This part of ISO 15156 describes general principles and gives requirements and recommendations for the selection and qualification of metallic materials for service in equipment used in oil and gas production and in natural-gas sweetening plants in H₂S-containing environments, where the failure of such equipment can pose a risk to the health and safety of the public and personnel or to the environment. It can be applied to help to avoid costly corrosion damage to the equipment itself. It supplements, but does not replace, the materials requirements given in the appropriate design codes, standards or regulations.

This part of ISO 15156 addresses all mechanisms of cracking that can be caused by H₂S, including sulfide stress cracking, stress corrosion cracking, hydrogen-induced cracking and stepwise cracking, stress-oriented hydrogen-induced cracking, soft zone cracking and galvanically induced hydrogen stress cracking.

Table 1 provides a non-exhaustive list of equipment to which this part of ISO 15156 is applicable, including permitted exclusions.

This part of ISO 15156 applies to the qualification and selection of materials for equipment designed and constructed using conventional elastic design criteria.

This part of ISO 15156 is not necessarily applicable to equipment used in refining or downstream processes and equipment.