above requirements should be specified.

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Supplementary Specification for Material Requirements for Structural Steel

D4 – Through thickness testing (TTT)

Steels plates and rolled sections designated CV2Z, CV2ZX or SQL I shall be subject to through-thickness
testing and:

• For these steels manufactured in accordance with API Specifications 2H, 2W or 2Y, or agreed
alternative ASTM product specifications, Supplementary Requirement S4 (in API 2H and 2Y)
orSR4 (in API 2W) shall apply

• For these steels manufactured in accordance with EN 10225-1 or EN 10225-2, Option 12 shall
apply

• TTT is not required for seamless pipe.

E – Pre-production weldability qualification

For steel plates, rolled and seamless hollow sections designated as CV2X, CV2ZX, SQL I or SQL II
greater than 50 mm in thickness, the following weldability qualification requirements shall apply:

• For API Specification 2W, or agreed alternative ASTM product specifications, preproduction
qualification in accordance with Supplementary Requirement SR9 in API RP2W shall apply.

• For API Specification 2Y, preproduction qualification in accordance with Supplementary Requirement
S11 shall be performed.

For steels plates, rolled and seamless hollow sections designated as CV2X, CV2ZX, SQL I or SQL II and
manufactured in accordance with EN 10225-1, EN 10225-2 or EN 10225-3, Option 17 shall apply.

If weldability tests are specified in accordance with EN 10225-1, Annex B, Annex C.1a and Annex D,
CTOD acceptance criteria shall be as follows:

Grade Thickness CTOD

(mm) (mm)
S355 ≤ 75 0.25
> 75 0.38
S420 and above ≤ 75 0.30
> 75 To be agreed

For all steels designated as CV2X, CV2ZX, SQL I or SQL II irrespective of the manufacturing product
standard, alternative fracture toughness test requirements can be specified by purchaser.

For all steels designated as CV2X, CV2ZX, SQL I or SQL II irrespective of the manufacturing product
standard, any changes to the agreed MPS shall require re-qualification

G1 – NDE of base materials

For all material designations, all surfaces of each plate and all accessible surfaces of rolled or seamless
hollow sections shall be visually examined in accordance with the relevant material standard

Weld repairs of any type are prohibited.

NDE personnel shall be certified in accordance with ISO 9712 or equivalent.

For steels manufactured in accordance with API Specification 2H, or API Specification 2Y, or alternative
ASTM product specifications, Supplementary Requirement S13 shall apply. For API Specification 2W,
supplementary requirement SR11 shall apply.

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Supplementary Specification for Material Requirements for Structural Steel

Each plate and rolled or seamless hollow section designated as CV2Z, CV2ZX or SQL I shall be
ultrasonically examined in accordance with the relevant product specification/standard and as follows:

• For plate manufactured in accordance with API Specification 2H, API Specification 2W or API
Specification 2Y, or agreed alternative ASTM product specifications, Supplementary Requirement
S1/SR1 shall apply in accordance with ASTM A578/A578M, Level C, S1

• For plates manufactured in accordance with EN 10225-1, Option 18 shall apply with the exception
that scanning shall be continuous over 100% of the plate surfaces along parallel paths, transverse or
parallel to the major plate axis, with not less than 10% overlap between each path

• For rolled sections manufactured in accordance with EN 10225-2, Option 19 shall apply

• For seamless hollow sections manufactured in accordance with EN 10225-3, Option 21 shall apply

• For seamless pipes manufactured in accordance with API Specification 5L PSL 2, Annex E3.1.2 shall
apply. However, only UT testing shall be permitted

Each plate and rolled or hollow section designated as CV2, CV2X, or SQL II shall be ultrasonically
examined in accordance with the relevant product specification/standard and as follows:

• For plate manufactured in accordance with API Specification 2H, API Specification 2W or API
Specification 2Y, or agreed alternative ASTM product specifications, Supplementary Requirement
S1/SR1

• For plates manufactured in accordance with EN 10225-1, Option 18 shall apply

• For rolled sections manufactured in accordance with EN 10225-2, Option 19 shall apply

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