July 2025 in Review: Key Testing Standards and Insights for Industry Professionals

Looking back at July 2025, the Testing sector saw the release of five prominent standards that underscored the industry’s commitment to advancing non-destructive testing, industrial imaging, and environmental simulation. This second part of our comprehensive monthly review covers a blend of updated image quality measures for radiographic techniques, refined operational guidance for computed tomography, and the newly revised classification of environmental stresses relevant to ship environments. For quality managers, compliance officers, engineers, and researchers, understanding the updates from this period is essential for navigating both regulatory expectations and ongoing technical innovation.

Monthly Overview: July 2025

July 2025 was marked by a strong emphasis on non-destructive testing (NDT) methodologies and the environmental parameters critical to accurate testing and product reliability. Particularly in focus were radiographic image quality indicators (IQIs) for metallic materials, progress in computed tomography for industrial purposes, and a significant revision to the classification of marine environmental conditions.

This month's releases reflected a steady momentum toward harmonization between international (ISO, IEC) and European (CEN) standards bodies, ensuring consistency across compliance boundaries, especially in sectors like manufacturing, maritime equipment, and heavy industry. Notably, the update to IEC 60721-3-6 on ship environments after nearly four decades, and the coordinated release of EN ISO 19232-3 and ISO 19232-3, both addressing uniformity in radiographic quality, illustrated a trend toward both modernization and alignment.

Compared to previous publication cycles, July 2025 featured:

• A high concentration of core technical documents relevant to NDT practitioners
• A shift toward more precise, data-driven environmental classifications
• Expanding guidance for computed tomography interpretation outside medical fields

In summary, this period’s publications signal a furthering of best practices around measurement, data consistency, and adaptability to evolving technological demands, all while maintaining a strong global-regional alignment.

Standards Published This Month

EN ISO 19232-3:2025 – Non-destructive Testing of Radiographs: Minimum Image Quality Values

Non-destructive testing - Image quality of radiographs - Part 3: Minimum image quality values (ISO 19232-3:2025)

This standard was published by CEN as the European equivalent to the ISO release, focusing on ensuring the uniformity and reliability of radiographic image quality across Class A and Class B techniques. Its specifications revolve around the use of wire-type and step/hole-type image quality indicators (IQIs), as introduced in the earlier parts of the ISO 19232 series, and apply the classification framework established in ISO 5579 for metallic materials.

• Scope: Sets definitive minimum IQI values for classes A (basic technique) and B (improved technique), enhancing comparability and compliance across Europe.
• Key Requirements: Adopts comprehensive tables for minimum image quality achievement in single and double-wall radiography, with requirements differentiated by IQI type and test setup.
• Who Needs to Comply: Targeted primarily at manufacturers, testing laboratories, and NDT service providers engaged in radiographic testing of ferrous and non-ferrous metals.
• Regulatory Fit: Replaces previous editions to better align with international best practices, ensuring the derived image quality meets current safety and inspection mandates, especially in safety-critical industries.
• Notable Changes: The 2025 version introduces clearer definitions, revised tables, broadened applicability, and editorial improvements, aligning with ISO 19232-3:2025 for uniform global uptake.

Key highlights:

• Harmonizes minimum image quality benchmarks across radiography classes
• Updates nominal thickness values for improved accuracy and application
• Provides explicit guidance for gamma source radiography

Access the full standard:View EN ISO 19232-3:2025 on iTeh Standards

ISO 19232-3:2025 – Non-destructive Testing: Minimum Image Quality Values

Non-destructive testing – Image quality of radiographs – Part 3: Minimum image quality values

Published by ISO, this standard serves as the international foundation for uniform image quality in radiographic testing. Closely paralleling the European version, it defines how to use IQIs (both wire-type and step/hole-type) to assure minimum detection capabilities for radiographic examination, including both traditional and improved testing classes as per ISO 5579.

• Scope: Prescribes tables and methodology for achieving consistent radiographic quality for non-destructive examination of metallic materials.
• Key Requirements: Defines detailed criteria for single-wall and double-wall techniques, elaborates on the placement of IQIs, and includes special accommodations for gamma radiography.
• Industries Affected: Crucial for industries relying on precise flaw detection—welding, pressure vessel, pipeline, and critical infrastructure providers.
• Position in Regulatory Landscape: Acts as the central reference point for global compliance, forming the backbone of documented NDT procedures.
• Revision Notes: Supersedes the 2013 version with updates including clearer terminology, revised IQI tables, and enhanced definitions, ensuring a modern, practical approach for NDT professionals.

Key highlights:

• Sets the global benchmark for image quality in industrial radiography
• Improvements to IQI arrangements and evaluation for enhanced reproducibility
• Aligns new definitions and nomenclature with sister standards (e.g., ISO 5579)

Access the full standard:View ISO 19232-3:2025 on iTeh Standards

EN ISO 15708-3:2025 – Radiation Methods for Computed Tomography: Operation and Interpretation

Non-destructive testing – Radiation methods for computed tomography – Part 3: Operation and interpretation (ISO 15708-3:2025)

With the rising adoption of computed tomography (CT) in industrial inspection for flaw detection, assembly verification, and dimensional measurement, this CEN-published standard delivers an extensive operational and analysis guideline for CT systems outside the medical sector.

• Scope: Details the procedures for system setup, parameter selection, and interpretation of CT results specifically for industrial NDT purposes.
• Key Requirements: Expounds on operational sequences for CT, including critical steps in feature testing, dimensional testing, and defect detection. Specifications include technical definitions for imaging parameters (contrast, noise, spatial resolution) and strategies for controlling artefacts.
• Target Organizations: Industrial testing labs, manufacturing quality departments, and organizations implementing CT for product assurance.
• Regulatory Placement: Bridges a critical gap in standardized CT operations for non-medical applications, aligning industrial imaging with established performance and reporting criteria.
• Notable Revisions: Extensive re-structuring, definition corrections, and updated best practices for interpretation and artifact recognition, which strengthen the standard’s practical value.

Key highlights:

• Stepwise operational guidance for CT in industrial environments
• Performance parameter definitions ensure reproducibility and quality
• Comprehensive annexes on spatial resolution and imaging artefacts management

Access the full standard:View EN ISO 15708-3:2025 on iTeh Standards

IEC 60721-3-6:2025 – Classification of Environmental Conditions: Ship Environments

Classification of environmental conditions – Part 3-6: Classification of groups of environmental parameters and their severities – Ship environments

This highly anticipated second edition from IEC addresses the environmental stresses—climatic, biological, chemical, and mechanical—that shipboard products may encounter. Its classifications are indispensable for accurate simulation and accelerated testing in marine environments.

• Scope: Defines comprehensive classes and severity levels for environmental parameters affecting equipment permanently or temporarily installed on all types of ships and offshore units.
• Key Requirements: Includes updated, data-driven tables covering climatic, biological, chemically active, mechanically active, and mechanical conditions. The classification system enables a clear reference for product design, testing, and reliability assurance.
• Who Is Impacted: Maritime equipment manufacturers, electronics designers, engineering firms, and testing laboratories engaged with sea-going or offshore installations.
• Broader Regulatory Context: Endorsed internationally, supporting type-approval, conformity assessment, and quality assurance processes for shipborne equipment.
• Major Technical Changes: A complete overhaul of class definitions and severity levels, reflecting new information from recent technical reports; major updates to all key tables, and rationalization of annexes into the main body text.

Key highlights:

• New classes replacing outdated ones, deeply informed by latest technical research
• Covers all navigational environments: inland, coastal, oceanic, and ice-laden waters
• Deeply integrated into marine compliance and test-specific risk assessment

Access the full standard:View IEC 60721-3-6:2025 on iTeh Standards

Common Themes and Industry Trends

Several key patterns emerged across the July 2025 Testing standards:

• Convergence of International and Regional Standards: The use of harmonized EN ISO releases demonstrates a move toward global equivalency, reducing cross-border compliance barriers, especially for non-destructive testing and imaging.
• Heightened Emphasis on Measurable Quality: The standards prioritized numeric and technical clarity for parameters such as radiographic image quality, spatial resolution, and environmental severity, supporting verifiable, repeatable outcomes.
• Modernization of Environmental Testing: The overhaul of ship environment classifications in IEC 60721-3-6 underscores the sector’s recognition of evolving stress factors and operational scenarios.
• Operationalization of Advanced Imaging: The updated CT guidance reflects a growing industrial application of advanced imaging techniques, poised to become routine in many quality assurance workflows.

As industries face increasing pressure for product reliability and traceability, these publications collectively signal an industry-wide move to data-driven, standardized processes for both product validation and risk management.

Compliance and Implementation Considerations

For organizations affected by these July 2025 standards, the following implementation strategies and compliance priorities should be considered:

• Conduct Gap Assessments: Benchmark existing procedures, especially for NDT and environmental simulation, against the revised requirements to identify areas for immediate update.
• Update Written Procedures and Training: Ensure radiographic and computed tomography techniques, as well as shipboard test specifications, are current with the new standards. Training for NDT technicians and shipboard equipment engineers should reflect these updates.
• Leverage Harmonization: Companies operating in both European and global markets should adopt the harmonized EN ISO and ISO standards for ease of cross-border compliance and certification.
• Prioritize Documentation and Record Keeping: Enhanced emphasis on reporting and traceability means that audit trails need to be mapped to new performance definitions and test classes.
• Plan for Phased Compliance: Note that newly superseded standards may remain valid for ongoing contracts, but transition to the 2025 editions should be prioritized.

Resources for Implementation:

• Utilize iTeh Standards’ online catalog for updated standards access and purchasing
• Engage with accredited training organizations for technical workshops on new requirements
• Monitor relevant technical committees for further clarifications or future amendments

Conclusion: Key Takeaways from July 2025

The Testing standards published in July 2025 provide a comprehensive foundation for ensuring measurement reliability, advancing non-destructive testing rigor, and fostering regulatory harmonization. The technical advances in radiographic image quality, practical guidance for computed tomography, and refreshed environmental classifications for marine installations together set a higher bar for quality and safety across multiple sectors.

Professionals in NDT, quality management, marine engineering, and organizational compliance are strongly advised to review these standards in detail, as adoption will facilitate both improved operational outcomes and smoother regulatory acceptance. Staying abreast of these developments is crucial as the sector continues to evolve toward integrated, high-traceability testing frameworks.

Explore each standard in detail at iTeh Standards to ensure your operations remain future-ready and compliant.