Assurance regime; jurisdiction US
Boilers and pressure vessels
The one regime that removed the owner-pays conflict by routing inspection through insurers with skin in the game. The current AI insurance-backed certification proposals are this model.
Path signature
V voluntary T trigger M mandate S standards O oversight
Similarity of its opening to frontier AI: 0.22 (matched opening VTMSO)
Stages reached
| Voluntary | 1866 |
| Trigger | 1905 |
| Mandate | 1908 |
| Standards | 1914 |
| Oversight | 1919 |
| Independence | not reached |
| Access | not reached |
Mechanisms
| Before reform | Now | |
|---|---|---|
| pays | O | O |
| selects | O | O |
| access | deep | deep |
| publishes | summary | summary |
| oversees | none | regulator |
Insurer employs the inspector; National Board commissions inspectors.
Payer, access, publication
Who pays. Insurer employs the inspector; owner pays the insurer.
Access. On-site inspection during fabrication and in service.
Publication. Stamps and certificates public; inspection reports to insurer and jurisdiction.
Milestones
| Year | Kind | Event | Strength | Harm | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1866 | voluntary assurance | Hartford Steam Boiler founded: insurance conditioned on inspection. | source | ||
| 1905 | trigger | Grover Shoe Factory boiler explosion kills 58. | deaths: 58 deaths | source | |
| 1908 | mandate | Massachusetts enacts the first state boiler law. | 3 | source | |
| 1914 | standards | First ASME Boiler Code published. | 2 | source | |
| 1919 | accreditation | National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors commissions inspectors across jurisdictions. | 3 | source |
seed; secondary sources; verify each milestone against a primary source before citing in the paper Data: data/industries/boilers.json