The use of thermoset plastics and reinforcing fibers has a long and varied history of being used as a repair material for structural applications. With the advent specialized resins and reinforcing fibers, ‘plastic’ composites are now accepted in a wide variety of repair applications to include piping systems and pipelines.

This technology has matured significantly in the last decade and is now used widely throughout the World by the largest and most technically advanced oil and gas companies. It is important for those specifying and using composites to understand what they are buying and what the benefits and limitations are.

This paper addresses what the pipeline owner and operator can reasonably expect from a composite repair system with regards to performance and testing. What are its abilities and its limitations? Referring to the requirements set forth in the ASME PCC-2, Articles 4.1 and 4.2 and ISO ISO/TS 24817, what validation testing should the end user expect and how are the results interpreted? Both Reasonable and unreasonable test methodologies are addressed and examples of each are given.