Event Overview
Engineering project managers play a critical role in ensuring designs are sound, risks are identified early, and projects move forward safely and efficiently. This course is designed to help engineering leaders apply a consistent, disciplined approach to engineering design and review that supports project success and pipeline safety outcomes.
Participants will be introduced to the NGA/ SGA Natural Gas Association, Technical Guideline for Gas System Engineering Design Review, with a focus on how it supports planning, decision-making, and oversight throughout the project lifecycle. The course emphasizes practical application—how to use the guide to establish clear design expectations, conduct effective reviews, and ensure key technical considerations are addressed before work moves to construction or implementation.
The training also highlights how structured design and review processes improve cross-functional coordination, reduce rework, and strengthen accountability across engineering, operations, and project teams. By the end of the course, engineering project managers will understand how to use the Technical Guide as a reliable tool to support informed decisions, manage risk, and deliver projects that meet safety, regulatory, and performance expectations.
Attendees will receive 2 Professional Development Hours (PDH) upon completion.
Course Objectives
- Apply to the NGA/ SGA Natural Gas Association, Technical Guideline for Gas System Engineering Design Review to plan /manage engineering projects from concept through implementation.
- Evaluate engineering designs using structured review criteria to identify risks, gaps, and required revisions before execution, including:
- Standard designs, application of standard designs, or simple changes to standard designs, and
- Complex, non-standard designs that include many linked stakeholders and subject matter experts (SME’s) within an organization.
- Establish clear design expectations and review checkpoints to support consistency, accountability, and regulatory compliance.
- Coordinate effectively with operations, safety, and other stakeholders during the design and review process to reduce rework and execution risk.
- Document design decisions and review outcomes in a manner that supports traceability, oversight, and continuous improvement.
Who Should Attend
Engineering, project management
Meet the Instructor
Mark Hereth
Managing Director, Blacksmith Group/P-PIC
Mark is a managing director of the Blacksmith Group / P-PIC which has served the energy pipeline industry since 2002. Prior to starting P-PIC, he worked for 23 years for Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Co. (HSB) the largest insurer of machinery and process equipment in the world. During the first 14 years of his time within HSB, Mark worked for Radian Corporation (now part of AECOM), an engineering subsidiary serving the petrochemical, petroleum refining, metals processing, pipelines and electric power industries. He joined the parent company of HSB in 1993 and ran HSB’s worldwide Chemical, Oil and Gas Insurance Operations. He testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee during Pipeline Safety Reauthorization in 2002.
He has advised Company Boards by leading independent investigations and proposing long-term plans following major accidents for PG&E, El Paso Corporation, Olympic Pipeline and Colonial Pipeline. He also served as a lead advisor for Entergy following Hurricane Katrina as they worked to emerge from bankruptcy and then successfully realized insurance recovery for major damage to their gas distribution system. Mark led the technical work within INGAA that provided the foundation for MAOP Reconfirmation and Extending Integrity Management as well as the Joint Trade Associations comments on the PHMSA proposed rule on these topics.
Mark served as Chairman of the Board of the INGAA Foundation in 2018 and has been a member since 2003. He served as the technical lead for work group developing API RP 1173, Recommended Practice for Pipeline Safety Management Systems. He was appointed by the Secretary of the US Department of Transportation in 2016 to the serve on a Federal Advisory Committee for Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration on Voluntary Information Sharing. He has an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Ohio University.
